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Synergetics

Synergetics refers to what can loosely be called the "European" (vice US) approach to the study of complex systems. Consider a complex system (that is, a system composed of many individual parts) that is controlled from the outside in some manner by a control parameter (say, the system is driven by a constant influx of energy and/or matter). As the control parameter is changed, the system's state can become unstable and be replaced by a new state characterized by particular kinds of spatial, temporal or functional structures. Synergetics consists of strategies of describing what happens when the macroscopic state of systems undergoes a qualitative change. More colloquially, "synergy" is used to refer to how the action of two or more entities ("parts") can achieve an effect that cannot be achieved by any of the parts alone.

Web Resources On Synergetics

http://www.cna.org/isaac/Glossb.htm

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