HOMEOKINESIS
Charles François (2004). HOMEOKINESIS, International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(1): 1571.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1571 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Human sciences, Methodology or model |
The persistence of coherence among the elements of a system through its transformations.
D. Mc NEIL, who introduces the concept (pers. comm.), gives as an example the transformations of a hurricane whose “shape persists as a stasis amidst flux… despite continual transfusions, diffusions and exchanges of its substance, retaining its identity, regardless of whether its constituent molecules remain the same”. Another example is a tree, or indeed any living being.
It seems to correspond to the organizational closure property in autopoietic systems.
Homeokinesis may also characterize the slow, but coherent historical transformations of natural languages, and even possibly of systems of meanings, values and norms in cultures.