Abstract
In this paper I would like to propose two guiding principles for the study and understanding of self-organization in natural systems, which are derived from a combination of both empirical observation and cybernetic considerations. The basic thrust of these ideas is to see self-organization as a behavior of a specific class or type of systems, whose organization can be clearly spelled out. This amounts to explore the underlying mechanisms for self-organization itself. The two principles are as follows:
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Principle 1:
Every operationally closed system has eigenbehaviors.
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Principle 2:
Every operationally closed system changes by natural drift.
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Notes and References
For this distinction see H. Maturana and F. Varela (1980), Autopoiesis and Cognition, BSPS 42, D. Reidel, Boston.
The notion of operational closure is motivated, defined, and explored extensively in F. Varela (1979), Principles of Biological Autonomy, North-Holland/Elsevier, New York.
Cf. Varela (1979), op.cit. for further discussion on the meaning and formal definition of this term.
A discussion of recent results is F. Fogelman-Soulie (1984), Frustration and stability in random boolean networks, Discrete Math. (forthcoming).
For more on this notion see H. Maturana and F. Varela (1984), Evolution: natural drift through the conservation of adaptation, J. biological, social Structures (forthcoming).
See Maturana and Varela (1980) op.cit. for the original discussion of this point of view.
For details on this issue, but from a rather different perspective, see E. Land and J. McCann (1971), Lightness and the retinex theory, J. optical Society America 61: 1–11.
For an interesting approach to this question see P. Peretto (1984), Statistical properties of neural networks, Biological Cybernetics (in press).
See Maturana and Varela (1984) op.cit. for more on this crucial point.
See D. Wake, G. Roth, and M. Wake (1983), On the problem of stasis in organismal evolution, J. theoretical Biology 101: 211–224.
S. Gould and R. Lewontin (1979), The spandrets of San Marco and Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the adaptationist paradigm, Proc. Royal Society Series B. 205: 581–598, p. 594.
A. Scheleracher (1972), Divacariate patterns in petecypod shells, Lethaia 5: 325–343.
This paper is partly based on F. Varela, (1983), L’autorganisation: au-delà des appariances et vers le méchanisme, in: P. Dumouchel, J.P. Dupuy (Eds.), L’Autorganisation, Colloque de Cerisy, Eds. du Seuil, Paris.
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© 1984 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Varela, F. (1984). Two Principles for Self-Organization. In: Ulrich, H., Probst, G.J.B. (eds) Self-Organization and Management of Social Systems. Springer Series in Synergetics, vol 26. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-69762-3_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-69762-3_2
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