WEBS (Multilevel)
Charles François (2004). WEBS (Multilevel), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(2): 3767.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3767 ▶ |
| Object type | Epistemology, ontology or semantics, Methodology or model |
- “A class of systems in which various forces orsubsystems interact simultaneously within and across levels ”. (C. HARDY, 2001, p. 35)
HARDY adds: “Webs thus exhibit dynamical evolution through the cooperation and co-evolution ofprocesses ” and…
- “In multilevel webs, the variety and complexity of forces interacting simultaneously instantiate inter-influences between connected elements /processes , so complex that they render causality irrelevant as a formalism . Webs inter-influences are fundamentally non deterministic , and they reach beyond causal mechanisms ”.
- “However, simpler mechanisms such as linear cause-effects and circular causality may exist as component processes, enmeshed in the ensemble of interactions of the more complex system”(Ibid.)
The crux of the matter is the simultaneous character of different events and actions at various locations in the system. As their propagation is generally neither isochronous , nor takes place in an isotropic space , rigorous determinism is impaired and replaced by statistical or chaotic determinism . It is however not suppressed, specially at macroscopic scale .