STEERING (Self-)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3194 ▶ |
| Object type | Human sciences, Methodology or model |
The automatic self guidance of a system.
If social systems are autopoietic and in dynamic equilibrium, it could be conjectured that their steering by leaders is, at least in part, an illusion. The leaders who become powerful could merely be those who understand, or even merely perceive, the basic trends and needs of the system at some precise moment, and know how to translate them into proposals and projects. On the contrary, the would be leaders who do not interpret correctly the needs of the system, would find themselves blocked by its resistance to the changes they propose.
However, if social systems are evolutive and emergent — as it seems to be the case at some moments in history — then the random appearence of some or other leader in such a system in a far-from-equilibrium situation, could be determinant for the emergence of a more complex system at a bifurcation point.
The whole subject was treated in “Sociocybernetic paradoxes” — Eds. F. GEYER and J. van der ZOUWEN (1986)
See also
Governability