DISTRIBUTION
Charles François (2004). DISTRIBUTION, International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(1): 962.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 962 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
- “The relation which is commutative and intransitive” (J. FEIBLEMAN & J.W. FRIEND, 1969, p.33).
Grains of sand in a dune do accumulate in a commutative way, as the order in which they accumulate is irrelevant. Moreover, since they are directly in contact (i.e. without any sequential ordering), their distribution is not transitive. This implies that there is no structure of any kind.
However, distribution as defined by FEIBLEMAN and FRIEND is a primitive and rudimentary form of coordination between elements: An environmental force, the wind, modifies at any moment the distribution of the grains of sand on the dune. No distribution of this kind becomes more significant than any other, at least if the environmental force shows a strictly random behavior, which is seldom the case in concrete situations.