STRUCTURE (Deep)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3234 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
Some systems are able to resist complete dissolution when submitted to violent turbulence and may restructure themselves at a higher level of complexity. In such cases, they do not lose completely their former structure, of which the subsisting part has been called “deep structure” by E. JANTSCH.
Ch. SMITH resumes as follows this concept: “This deep structure, as explained by JANTSCH, might be locked at as the evolutionary state of the system, the degree of sophistication or elaboration that the system has attained and that is irreversible even in the face of forces of dissolution. The deep structure thus serves as a self-referencing framework for experimenting behavior, pruning choices and guiding movement toward new structures. The structures adopted will be consonant with the system's accumulated evolutionary learning, its previously developed capacity to maintain viability amidst the complexity of its environment” (1986, p.206).
Somehow a really deep evolutionary transformation of the system implies the destruction of the superstructures, but not of the basic core of organization in its most general features.
The concept of deep structure seems relevant for example, to chrysalides, at biological level and probably to basic mutations as in GOULD and ELDREDGE's punctuated evolution. Important cultural mutations possibly follow the same pattern: e.g. the survival of Greek and Roman cultural structures in Christian cultures.
See also
Radiation (Self-contained)