Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
3,898,090,237 visitors served.
forum Join the Word of the Day Mailing List For webmasters
?
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

Self-Organization

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia 0.03 sec.
self-organization [‚self ‚ȯr·gə·nə′zā·shən]
(chemistry)
The capability of a system to spontaneously generate a well-defined supramolecular entity by self-assembling from components in a given set of conditions.

Self-Organization 

a process during which the organization of a complex dynamic system is created, reproduced, or improved. Self-organization processes can occur only in systems that have a high level of complexity and a large number of elements; the relations between the elements must be of a probabilistic rather than a rigid nature. The properties of self-organization are exhibited by such diverse systems as a living cell, an organism, a biological population, a biocenosis, and a human community. The processes of self-organization involve the reorganization of existing relations between elements of the system and the formation of new relations. It is characteristic of self-organization processes that such processes are goal-oriented but, at the same time, natural and spontaneous. These processes may occur when the system interacts with the environment, but they are to some degree autonomous and are relatively independent of the environment.

Three types of processes of self-organization are distinguished. The first type is the self-generation of organization, that is, the emergence of a new, integral system with its own specific regularities from some aggregation of integral objects of a given level. An example is the genesis of multicellular organisms from unicellular ones. The second type comprises processes by which a system maintains a certain level of organization when changes occur in the external and internal conditions under which the system functions. The chief object of study here is homeostatic mechanisms (see HOMEOSTASIS), in particular, mechanisms whose operation is based on the negative-feedback principle. The third type involves the improvement and self-development of systems that are able to accumulate and make use of experience.

The problems of self-organization were first subjected to special investigation in cybernetics. The term “self-organizing system” was introduced by the English cyberneticist W. R. Ashby in 1947. Extensive study of self-organization began in the late 1950’s for the purpose of discovering new principles permitting the construction of equipment with a high level of reliability and the designing of computers capable of modeling various aspects of human mental activity. The investigation of the problems of self-organization has become one of the chief ways in which the ideas and methods of cybernetics, information theory, and systems theory enter biological and social knowledge.

REFERENCES

Braines, S. N., and A. V. Napalkov. “Nekotorye voprosy teorii samoor-ganizuiushchikhsia sistem.” Voprosyfilosofii, 1959, no. 6.
Samoorganizuiushchiesia sistemy. Moscow, 1964. (Translated from English.)
Printsipy samoorganizatsii. Moscow, 1966. (Translated from English.)
Kremianskii, V. I. Strukturnye urovni zhivoi materii. Moscow, 1969.
Prigozhin, A. I. Sotsiologicheskie aspekty upravleniia. Moscow, 1974.
Self-organizing Systems. Washington, 1962.
Form by, J. An Introduction to the Mathematical Formulation of Self-organizing Systems. London, 1965.

B. G. IUDIN



Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Feedback
Mentioned in?  References in periodicals archive?   Encyclopedia browser?   Full browser?
No references found
 
Truly visionary and unwavering, the book proposes a solution based on self-organization, sustain ability, and community rather than corporate power and profits.
9789812793362 Physics of self-organization systems; proceedings.
9781845641337 City out of chaos; urban self-organization and sustainability.
 
 
Self-objectification
self-observation
self-observed therapy
Self-one
self-opinion
self-opinionated
Self-opinioned
Self-Optimized Prediction Method
self-optimizing communications
self-ordained
Self-Ordered Pointing Task
self-organisation
self-organisation
Self-organisation system
Self-organisation system
Self-organisation systems
Self-organisation systems
Self-organise
Self-organise
Self-organised
Self-organised
Self-organised criticality
Self-Organised Nano-Structures
Self-organising
Self-organising
Self-Organising Low-Dimensional Electronic Structures
Self-organising system
Self-organising system
Self-organising systems
Self-organising systems
Self-Organization
Self-Organization and Adaptation of Computing and Communications
Self-Organization in Multi-Agent Systems
Self-Organization in Pervasive Distributed Systems
Self-Organization of the European Information Society
Self-organization system
Self-organization system
Self-organization systems
Self-organization systems
Self-Organization-Oriented Computing
Self-organize
Self-organize
Self-organized criticality
Self-organized criticality
Self-organized Magnetic Array Media
Self-organized systems
Self-organized systems
Self-organizing
Self-organizing
Self-Organizing Automatic Keyboard Instructor
Self-Organizing Box Map
Self-Organizing Cellular Automata
Self-organizing criticality
self-organizing function
Self-Organizing Fuzzy Logic Control
Self-organizing map
Self-Organizing Medium Access Control for Sensor Networks
Self-Organizing Molecular Field Analysis
Self-Organizing Network
Self-Organizing Neural Network
Self-Organizing Packet Radio Ad-Hoc Networks with Overlay
 
Encyclopedia
?

Terms of Use | Privacy policy | Feedback | Advertise with Us | Copyright © 2012 Farlex, Inc.
Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.