TRANSFER (Inverse)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3611 ▶ |
| Object type | Epistemology, ontology or semantics, Methodology or model |
An implicit operation by which an observing and acting system attributes “some of its intrinsic traits… to the part of reality it succeeds in apprehending” (R. VALLÉE, 1990b, p.40).
VALLÉE who introduced the concept, stresses the deformations that the systems observation process as well as the decision one transmit to the objective situations.
He writes: “The theme of ”inverse transfer“ of intrinsic traits of the observing (and even deciding) system, somehow generalised, gives some elements of answer to the classical interrogation of the intelligibility of the world. If the world is considered sometimes intelligible, not without effort indeed (”Der Herr Gott is nicht bose aber raffiniert“ wrote EINSTEIN), it may be partly due to the fact that our ways of perception'', understood in the widest sense, eliminate all that does not fit our mind. Then through ”inverse transfer“ some of our intrinsic traits are attributed to the part of reality which we succeed in apprehending” (p.40).
As an example, our classical mathematics could modelize some chosen physical properties. However, to explain some others (for example the 3-bodies problem when it was recognized as a problem in its own right), new mathematics were needed and introduced, starting with POINCARÉ. Later on, important extensions of these mathematics could be used as a new tool to try to understand deterministic chaos in general.
It would be interesting to study specific cases of inverse transfer that may probably be observed:
- in superior animals, whose observation, decision and pragmatic operators are at variance with ours
- through cultural differences, in relation to MARUYAMA's mindscapes
- during the evolution of a same culture through time, for example in relation to the paradigmatic mutations described by Th. KUHN 1970).
- in psychologists, who adhere to different theories
- in individuals adepts of different ideologies.