STABILIZATION by COMPENSATION
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3169 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
The stabilization of a complex system, that may be submitted to chaotic dynamics is a difficult endeavor.
R. ROSEN proposed to base such stabilization on a sufficient knowledge of the “… units of function and homology of organization, rather than on units of structure…
- “A corollary of this kind of viewpoint would be an insight into mechanisms by which changes of state of all kinds of systems could be directed (or controlled) through the external enhancement of the stabilizing or destabilizing forces inherent in the system (The inhibitory or excitatory factors respectively). Indeed, we can intelligently apply controls only when these factors and their dynamical roles have been identified, whether that be in human physiology (i.e. medicine), in ecology, or in socio-political or economic systems” (1974, p.173).
ROSEN himself admits that this “… is not a finished piece of scientific activity ready for applications, but only a program for such activity, a strategy” (Ibid).
Indeed, the possibilities of correction of chaotic dynamics, for example, remain still largely in 1997 a “terra incognita”.
The alternative use of inducers and repressors, as observed by ROSEN, or in cybernetic terms, of combined positive and negative feedbacks are possible mechanisms for stabilization. But the main point remains the need for a sufficient knowledge of the natural dynamics of the interested system.
A closely related view is stabilization by competition, proposed by M. EIGEN and P. SCHUSTER within the frame of their hypercycle model (1979, p.VI).