INTEGRATING MECHANISMS
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1725 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Human sciences |
Integrating mechanisms are a general feature of organized systems. They exist at every level of complexity, at least from the atomic one up to the social one. They are always relational mechanisms, based on some complementarity or some response to an external constraint.
An extraordinary biological example is the production of acrasin in the slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum, when starvation sets in within a colony of this organism, as a result of overpopulation within an environment limited in resources. (J.T. BONNER, 1988, p.231).
The search for the corresponding mechanisms in sociosystems is not yet systematic and no definitive conclusions exist until now. However, norms, beliefs, ideologies and scientific or philosophical paradigms are probably integrating mechanisms, resulting from the necessity to collectively face environmental pressures.