SYSTEMS REPRESENTATION
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3475 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
Any way to construct a model of a system.
Really complex systems can practically be represented only at the price of gross simplification in some coarse homomorphic form, using for example an aggregation mode. A good example are the models used in Systems Dynamics.
This is not to disparage such models, which are the best available for practical purposes, but only to take a clear view of their limitations.
Only what M. BUNGE calls systems with a “denumerable composition” as “a molecule or an industrial plant” (1979, p.16-7) can be adequately represented by a graph or its equivalent matrix, or the corresponding set of equations.
BUNGE acknowledges that: “Obviously neither the graph nor the matrix representation of a system suffices for all purposes. It represets only the composition, structure and environment of a system with neglect of its dynamics. A more complete representation can only be obtained by setting up a full fledged dynamical theory incorporating and expanding the information contained in the graph or the matrix representation… namely the state space representation (p.19-20).
Even this supposes hypotheses about the system, derived from a more general frame of reference.