VARIETY (Law of optimum)
Charles François (2004). VARIETY (Law of optimum), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(2): 3730.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3730 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Methodology or model |
Such a law has been proposed by N. PARITSIS in the following terms:
- “… for a given organism, environment and time, there is an optimum variety (and information) in the environment, which
a) is as low to enable the organism to be adapted on the basis of its requisite variety,
b) is as high to allow and induce development,
c) at the same time does not produce overload or underload stress.
- “This optimum variety has also an optimum rate of gradual increase that results to a combination of higher and safer development and evolution” (1992, p.37).
It must be stressed that, as stated by PARITSIS himself, optimum variety expresses an environment's property in relation to a specific organism.
PARITSIS also observes that variety in the environment implies the need for adjustment processes in the system, as stated by J. MILLER.