Overview
Theuniverse,nature,andhumansocietybelongtodifferentsubsystemsduetodifferentframesofreferencesetbyhumanbeings.Ifalltheexistenceintheworldisdividedintothematerialandspiritualworld,thentheuniverse,nature,andhumansocietyallbelongtothecomplexgiantsystemofthematerialandspiritualworld.Ifwelookatthewholeuniverseinthisway,systemtheoryisaworldviewwithphilosophicalvalue.Therefore,itcanbesaidthattheuniverseiscomposedofdifferentsubsystemswithorganizationandcomplexity.Thisisthesystemviewoftheuniverse.
Atthesametime,systemtheoryhasmanyspecificmethodssimilartomathematicalmodelstofacespecificsubsystems.Fromtheperspectiveofscientifictools,systemtheoryisamethodologywithphilosophicalvalue.Inshort,whilesystemtheorypossessestheindividualattributesofsystemscience,itisalsodifferentfromspecificscientificmethodssuchasmathematicalmethods,physicalmethods,orchemicalmethods,sothatithasuniversalphilosophicalattributes,likereligiousviews.Likethematerialviewandtheinformationview,ithasworldviewandmethodologicalsignificance.
Thesourceofthought
Systemthoughthasalonghistory,butasascientificsystemtheory,itisrecognizedastheAustrianAmericanandtheoreticalbiologistLVBertaLangfei(L.Von.Bertalanffy).
Hepublished"AntibodySystemTheory"in1932andputforwardtheideaofsystemtheory.In1937,theprincipleofgeneralsystemtheorywasputforward,whichlaidthetheoreticalfoundationofthisscience.However,histhesis"OnGeneralSystemTheory"wasnotpublisheduntil1945,andhistheorywasnotpaidattentiontobytheacademiccirclesuntil1948when"GeneralSystemTheory"wastaughtagainintheUnitedStates.Theacademicstatusofthisscienceisestablishedin1968byBetaranfi’smonograph:"GeneralSystemTheory;Foundations,Development,andApplications"("GeneralSystemTheory;Foundations,Development,Applications"),whichisrecognizedasamasterpieceofthisdiscipline.
Thewordsystem,derivedfromancientGreek,meansthewholeiscomposedofparts.Today,peoplestudysystemsfromvariousangles,andtherearenofewerthandozensofdefinitionsforsystems.Forexample,"asystemisagivensetofelementsandtheirnormalbehavior","asystemisanorganizedandorganizedwhole","asystemisacollectionofconnectedsubstancesandprocesses","asystemisacollectionofmanyelements"Keeporganicorder,thingsthatacttowardthesamepurpose",etc.
Generalsystemtheoryattemptstogiveageneralsystemdefinitionthatcandescribethecommoncharacteristicsofvarioussystems.Itusuallydefinesasystemas:anorganicstructurewithacertainfunctioncomposedofseveralelementsinacertainstructure.overall.Thisdefinitionincludesthefourconceptsofsystem,element,structure,andfunction,indicatingtherelationshipbetweenelementsandelements,elementsandsystems,andsystemsandenvironment.
Containscontent
Systemtheorybelievesthatopenness,self-organization,complexity,integrity,relevance,hierarchicalstructure,dynamicbalance,timing,etc.,areallThecommonbasiccharacteristicsofthesystem.Thesearenotonlythebasicideasandviewpointsofthesystem,butalsothebasicprinciplesofthesystemmethod,showingthatsystemtheoryisnotonlyascientifictheorythatreflectsobjectivelaws,butalsohasthemeaningofscientificmethodology.Thisisexactlythecharacteristicofthescienceofsystemtheory.
BetaLanfeionceexplainedthis.TheEnglishSystemApproachliterallytranslatesintoasystemmethod,anditcanalsobetranslatedintoasystemtheory,becauseitcanrepresentconcepts,opinions,models,andmathematicalmethods.HesaidthatwedeliberatelyusedatermsuchasApproach,whichisnottoostrict,justtoshowthenatureandcharacteristicsofthisdiscipline.
CoreIdea
Thecoreideaofsystemtheoryistheoverallconceptofthesystem.Bertalanfiemphasizedthatanysystemisanorganicwhole,itisnotamechanicalcombinationorsimpleadditionofvariousparts.Theoverallfunctionofthesystemisapropertythateachelementdoesnothaveinanisolatedstate.HeusedAristotle'sfamoussaying"thewholeisgreaterthanthesumofitsparts"toillustratetheintegrityofthesystem,andopposedthemechanisticviewthattheelementperformanceisgood,theoverallperformancemustbegood,andthewholeisexplainedlocally.Atthesametime,itisbelievedthateachelementinthesystemdoesnotexistinisolation,andeachelementisinacertainpositioninthesystemandplaysaspecificrole.Theelementsareinterrelatedandformanindivisiblewhole.Theelementistheelementofthewhole.Iftheelementisseparatedfromthesystemasawhole,itwilllosethefunctionoftheelement.Justasthehumanhandisanorganoflaborinthehumanbody,oncethehandiscutofffromthehumanbody,itwillnolongerbeanorganoflabor.
Basicmethod
Thebasicmethodofthinkinginsystemtheoryistotreattheresearchedandprocessedobjectasasystem,analyzethestructureandfunctionofthesystem,andstudythesystem,elements,andenvironmentTheinterrelationshipofthethreeandtheregularityofchanges,andtheoptimizationofthesystempointofviewtoseetheproblem,everythingintheworldcanberegardedasasystem,andthesystemisuniversal.Theuniversefromthebigtotheinsignificant,theatomsfromthesmalltothemicrocosm,aseed,aswarmofbees,amachine,afactory,asocietyofsociety...areallsystems,andthewholeworldisacollectionofsystems.
Systemsarediverse,andthetypesofsystemscanbedividedaccordingtodifferentprinciplesandconditions.Accordingtothesituationofhumanintervention,itcanbedividedintonaturalsystemsandartificialsystems;accordingtosubjectareas,itcanbedividedintonaturalsystems,socialsystems,andthinkingsystems;accordingtoscope,therearemacro-systemsandmicro-systems;accordingtotherelationshipwiththeenvironment,thereareopensystems,Closedsystem,isolatedsystem;dividedbystate,therearebalancedsystems,unbalancedsystems,near-balancedsystems,far-balancedsystems,andsoon.Inaddition,thereistherelativedifferencebetweenalargesystemandasmallsystem.
TasksofSystemTheory
System,sothatitsexistenceanddevelopmentmeettheneedsofhumanpurpose.Inotherwords,thepurposeoftheresearchsystemistoadjustthestructureofthesystem,coordinatetherelationshipofvariouselements,andmakethesystemachievetheoptimizationgoal.
Thesignificanceoftheemergenceofsystemtheory
Theemergenceofsystemtheoryhasprofoundlychangedthewayofthinkingofhumanbeings.Inthepast,researchingproblemsgenerallydecomposedthingsintoseveralparts,abstractedoutthesimplestfactors,andthenexplainedcomplexthingswiththenatureofparts.ThisistheanalyticalmethodbywhichDescarteslaidthetheoreticalfoundation.Thefocusofthismethodisonthepartorelement,anditfollowsthesinglecausaldeterminism,althoughthisisthemostfamiliarwayofthinkingthathasbeeneffectiveinaspecificrangeforhundredsofyears.However,itcannottruthfullyexplaintheintegrityofthings,anditcannotreflecttheconnectionsandinteractionsbetweenthings.Itisonlysuitableforrecognizingrelativelysimplethings,andisnotcompetentforthestudyofcomplexissues.
Underthetrendofholisticandhighlyintegrateddevelopmentofmodernscience,humanbeingsarepowerlessinthefaceofmanycomplexproblemsofhugescale,complicatedrelationships,andnumerousparameters.Whentraditionalanalysismethodsareataloss,systematicanalysismethodscanstandintheforefrontofthetimes.Itisahigh-risebuildingandacomprehensiveviewofthewholesituation,providinganeffectivewayofthinkingformoderncomplexproblemsinauniqueway.Therefore,systemtheory,togetherwithothercross-cuttingsciencessuchascyberneticsandinformationtheory,providesnewideasandnewmethodstoopenupnewpathsforhumanthinking.Asanewtrendofmodernscience,theypromotethedevelopmentofvarioussciences.
Systemtheoryreflectsthedevelopmenttrendofmodernscience,reflectsthecharacteristicsofmodernsocializedmassproduction,andreflectsthecomplexityofmodernsociallife,soitstheoriesandmethodscanbewidelyused.Systemtheorynotonlyprovidestheoriesandmethodsforthedevelopmentofmodernscience,butalsoprovidesamethodologicalbasisforsolvingvariouscomplexproblemsinpolitics,economy,military,science,culture,etc.inmodernsociety.SystemconceptsarepermeatingEveryfield.
Thecurrentdevelopmenttrendanddirectionofsystemtheoryismovingtowardsthegoalofunifyingvarioussystemtheoriesandestablishingaunifiedsystemsciencesystem.Somescholarsbelievethat"varioussystem(theory)theorieshaveemergedwiththemovementofsystems,andtheunityofthesesystem(theories)hasbecomeamajorscientificandphilosophicalissue."
Currentresearchsituation
Systemtheoryhasshownseveralnotabletrendsandcharacteristics.First,systemstheoryandcybernetics,informationtheory,operationsresearch,systemsengineering,electroniccomputersandmoderncommunicationtechnologyandotheremergingdisciplinesaremutuallyinfiltratingandcloselyintegrated;second,systemstheory,cybernetics,andinformationtheoryaremovingtowardsthe"threeInthedirectionof“integration”,itisnowclearthatsystemtheoryisthebasisoftheothertwotheories;third,newscientifictheoriessuchasdissipativestructuretheory,synergy,catastrophetheory,fuzzysystemtheory,etc.,haveenrichedanddevelopedsystemsfromvariousaspects.Forthecontentofthetheory,itisnecessarytosummarizeasystemscienceasthebasicscientifictheoryofsystemsscience;fourth,thephilosophyandmethodologyofsystemsciencehaveattractedincreasingattention.Underthesedevelopmentsituationsofsystemscience,manyscholarsathomeandabroadhavedevotedthemselvestotheresearchofvarioussystemtheoriesandexploringwaystoestablishaunifiedsystemsciencesystem.Thefounderofgeneralsystemtheory,BertaLangfi,dividedhissystemtheoryintotwoparts:narrowsystemtheoryandgeneralsystemtheory.Hisspecialsystemtheoryfocusesontheanalysisandresearchofthesystemitself;whilehisgeneralsystemtheoryistheanalysisandresearchofarelatedsystemscience.Itincludesthreeaspects:
1.Systemscience,mathematicalsystemtheory;2.Systemtechnology,involvingfieldssuchascybernetics,informationtheory,operationsresearch,andsystemsengineering;3.Systemphilosophy,Includingtheontology,epistemology,andvalueofthesystem.Someoneproposedtouseinformation,energy,matterandtimeasbasicconceptstoestablishanewunifiedtheory.ProfessorSamuelofStockholmUniversity,Sweden,publishedtheSystemTheoryatthe1976AnnualConferenceonGeneralSystemTheory.Cyberneticsandinformationtheoryareintegratedintoanewsubject.Inthiscase,theAmerican"SystemEngineering"magazineisalsorenamed"SystemScience"magazine.Somescholarsinmycountrybelievethatsystemscienceshouldincludefiveparts:"systemconcept,generalsystemtheory,systemtheorysub-theory,systemmethodology(includingsystemengineeringandsystemanalysis),andapplicationofsystemmethods".ProfessorQianXuesen,afamousscientistinmycountry.Hehasdevotedhimselftotheresearchofsystemsengineeringformanyyears,andattachesgreatimportancetotheissueofestablishingaunifiedsystemsciencesystem.Since1979,hehaspublishedmanyarticlesexpressingthatheregardssystemscienceasamajorsciencealongsidenaturalsciencesandsocialsciences.Systemscience,likenaturalscience,isalsodividedintosystemengineeringtechnology(includingsystemsengineering,automationtechnology,andcommunicationtechnology);systemtechnologyscience(includingfinancialmanagement,cybernetics,giantsystemtheory,andinformationtheory);systembasicscience,(I.e.systemscience);systemview(i.e.thephilosophyandmethodologyofthesystem,whicharethefourlevelsofthebridgeconnectingsystemscienceandMarxistphilosophy).Thesestudiesshowthatthesystemtheorywillstandintheforestofsciencewithanewlookinthenearfuture.
ItisworthnotingthattheChinesescholarProfessorLinFuyongproposedanddevelopedanewsystemtheorycalledthegeneralsystemstructuretheory.Thegeneralsystemstructuretheoryputsforwardanewgeneralsystemconceptsystemmathematically,especiallythenewconceptthatrevealstherelationshipbetweenthecomponentsofthesystem,suchasrelationship,relationshipring,systemstructure,etc.;onthisbasis,itgraspsthesystemTheenvironment,systemstructure,systembehavior,andtherelationshipsandlawsbetweenthemarecommonproblemsthatallsystemshave.Itismathematicallyprovedthatthereareinherentrelationshipsandlawsbetweenthesystemenvironment,systemstructure,andsystembehavior.Inthesystemenvironment,thebehaviorofthesystemisonlydeterminedanddominatedbythesystemstructureatthebasiclevelofthesystem.Thisconclusionprovidesaprecisetheoreticalbasisforsystemresearch.Onthebasisofthisconclusion,thegeneralsystemstructuretheorytheoreticallyrevealsaseriesofgeneralsystemprinciplesandlaws,andsolvesaseriesofgeneralsystemproblems,suchastheexistenceandcharacteristicsofthebasiclevelofthesystem.Totheproblemofcomplexnaturallaws,andtheproblemofwhatistherootofcomplexity,etc.,thesystemtheoryhasbeendevelopedtoalevelthathasprecisetheoreticalcontentandcaneffectivelysolvepracticalsystemproblems.
TheOldThreeTheory
InformationTheory
InformationTheorytakesthemodelofthecommunicationsystemasitsobject,usesprobabilitytheoryandmathematicalstatisticsastools,anddescribesinformationintermsofquantityThetransmissionandextractionofotherissues.Theresearchfieldofinformationtheoryhasexpandedtomachines,biologyandsocialsystems,andhasdevelopedintoasciencethatspecializesinusingmathematicalmethodstostudythegenerallawsofhowtomeasure,extract,transform,transmit,storeandcontrolvarioussysteminformation.
Cybernetics
Itiscyberneticsthatusesconceptssuchasinformationandfeedbacktostudythestate,functionandbehaviorofthesystem,regulationandcontrolthroughblackboxsystemidentificationandfunctionalsimulationsimulationmethodsThesystemreachesthegoalstablyandoptimally.Cyberneticsfullyembodiesthedevelopmenttrendofmodernscienceasawholeandintegration,andhasveryimportantmethodologicalsignificance.
Systemtheory
Systemtheoryusesconceptssuchascompleteness,concentration,hierarchicalstructure,ultimateness,logicalisomorphism,etc.,tostudythemodesandprinciplesapplicabletoallintegratedsystemsorsubsystemsAndthelaw,andtrytomathematicallydescribeitsstructureandfunction.Thesystememphasizestheorganicconnectionbetweenthewholeandthepart,thepartandthepart,andthewholeandtheexternalenvironment.Ithasthreebasiccharacteristics:thewhole,thedynamicandthepurpose.Asaguidingideology,systemtheoryrequiresthatthingsbeexaminedasawholeorasasystem,whichconformstotheMarxistphilosophicalprincipleabouttheuniversalconnectionofthematerialworld.