HOMOGENEITY
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1578 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
Quality of a group of elements which are all of the same nature and endowed of a similar behavior.
No concrete system can be totally homogeneous. Only the abstract “isolated system” after its full entropization could reach total homogeneity.
As the state of maximum homogeneity corresponds to the maximum level of entropy, and a total independence of the elements, a maximum of information should be required to obtain a full knowledge of the state of the set of all the elements at some moment. This is the basic reason why an inverse relation between information and entropy could be stated and established by various authors, as Cl. SHANNON and L. BRILLOUIN.
In concrete systems, the 2nd. law of thermodynamics is always finally prevalent, leading to homogeneity in the system… and its final demise and dispersal, i.e. its reduction to uncoordinated elements.
This final state of entropization is an attractor for the system.
However, in complex systems, local states of relative homogeneity may exist in subsystems, reflecting dynamically stable functions. St. KAUFFMAN propose to call these states “internal homogeneity clusters” (1993, p.203).