Definition of the Subject
Self‐organization is a core concept of Systems Science. It refers to the ability of a class ofsystems (self‐organizing systems (SOS)) to change their internal structure and/or their function in response to external circumstances. Elements ofself‐organizing systems are able to manipulate or organize other elements of the same system in a way that stabilizes either structure orfunction of the whole against external fluctuations. The process of self‐organization is often achieved by growing the internal space‐timecomplexity of a system and results in layered or hierarchical structures or behaviors. This process is understood not to be instructed from outsidethe system and is therefore called self‐organized.
Modern ideas about self‐organization start with the foundation of cybernetics in the 1940s. W. Ross Ashby, H. von Foerster and N. Wiener,among others, have contributed to an early understanding. Later, the concept was adopted in physics and...
Abbreviations
- Attractor :
-
A special set of system states approached by a dynamical system after some time has passed when starting from a variety of initial states.
- Autopoiesis :
-
The process by which systems maintain their identity and organization and regenerate their components in the course of their operation.
- Competition and cooperation :
-
Types of interaction between two or more elements of a system. Competition refers to each element striving to maximize its use of a finite and/or non‐renewable resource. Cooperation refers to the elements engaging in a mutually beneficial exchange.
- Complexity :
-
Measure of number of elements and way of their interaction (structural c.); measure of variety of behavioral repertoire of a system (functional c.).
- Constructive system :
-
A system whose later components are generated during the interaction of its earlier components.
- Dynamics:
-
The quantitative development of a system's state variables over time.
- Emergence :
-
The appearance of qualitatively new phenomena on higher levels of a hierarchical system.
- Evolution :
-
A process of structural or qualitative change in some direction.
- Instability :
-
Inability of a system to keep its state or structure.
- Mode :
-
Macroscopic behavior of a system caused by the interaction of its microscopic parts via long‐range correlations.
- Non‐equilibrium :
-
System state with inflow of matter, energy and/or information causing it to stay away from its most probable state under the hypothetical condition of isolation.
- Phase transition :
-
A point at which the appearance or behavior, or qualitative nature of the steady state of a system changes suddenly.
- Resilience :
-
Measure of a system's ability to remain within a domain of stability in response to fluctuations of the system by a perturbation, and the ability of the system to return to that stable domain having once left.
- Self‐organized criticality :
-
The ability of a system to evolve in such a way as to approach a critical point and then maintain itself at that point.
Bibliography
Primary Literature
von Bertalannfy L (1968) General System Theory: Essays on its Foundation and Development. George Braziller, New York
Wiener N (1965) Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine. MIT Press, Cambridge
Ashby WR (1947) Principles of the Self-Organizing Dynamic System. J Gen Psychol 37:125–128
Farley BG, Clark WA (1954) Simulation of self-organizing systems by digital computer. IRE Trans Inf Theor 4:76–84
Ashby WR (1960) Design for a Brain: The Origin of Adaptive Behavior. Chapman and Hall, London
von Foerster H (1960) On Self-organizing systems and their environments, In: Yovits MC, Cameron S (eds) Self-Organizing Systems. Pergamon Press, New York, pp 31–50
Haken H (1983) Synergetics – An Introduction, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin
Kauffman S (1993) The Origins of Order. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Conrad M (1983) Adaptability. Plenum Press, New York
Kohonen T (2000) Self-Organizing Maps. Springer Series in Information Sciences, vol 30. Springer, Berlin
Nicolis G, Prigogine I (1977) Self-Organization in Nonequilibrium Systems. Wiley, New York
Haken H (2000) Information and Self-Organization: A Macroscopic Approach to Complex Systems. Springer Series in Synergetics, 2nd edn. Springer, Berlin
Thom R (1989) Structural Stability and Morphogenesis: An Outline of a General Theory of Models. Addison-Wesley, Reading
Mandelbrot B (1982) The fractal Geometry of Nature. W.H. Freeman, San Francisco
Eigen M, Schuster P (1979) The Hypercycle. Springer, Berlin
Rosen R (1991) Life Itself: A Comprehensive Inquiry into the Nature, Origin, and Fabrication of Life. Columbia University Press, New York
von der Malsburg C (1973) Self-organization of orientation sensitive cells in the striate cortex. Kybernetik 14:85–100
Linsker R (1988) Self-organization in a perceptual network. Computer 21:105–117
von Foerster H (2002) Understanding Understanding. Springer, New York
Maturana H, Varela F (1979) Autopoiesis and Cognition. Reidel, Dordrecht
Camazine S, Deneubourg J, Franks N, Sneyd J, Bonabeau E, Theraulaz G (2000) Self-Organization in Biological Systems. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Sole R, Bascompte J (2006) Self-Organization in Complex Ecosystems. Princeton University Press, Princeton
LuhmannN (1995) Social Systems. Stanford University Press, Palo Alto
Focardi S, Cincotti S, Marchesi M (2002) Self-organization and market crashes. J Econ Behav Organ 49:241–267
Portugali J (2000) Self-Organization and the City. Springer, Berlin
Bruckner S, di Marzo Serugendo G, Karageorgos A, Nagpal R (eds) (2005) Engineering Self-Organizing Systems. Springer, Berlin
Lovelock JE, Margulis L (1974) Atmospheric homoeostasis by and for the biosphere: The Gaia hypothesis. Tellus 26:2–9
Lenton TM (1998) Gaia and natural selection. Nature 394:439–447
Staley M (2002) Darwinian Selection Leads to Gaia. J Theor Biol 218:35–46
Kerner BS (1998) Experimental Features of Self-Organization in Traffic Flow. Phys Rev Lett 81:3797–3800
Treiber M, Helbing D (1999) Explanation of Observed Features of Self-Organization in Traffic Flow. Arxiv preprint cond-mat/9901239
Eddington AS (1928) The Nature of the Physical World. Gifford Lectures. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Haken H (2004) Synergetics. Introduction and Advanced Topics. Springer, Berlin
Lorenz E (1963) Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow. J Atmospheric Sci 20:130–141
Poincare H (1909) Science et Methode. Flammarion, Paris
May RM (1976) Simple Mathematical Models with very complicated Dynamics. Nature 261:459–467
Eigen M (1971) Selforganization of Matter and the Evolution of Biological Macromolecules. Naturwissenschaften 58:465–523
Eigen M, Schuster P (1977) The hypercycle. A principle of natural self-organization. Part A: Emergence of the hypercycle. Naturwissenschaften 64:541–565
Eigen M, Schuster P (1978) The hypercycle: a principle of natural self-organization, Part B. Naturwissenschaften 65:7–41
Eigen M, Schuster P (1978) The hypercycle: a principle of natural self-organization, Part C. Naturwissenschaften 65:341–369
KauffmanSA (1993) The Origins of Order. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Kauffman SA (1969) Metabilic Stability and epigenesis in randomly constructed nets. J Theor Biol 22:437–467
Bak P, Tang C, Wiesenfeld K (1988) Self-organized criticality. Phys Rev A 38:364–374
Wolfram S (1983) Statistical Physics of Cellular Automata. Rev Mod Phys 55:601–644
Wolfram S (1984) Cellular Automata as Models of Complexity. Nature 311:419–424
Dittrich P, Ziegler J, Banzhaf W (2001) Artificial Chemistries – A Review. Artif Life 7:225–275
von Neumann J (1966) Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata. Univ of Illinois Press, Chicago
Polani D (2003) Measuring Self-Organization via Observers, In: Banzhaf W et al (eds) Advances in Artificial Life. Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, vol 2801. Springer, Berlin, pp 667–675
Shalizi CR, Shalizi KL, Haslinger R (2004) Quantifying Self-Organization with Optimal Predictors. Phys Rev Lett 93:118701
Books and Reviews
Bak P (1996) How Nature Works – The Science of Self-Organized Criticality. Springer, New York
Bar-Yam Y (2003) Dynamics of Complex Systems. Westview Press/Perseus Books, New York
Boccara N (2004) Modelling Complex Systems. Springer, New York
Edelman G (1987) Neural Darwinism. Basic Books, New York
Hemelrijk C (ed) (2005) Self-organization and Evolution of Social Systems. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
HollandJ (2000) Emergence: From Chaos to Order. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Jantsch E (1980) The Self Organizing Universe: Scientific and Human Implications. Pergamon Press, New York
Johnson S (2001) Emergence. Scribner, New York
Kelso S (1995) Dynamic Patterns: The Self-organization of Brain and Behavior. MIT Press, Cambridge
LovelockJE (1995) The Ages of Gaia. W.W. Norton, New York
Mingers J (1995) Self-Producing Systems. Plenum Press, New York
MorowitzH (2002) The Emergence of Everything. Oxford University Press, Oxford
RosenR (1999) Essays on Life Itself. Columbia University Press, New York
Sornette D (2003) Critical Phenomena in Natural Sciences. Springer, Berlin
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer-Verlag
About this entry
Cite this entry
Banzhaf, W. (2009). Self-organizing Systems . In: Meyers, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Complexity and Systems Science. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30440-3_475
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30440-3_475
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-75888-6
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-30440-3
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics