HIERARCHY (Distributive)
Charles François (2004). HIERARCHY (Distributive), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(1): 1545.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1545 ▶ |
| Object type | Discipline oriented, Human sciences, Methodology or model |
A multi-centered type of hierarchy that admits regional dominance around local centers.
This model comes from geography. It has been used for ex. for the study of Template:Ency entity propagation. If some phenomenon should diffuse from a unique center, such a process would be very slow. However a pathogen can easily “jump” from one point to another, sometimes very distant, and become there the focus of a new diffusion center.
The model is quite general and can be applied to the diffusion of a new technology , or of a new religious creed, or a forest fire, or a financial panic.
It is closely related to the concepts of composite system and percolation .