SYSTEM (Autonomous)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3334 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
- “A system whose action results of its own impulses, which selects its goals and the means to pursue them according to its knowledge of the laws of the world and its present perception” (F. BONSACK, 1990, p.118).
There are various understandings of what autonomy means; for a general survey, see: Autonomy.
F. BONSACK adds: “The source of actions is not however immune to any feedback from the world,… but these inputs should not be considered as the source of action: they only modulate the internal source” (Ibid.).
This is the basic meaning of the concept of autopoiesis.
R. ROSEN states: “It is absolutely essential… that the time-dependent inputs, or forcings, do not change the autonomous dynamics in any way. it must neither create nor violate the system constraints; more generally, it must not change any of the parameters which govern both transient and asymptotic behaviors in the autonomous system… This restriction is not often mentioned explicitly, but it is absolutely basic. Unless we impose it, the very identity of the system will depend on the environment with which it is interacting, i.e. the identity of the system in vacuo will be different from what it is in a specific context which is forcing it, that identity has become, in a sense, context-dependent” (1993, p.21).