FACETS OF SYSTEMS SCIENCE SECOND EDITION International Federation for Systems Research International Series on Systems Science and Engineering

Series Editor: George J. Klir State University of New York at Binghamtom

Editorial Board Gerrit Broekstra Ivan M. Havel Erasmus University. Rotterdam. Charles University. Prague. The Netherlands Czech Republic John L. Casti Manfred Peschel Santa Fe Institute. New Mexico Academy of Sciences. Berlin. Germany Brian Gaines Franz Pichler University of Calgary. Canada University of Linz. Austria

Volume 9 CHAOTIC LOGIC: Language. Thought. and Reality from the Perspective of Complex Systems Science Ben Goertzel Volume 10 THE FOUNDATIONS OF FUZZY CONTROL Harold W. Lewis, III Volume 11 FROM COMPLEXITY TO CREATIVITY: Explorations in Evolutionary. Autopoietic. and Cognitive Dynamics Ben Goertzel Volume 12 GENERAL SYSTEMS THEORY: A Mathematical Approach Yi Lin Volume 13 PRINCIPLES OF QUANTITATIVE LIVING SYSTEMS SCIENCE James R. Simms Volume 14 INTELLIGENT ROBOTIC SYSTEMS: Design. Planning. and Control Witold Jacak Volume 15 FACETS OF SYSTEMS SCIENCE: Second Edition George J. Klir

IFSR was established "to stimulate all activities associated with the scientific study of systems and to coordinate such activities at intemationallevel." The aim of this series is to stimulate publication of high-quality monographs and textbooks on various topics of systems science and engineering. This series complements the Federation's other publications.

A Continuation Order Plan is available for this series. A continuation order will bring delivery of each new volume immediately upon publication. Volumes are billed only upon actual shipment. For further information please contact the publisher.

Volumes \-6 were published by Pergamon Press. FACETS OF SYSTEMS SCIENCE SECOND EDITION

George J. Klir State University of New York at Binghamton Binghamton, New York

Springer Science+Business Media, LLC Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Oata

Klir, George J ., 1932- Facets of systems science/George J . Klir.-2nd ed. p. cm. - (International Federation for Systems Research international series on systems science and engineering; v. 15) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4613-5501-4 ISBN 978-1-4615-1331-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4615-1331-5 1. System theory. I. Title. 11. IFSR international series on systems science and engineering; v. 15. Q295 .K554 2001 003-dc21 2001029880

ISBN 978-1-4613-5501-4 ©2001, 1991, Springer Science+Business Media New York Originally published by Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers 2001 , 1991 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 2nd edition 2001, 1991

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 A C .I.P. record for this book is available from the Library of Congress All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher Preface

This book has a rather strange history. It began in spring 1989, thirteen years after our Systems Science Department at SUNY-Binghamton was established, when I was asked by a group of students in our doctoral program to have a meeting with them. The spokesman of the group, Cliff Joslyn, opened our meeting by stating its purpose. I can closely paraphrase what he said: "We called this meeting to discuss with you, as Chairman of the Department, a fundamental problem with our systems science curriculum. In general, we consider it a good curriculum: we learn a lot of concepts, principles, and methodological tools, mathematical, computational, heu• ristic, which are fundamental to understanding and dealing with systems. And, yet, we learn virtually nothing about systems science itself. What is systems science? What are its historical roots? What are its aims? Where does it stand and where is it likely to go? These are pressing questions to us. After all, aren't we supposed to carry the systems science flag after we graduate from this program? We feel that a broad introductory course to systems science is urgently needed in the curriculum. Do you agree with this assessment?" The answer was obvious and, yet, not easy to give: "I agree, of course, but I do not see how the situation could be alleviated in the foreseeable future. Systems science is still in its forming stage and there is little agreement in the professional community of what it is or what it should be. There is also no textbook for such a course and, above all, who would teach itT' To my amazement, the question was not answered by words, but by a group of forefingers pointed, in a perfect unison, toward me. "Wishful thinking," was my immediate reaction. "Look," I continued, "for some ten years, when I was very active in the systems movement, I was asked countless number of times to deliver keynote addresses, after-dinner speeches, and the like regarding the systems move• ment, its history, state of the art, or its future. I eventually got so tired of these activities that I started to view them as a waste of time, diverting me from serious research. What I am really saying is that these overview lectures are not my cup of tea anymore. And, now, you want me to give such lectures for the whole semester. Although your point is well taken and I will do my best to help you, you clearly have to find someone else to teach the course." The students did not give up. "Why not think it over and have another meeting with us," said one of them. "And, by the way, we will do our utmost to help you with the course in any way you would desire." v vi Preface

There were, in fact, a few more meetings. Their outcome, to make the long story short, was most unexpected: I eventually agreed to teach the course, on an experimental basis, in fall 1989. After making this commitment, I tried to develop some enthusiasm for preparing the course, but all my efforts in this respect were in vain. This lack of enthusiasm continued until I actually started to teach the course. Then, to my surprise, my attitude toward the course changed and I actually began to enjoy preparing and teaching it. The main factor inducing this change, I suspect, was the students. I could feel their enthusiasm for the course and how grateful they were that it was offered. The course, which was entitled Introduction to Systems Science, was a graduate course. It was taken by 23 highly motivated and hardworking graduate students. Lectures in the course were supplemented by heavy reading assignments each week. During the semester, the students were required to read 46 carefully selected classic papers and two classic books on systems science, General Systems Theory by andAn Introduction to by W. Ross Ashby. The purpose of these reading assignments was to provide the students with additional information on topics that were covered only briefly in the lectures. The only requirement in the course was to write a term paper that would overview, in a coherent and critical fashion, the material learned from the lectures and assigned readings. In particular, a detailed critical evaluation of each assigned reading was required. Information contained in these papers turned out to be very valuable. It gave me confidence that, in general, the course was well conceived, and, at the same time, it provided me with some guidance for improving it. One outcome of the course is this text, on which I began to work immediately after the course was completed. It has two parts. Part I, entitled "Systems Science: A Guided Tour," is based upon the class notes I prepared for the lectures; Part II, entitled "Classical Systems Literature," consists of reprints of significant papers that elaborate on some of the topics covered in Part I. The whole book, especially Part II, is heavily influenced by the feedback I received from the students. Some papers that were on the reading list of the course are not included here, while some others are. The primary purpose of this book is to help the reader to develop an adequate general impression of what systems science is, what its main historical roots are, what its relationship is with other areas of human affairs, what its current status is, and what its role in the future is likely to be. In addition, it helps the reader to identify sources for further study of various aspects of systems science. As suggested by the title, Facets of Systems Science, no attempt is made in the book to cover systems science in a comprehensive way. The presentation is not technical and the use of mathematics is minimized. The few mathematical concepts that are used in the book are introduced in the Appendix to Part I. That is, the book is virtually self-contained. The book is suitable as a text for a one-semester course similar to the one described earlier. The course should be offered as either a first-year graduate course Preface vii or an upper-division undergraduate course. Although such a course is essential for programs in systems science and related areas, it could be a valuable enrichment to other programs as well. In addition to its role as a text, the book is also suitable for self-study. For me, the book has another useful function. On numerous occasions, I was asked the question: "What is systems science?" Now, I can answer this laden question with ease: "If you are really interested in what it is, read Facets ofSystems Science." Part I is written from a particular perspective. It reflects primarily my own views, as revealed more explicitly in a biographical paper, "Systems Profile: The of Systems Science," included in Part II. This can hardly be otherwise. However, the one-sided argumentation in Part I is counterbalanced, at least partially, by alternative views expressed in some of the papers in Part II. The main difficulty in working on the book was to select a sample that would be well representative of the tremendous amount of information pertaining to systems science. Hard choices had to be made to produce a book of a reasonable size. The reports I received from the students were quite helpful in making some of the choices. In general, I tried to select papers for Part II that elaborate on or complement some specific arguments made in Part I. That is, I tried to integrate, as well as possible, the two parts of the book. To my regret, I could not include, because of the size limit, many relevant articles that I consider excellent. I am sure that the book has numerous shortcomings. Some of them may be a result of wrong choices of material or of my ignorance about some relevant sources of information; others may be due to my writing style. These shortcomings of the book will surely emerge from its use in various classroom environments. I intend to identify them and revise the book, at some proper time in the future, to make it better and more permanent. GEORGE J. KLIR Binghamton, New York Preface to the Second Edition

A lot of experience was obtained by using the first edition of this book for many years as a text for a typical course "Introduction to Systems Science" in systems science programs. In preparing this second edition, I tried to utilize this experience to make the book a better text. In addition to many minor revisions, there are several major changes in the second edition. First, contrary to the first edition, the second one contains substan• tial number of exercises. Second, individual chapters are broken into more sections to make it easier for students to get oriented. Third, some issues are explained more thoroughly. Fourth, some important new references are added to the bibliography. Fifth, two papers in Part II are replaced with three new papers that cover topics of great importance for systems science students. I am confident that the changes made in the second edition of Facets ofSystems Science will make the text more comfortable for both students and instructors.

GEORGE 1. KLIR Binghamton, New York

ix Note to the Reader

References to literature in Part I are placed at the end of Part I. In text, they are designated by brackets and are identified by the author(s) and the year of publica• tion. References to papers that are included in Part II are further identified by being printed in boldface. After reading each individual chapter of Part I, the reader should proceed to relevant papers (if any) in Part II. The relevance of articles with respect to the individual chapters is identified in the Detailed Contents of Part II. If confused with mathematical terminology and notation employed in Part I, the reader should consult the Appendix.

xi Acknowledgments

As explained above, this book would never have been written if the gentle pressure had not been applied to me by five of my doctoral students to teach a course from which it emerged. Therefore, these students should be given the same credit (or blame) as I for this literary product. They are: Cliff Joslyn, Kevin Kreitman, Mark Scarton, Ute St. Clair, and William Tastle. Two of these, Cliff Joslyn and William Tastle, played additional roles. Cliff helped me to prepare the course and, to some degree, also helped me to teach it. Bill, who took the course, read a semifinal version of the manuscript of this book and gave me many valuable comments for improve• ment; later, he also helped me proofread the galleys. I am very grateful to both of them for their extremely valuable support. I am also grateful to all the students who took the course, inspired me by their enthusiasm, and prepared critical analyses of the course that appeared to be very instrumental in my work on the book. I would also like to express my gratitude to Bonnie Cornick and Monika Fridrich for their excellent typing of the manuscript of the first and second edition, respectively. Last, but not least, I am grateful to my wife, Milena, for her understanding, support, and patience during my disciplined work on the book. Part I contains many excellent quotes and I am grateful to the copyright owners for permitting me to use the material. They are: Behavioral Science (James G. Miller, ed.), Gordon and Breach (New York), Hutchinson (London), Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), International Federation for Systems Research (lFSR), International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), John Wiley (New York), MIT Press (Cambridge, Massachusetts), of Science Association, Pergamon Press (Oxford), Plenum Press (New York), Springer• Verlag (New York), and Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. (New York). Part II of this book consists of36 reprinted articles, some of them appropriately shortened. The following is a list of copyright owners whose permissions to reproduce the articles in this book are gratefully acknowledged: American Philosophical Society (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) Association for Cybernetics (Namur, Belgium) Elsevier Scientific Publishers Ireland Ltd. (Limerick, Ireland) Ervin Laszlo (Pisa, Italy) Gordon and Breach Science Publishers (New York) The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (Piscataway, New Jersey) The Institute of Management Science (Providence, Rhode Island) xiii xiv Acknowledgments

International Federation for Systems Research (Vienna, Austria) International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (Laxenburg, Austria) International Society for the Systems Sciences (Pomona, California) John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (New York) Kluwer Academic Publishers (Dordrecht, The Netherlands) The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Inc. (Reston, Virginia) Operations Research Society of America (Baltimore, Maryland) Pergamon Press (Oxford, U.K.) Plenum Publishing Corporation (New York) The Research Council of Norway (Oslo, Norway) Sage Publications, Inc. (Beverly Hills, California) Sigma Xi Research Society (Research Triangle Park, North Carolina) Springer-Verlag (New York) Taylor & Francis, Ltd. (London, U.K.) The United Nations University (Tokyo, Japan) Contents

Part I SYSTEMS SCIENCE: A GUIDED TOUR .....•.... 1

Chapter 1 What Is Systems Science? ...... 3

Chapter 2 More about Systems ...... 9 2.1. Common-Sense Definition...... 9 2.2. More about Relations ...... 13 2.3. Constructivism versus Realism . 19 2.4. Classification of Systems . 24 ·Exercises ...... 28

Chapter 3 Systems Movement ...... 31 3.1. The Role of Mathematics and Computer Technology · 31 3.2. Systems Thinking ...... · 37 3.3. Other Relevant Developments. .47 3.4. rno-Dimensional Science. · 52 Exercises ...... 54

Chapter 4 Conceptual Frameworks ... .55 4.1. Introduction ...... 55 4.2. Deductive Approaches . .56 4.3. Inductive Approaches . · 61 4.4. Epistemological Categories of Systems . .63 4.5. Epistemological Hierarchy of Systems · 86 Exercises ...... · 87

ChapterS Systems Methodology .. 89 5.1. Systems Problem Solving . . . . .89 5.2. General Systems Problem Solver · 93 5.3. Systems Modeling ...... 95 xv xvi Contents

5.4. Classification of Systems Models ... · 98 5.5. Systems Modeling in a Broader Sense. · 101 5.6. Methodological Role of the Computer. · 105 Exercises ...... · 106

Chapter 6 Systems Metamethodology ...... 109 6.1. Problems versus Methods . · 109 6.2. Characteristics of Methods . . . . . · 110 6.3. Methodological Paradigms . . . . . · 112 6.4. Examples of Methodological Paradigms . · 113 Exercises ...... · 121

Chapter 7 Systems Knowledge. . .123 7.1. Traditional Knowledge versus Systems Knowledge. . 123 7.2. Systems Science Laboratory . . 124 7.3. Laws of Systems Science. . . . 125 7.4. Metamethodological Inquiries . 128 Exercises ...... 133

ChapterS Complexity ... 135 8.1. What Is Complexity? ...... · 135 8.2. Complexity and Information . . . · 137 8.3. Bremermann's Computational Limit. · 144 8.4. Computational Complexity. · 149 Exercises ...... · 157

Chapter 9 Simplification Strategies ...... 159 9.1. Complexity versus Simplicity ...... 159 9.2. Systems Simplification: A General Formulation. . 161 9.3. Special Simplification Strategies. . 162 Exercises ...... 168

Chapter 10 Goal-Oriented Systems. .171

10.1. Goal and Performance...... · 171 10.2. Paradigms of Goal-Oriented Systems. · 175 10.3. Adaptive Systems ...... · 177 10.4. Special Types of Goal Orientation · 183 Exercises ...... · 190 Contents xvii

Chapter 11 Systems Science in Retrospect and Prospect...... 191 11.1. Criticism ...... 191 11.2. Status and Impact of Systems Science . 197 11.3. The Future of Systems Science ... 213

Appendix Mathematical Terminology and Notation 219

References...... 223

Part II CLASSICAL SYSTEMS LITERATURE 235 Introduction and Comments 237 Detailed Contents . . . . 239

Author Index ...... 731

Subject Index ...... 735