SOURCE
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3114 ▶ |
| Object type | Discipline oriented, Human sciences, Methodology or model |
1. A fixed point that repels all the points in its neighborhood.
A source is the topological opposite to a sink. It acts as a kind of negative or anti-attractor.
2. A place or system in the environment wherefrom a system receives some specific inputs.
Some sources provide absolutely indispensable resources to the system, as for example the atmosphere for aerobic living systems. Other may provide it with merely useful resources, as for example some kinds of non basic foods.
Other sources may be downright noxious for the system, when it is obliged to absorb what they produce: this is the basic problem of contamination.
Systems need maintain a stable relation with their sources, according to their needs. A system which depletes some of its indispensable sources may find itself in danger if the resource becomes unable to regenerate at a sufficient rate.
Various systems may compete to obtain resources from the same source. This becomes frequently a cause of conflict. Later on it may however lead to some form of negociation between them and the setting up of some regulator whose cost is less than the global losses incured previously.
Ecological co-evolution of populations of different species reflect the competition for the use of different sources, through ever-changing spontaneous regulation.
The interrelations between different sources and systems can be easily represented by qualitative graphs and also frequently quantified by appropriate measurement.