INDEPENDENCE
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1630 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
The quality of a totally self-supporting system.
This is an abstract and quite illusory concept, which should be paired with the concept of isolated system. No concrete system can survive without inputs (and outputs) of energy, matter and/or information.
K. KRIPPENDORFF states that “Independent systems are closed to information” (1986, p.38). One wonders if such a condition is really possible for concrete systems. A system could be independent of others only if it has never interacted with them, and will never do.
Independence, moreover, should not be confused with autopoiesis and its complement organizational closure, which are properties allowing a system to maintain its autonomy, i.e. to control more or less efficiently its interrelations with its environment.
See also
Interdependence, Rights and responsabilities