REGULATION (Ergodic)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 2805 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
A regulation that, with time, becomes independant from the initial state of the system.
J. EUGENE writes:“ Only a system that counts with at least one feedback coupling is able to develop itself in an ergodic way” (1981, p.65).
The ergodic regulation corresponds to an “ergodicity domain within which the very young system may not be able to resist small disturbances. When becoming mature, the system acquires a resistance to strong disturbances, until, finally it loses any resistance to any kind of disturbance” (Ibid).
J. EUGENE adds the noteworthy following comment: “Such ergodic processes correspond to von BERTALANFFY's equifinality. Their interpretation led formerly to metaphysical finalism, specially in relation to phenomena of biological regeneration, as described by Hans DRIESCH (1909). This author sets that the organism's development is conduced by a force, which he calls ”entelechy“. (The concept of ergodicity) shows that finalistic and metaphysical concepts are not needed to explain the development of systems. Such development, of a dialectical nature, results of the disequilibrium of a system in which the values of the inputs (Xt) and the outputs (Yt) are in a permanent contradictory movement, the outputs modifying the inputs, which in turn modify again the outputs” (p.67).
The theory of ergodic regulation has been developed by and W. Ross ASHBY (1956) and O. LANGE (1965).