EVOLUTION (Energy cost of)
Charles François (2004). EVOLUTION (Energy cost of), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(1): 1193.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1193 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
H. ODUM states: “In evolution, not only are the structures and patterns of the systems maintained against the disordering influences through duplication, selection and loopback currency, but, by definition of the term, novel changes are made. The power cost of the change is the power cost of making even more choices and selections than are required to hold the order stable” (1971, p.151).
This implies that any important evolution step supposes the existence of still unused energy, which allows for the shaping of some new type of system able to take advantage of it.
An extraordinary example is the explosive evolutive structuration of human societies since the discovery of new ways to use coal, oil and gas as sources of energy.