LAWS : Biological and social
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1864 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Human sciences |
According to A. RAPOPORT, quoted by J.W. SUTHERLAND, “…we must face the fact that there are no biological or social ”laws“ that are direct analogues of the laws of motion, the law of gravity, the conservation laws of energy and mass, the law of increase of entropy in isolated systems, etc. At most, there are models of specific biological or social phenomena, expressible as mathematical formulae to serve as working hypotheses” (1973, p.25).
This is altogether true for so-called “systemic” laws which, if possible to enounce, would refer only to totally abstract models of systems.
It should be added that, generally these models are based in new mathematical tools as for example input-output matrixes, graphs, fuzzy sets, “catastrophes”, fractals, etc. These models are basically non-linear, generally structural and/or dynamic, and aim at the representation of interactions, global form and complex transformations.