FIELD of a system
Charles François (2004). FIELD of a system, International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(1): 1267.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1267 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
- “The phase-space containing all the lines of behavior found by releasing the system from all possible initial states in a particular set of surrounding conditions” (W.R. ASHBY, 1960, p.28).
ASHBY states:“The concept of ”field“… defines the characteristic behavior of the system, replacing the vague concept of what a system ”does“ or how it ”behaves“ (often describable only in words) by the precise construct of a ”field“ (Ibid).
It is however debatable whether it is always possible to obtain a full knowledge of “all possible states”, let alone of the full phase-space.
Nevertheless, ASHBY offered very interesting insights into the concept of field in his “Introduction to Cybernetics” (chap.9 “Incessant transmission”, where he describes the set of all the possible transitions of a system by matrixes) (1956).