MACROSCOPE
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1978 ▶ |
| Object type | Epistemology, ontology or semantics |
- “A symbolic tool, made of a set of methods and techniques taken from very different disciplines… to give a new (global) look into nature, society and man” (1975, p.10).
J.de ROSNAY states that the macroscope is not to be used to see farther away, or to blow up, but to observe that which is at the same time too big, too slow and too complex for our direct perception. As an example he gives human society “that gigantic organism totally invisible to us”.
He adds: “In relation to society, we are today these particles and we must focus our attention on these systems which include us in order to understand them better, if they are not to destroy us. Roles are reversed: it is no more the biologist who observes the living cell with a microscope; it is the cell itself which, through the macroscope examines the organism which contains it” (p.11).
Of course, as noted by H.T. ODUM, the macroscope is systems science, used for “acquiring ways to discern the broad future and mechanisms of a system of parts” (1971, p.10). ODUM proposes the following way for the practical use of the so-called macroscope:
- “1. Survey, identify, classify
2. (Use a) detail eliminator. Prepare a network diagram of compartments
3. Determine flows
4. Simulate by a simplified circuit model
5. Experiment and manage (through a) demonstrator of overall function principles
6. Manage with actions“ (Ibid.).
We should add: “Observe results” and, “Recycle the whole process all over again, and again.