GENERAL SYSTEMS LAWS
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1393 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Epistemology, ontology or semantics |
General systems “laws” are statements of mostly qualitative nature, as for example W.R. ASHBY's law of requisite variety, or J. WARFIELD law of linguistic drift.
They are not used to obtain precise or quantitative answers as in physics or chemistry, but to define relationships of a general character that can be found in numerous and quite different systems.
They could be considered as memoranda of very general properties, as for example in the case of: “The whole is more than the sum of the parts” or its complement, as aptly stated by G. WEINBERG: “The part is more than a fraction of the whole” (1975, p.43).
They are also tools for generalization and construction of transdisciplinarian models. As such, they should be used with restraint, taking carefully in account any special condition that would impede generalization or need qualification.