RANDOM PHENOMENON
Charles François (2004). RANDOM PHENOMENON, International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(2): 2713.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 2713 ▶ |
| Object type | Epistemology, ontology or semantics, Methodology or model |
- “A phenomenon which associates in a common structure a set of elementary phenomena (”microscopic“) and a macroscopic phenomenon, in such a way that the evolution of last one is condictionned by the cumulated effects of the former ones” (J. BONITZER, 1988, p.82).
BONITZER comments: “Such a definition probably seems strange… (it is that) it does not consider probabilities in the first place as elements of a representation (as if it were from a positivistic philosophical angle), but on the contrary the random phenomena themselves, as elements of a reality.”
In other words, a random phenomenon is a sum of events or behaviors of the same nature.
In opposition with the individual event, the phenomenon is all-embracing at a more general level (and refers frequently to a system or a systemic process).
This view of randomness is coherent with deterministic chaos.