ZERO GROWTH
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3799 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Human sciences, Methodology or model |
An hypothesis purporting the possibility for human systems to reach a steady state, or dynamic stability after a period of exponential or logistic growth.
Such hypotesis can be applied to populations, industrial sectors, economic development, or human ecosystems. It was very widespread, and controverted, during the seventies.
The general conditions of systems growth seem to support the hypothesis. However, a steady state could be reached after very different growth curves, from a smooth logistic asymptote to dramatic crashes after more or less considerable overshoot resulting from exponential growth.
Moreover, there is a wide variety of human systems at different stages of growth and their evolution is not synchronized. As a result, rivalries do appear and become a source of economic, political and even ideological struggle, which completely obscures the issue, specially in absence of any systemic understanding.