RESISTANCE (Acquired)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 2860 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Methodology or model |
An adaptive and evolutive process which allows a system to successfully fight the effects of some dangerous input from its environment .
Three very important examples are:
- acquired immunity of numerous pathological micro-organisms to a growing number of antibiotics
- progressive appearance of many new strains of insects able to resist the effects of numerous chemical insecticides.
- the progressive immunization of whole human populations against some infectious diseases. This seems to have been the case with plague in Europe from the 14th Century on. (However, such immunity may be lost after long periods without new epidemics).
Acquired resistance is a systemic phenomenon showing the shifting equilibria - through adaptation and evolution - in the interrelations of systems of different kinds.
The lack of understanding of acquired resistance becomes a critical deficience in situations of accelerating change proper to our time of massive technological evolution .
An exploration of possible similar phenomena in societies could be interesting.