EFFICIENCY (Limits to)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1035 ▶ |
| Object type | Human sciences, Methodology or model |
Efficiency is a somewhat questionable concept. If applied to systems functionality, it is possible to distinguish at least three different shades of meaning:
- Minimal efficiency, needed for the sheer survival of the system;
- Maximal efficiency, the system being pushed to its maximal level of activity compatible with its survival within the environment which provides it with its inputs. In such a condition, the system can easily cross some dangerous instability threshold;
- Sustainable efficiency, which guarantees that the system should be able to maintain its activity for long time through a well-balanced use of its environmental inputs sources.
H. ODUM gives the curious following example: “The elimination of fire from pine woods sets the stage for disastrous fires twenty years later” (1971, p.226).
This suggests that even the qualitative aspects of efficiency should be carefully considered. It also implies that short term efficiency may very well be incompatible with long term efficiency. This last observation may have an ominous significance for the present hyper-efficient use. of natural resources by human systems.
Still, instability thresholds, crossed because of such hyper-efficiency, may also lead to the emergence of more complex systems.