Collective Beings (Contemporary Systems Thinking) - Hardcover

Minati, Gianfranco; Pessa, Eliano

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0387355413 ISBN 13: 9780387355412

Publisher: Springer, 2006

Synopsis

This book offers an overview on the background to systemics. It introduces the concept of Collective Being as a Multiple System established by processes of emergence and self-organization of the same agents simultaneously or dynamically interacting in different ways. The principles underlying this approach are grounded on the theoretical role of the observer. This view allows to model in a more suitable way complex systems, such as in physics, biology and economics.

About this title

From the Back Cover

With collective behaviors playing a fundamental role in many scientific and technical disciplines, COLLECTIVE BEINGS focuses its attention on socio-economic applications to be used, for example, to increase corporate profitability and productivity. To this end, the book provides the reader with deep insights into modern conceptual tools of economy based on systemics.

In the book, collective behaviors are shown by systems composed of individual parts or agents. Moreover, COLLECTIVE BEINGS illuminates the interplay between system and individual in a remarkable new way: their collective beings give rise to systems having quite different behavior, namely that of the group and that of the individual agent. The authors always take the various aspects into account - for instance, the components of one system may be simultaneously the components of another system as well. They stress the importance of cognitive models used by the interacting agents, of the role of the observer and of the dynamic use of many cognitive models. The concept of being virtual in contradistinction to being actual is examined, and the role of ethical agreements is underlined, along with a careful discussion of different concepts of ethics as well as their relation to quality. Systemics is viewed as a cultural framework crossing disciplines and the final result is a book coined by a profound humanitarian attitude, in which the authors state that often 'technological solutions are designed for problems rather than for people having these problems.'

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0387355413
• ISBN 13: 9780387355412
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 462