EQUILIBRIUM (Levels of)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1150 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
As a result of complex intertwining of different functional cycles in the variations of a complex system's behavior, different levels of equilibrium may become dominant at different moments.
K.DE GREENE states: “At any period the system hovers around an equilibrium level. Over time, deviations from equilibrium may expand or contract” (1988, p.283).
This author, who reconsiders the whole subject of cycles, explains that, in economic cycles, “KONDRATIEV identified at least three orders of equilibrium:
- “1. first order equilibrium of short duration…
- “2. second order equilibrium of intermediate duration…
- “3. third-order equilibrium of longest (but nevertheless limited) duration” (Ibid).
Short duration corresponds to more or less small and local random movements of quite limited amplitude, channelled within medium and long term trends
2d order movements are related to more permanent trends, while 3rd order ones are related to the most basic and general alternative conditions that the system may possibly have to adapt to.
There can be more than three levels of equilibrium.
On the other hand “short, intermediate and long duration” are defined in relation to the nature of the system. They have different meanings for the growth of some annual plant and for sequoias, for flies and for elephants.
Levels of equilibrium, described by KONDRATIEV in economic cycles, command undoubtedly the dynamics of numerous other types of systems, specially those in homeostatic conditions. Transitions from one level to another can be sudden, and thus catastrophe and chaos theories could be useful to formalize models.