RESOURCES
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 2866 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
Any type of matter, energy or information that the system may obtain from its environment.
Resources should not be confounded with reserves, which are resources already obtained by the system and stored within it for future use.
Environmental resources are not illimited, even if at times they seem to be. It is important for the systems which depend from them for their survival, to use them at a sustainable rate.
The competitive struggle for resources is a frequent occurrence and may be dangerous for the survival of some interested system.
In many cases however, such a struggle leads to the appearance of a regulator, which usually uses for itself a small part of the resources. This arrangement, once accepted or imposed, generally produces a settlement, favourable for all the participants.
A high variety of resources in an environment leads to much diversity of the systems that exploit them.