REGULATION (Self) in Societies
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 2808 ▶ |
| Object type | Discipline oriented, Human sciences |
Sociologists and theoretical economists of the past described self-regulation in societies under various guises long time before its cybernetic modelling .
F. CAPRA gives the following examples: “The best known, perhaps, are the ”invisible hand“ regulating the market in the economic theory of A. SMITH, the ”checks and balances“ of the US Constitution, and the interplay of thesis and antithesis in the dialectic of HEGEL and MARX. The phenomenons described by these models and metaphors all imply circular patterns of causality that can be represented by feedback loops ”(1977, p. 62)
However, as also stated by CAPRA“…but none of these authors made the fact explicit”(Ibid)
As a result these models (with the exception of the “checks and balances”of the US Constitution) became all more or less ideologically tainted in their applications, with at times, very dubious results.
Accordingly, in human systems as enterprises, organizations , economic and in political law making, any modification of processes, functions, subsystems or relationships with the environment (previously clearly described) should be carefully scrutinized. Any subsequent planning should watch for underconceptualization , in order to avoid what is generally known as “vicious circles”.
These are in fact uncompensated and unilateral positive or negative feedbacks unwittingly introduced.
This is also the case with so-called “self fulfilling prophecies”.
See also
Design