SYSTEM (Integrated)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
|
Vol. (num.) |
2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3371 ▶ |
| Object type | Human sciences, Methodology or model |
A system whose components , parts
or
subsystems
are strongly interconnected and interacting.
Strictly speaking, a system that would not be at least minimally integrated would not be a system at all. However, a vegetal, animal or human colonial system , for instance, is looser than a biological one.
In an integrated system, processes
and
functions
are permanently and closely interdependent. Their
relations
are
regulated
by a
hierarchy
of
controls . The system cannot survive the complete destruction or impairment of any of its critical subsystems , nor the severance of their interactions . None of the subsystems
can normally survive outside of the system.
Integrated systems are also characterized by the existence of an internal environment
(
invironment ), of which the subsystems
depend for their
survival
and which they collectively maintain. The most integrated the system, the lesser the number of its
elements
that interact directly with the
environment .
Biological systems are more integrated than ecosystems
and these, in turn, more so than
composite systems . Man seems to be the most complex integrated living system , due mainly to the capacity to pick up and process information .
Systems that become too strongly integrated run the risk to become rigid and blocked, thus loosing adaptive
capacity, and risking destruction. The demise of U.R.S.S. was a good example.