TERM (Short-, Medium-, Long-)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
|
Vol. (num.) |
2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3522 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
Different time scales
in
processes , rhythms
and
phenomena .
What short-, medium- and long- means must be clarified in each case. Geological cycles
are obviously at a different
scale
than living beings, or meteorological
events .
The really interesting aspects of different, but imbricated time scales
are as follows:
- Time
regularities can be observed in most
processes
at different
scales . In living systems , circadian rhythms
for example, are clearly distinct from seasonal ones, while both are inscribed within the long-term scale of life as a
whole .
- Short-, medium- and long-term rhythms
are more or less interconnected, because they correspond to interconnected
phenomena . Population
cycles
of different species in predators-preys
relationships
may combine to induce a long-term global
cycle . This also seems to be the case for the different economic and business cycles .
- Long-term cycles offer a limited predictive capability as to the progress of the medium and short term cycles . This seems to be related to chaotic determinism .
The whole subject deserves more intensive study.
See for example “ Fractal scaling ”, “ Frequency analysis ”, “ Kondratiev cycle ” and “ Weierstrass equation ”.