3.3.1 taxonomìa de jordan

7.1.3 Taxonomy Jordan
©1999 Carlisle Bergquist, MA, Ph.D.c
Introduction
This essay is an exploration. Specifically, it will explore creativity as if it
is a transcendental system. It will use James Miller's (1978) General
Living Systems Theory as a platform for this exploration. First, this
essay will examine Miller's theory and then explore and assess Livings
Systems Theory's feasible application to transcendental systems. It will
perform this exploration and assessment by modeling creativity as a
transcendental system termed here as a transcendental creative system.
It will, as described below, attempt to show the transformation from the
transcendental space in which the creative system extends to the
physical space of our empirical senses. Admittedly, it will not be a
perfect fit.
There is a danger inherent in using this model to study creativity to
which Miller alludes. He portends that one must be clear about whether
they are describing an abstract system or a concrete system and refrain
from mixing the two. Likewise, concrete systems exist in physical space
while conceptual or abstract systems exist in other spaces; for example,
pecking and dominance orders in animal groups, social classes, or the
mathematical phase space in chaos theory. Miller writes:
Scientists who make observations and measurements in any space
other than physical space should attempt to indicate precisely what the
transformations are from their space to physical space. (1978, p.10)
Creativity paradoxically moves beyond physical space into transcendent
space, the systems domain Boulding (1956) calls transcendental; thus,
using living systems theory to describe transcendent space is fraught
with difficulties. Boulding, Checkland (1972) and others refer to
transcendental or transcendent systems; to my knowledge, they have
presented no model. That remains the dominion of religion and
philosophy. Jordan (1968) names eight kinds of systems based on three
pairs of polar opposites; rate of change, purpose, and connectivity.
Jordan's taxonomy would describe creativity as described in this writing
as the eighth category - a Functional, Non-purposive, Organismic
system, a part of the space-time continuum. I take exception and
postulate that this transcendental creative system is purposive: it is our
embedded perspective that makes its purpose incomprehensible. This
essay therefore deals with transcendent systems as Functional,
Purposive, and Organismic. Living systems theory is thus an
appropriate model to explore it. Scientific study stops at the
transcendent boundary, admitting its possible presence, but calling it
unknowable. Heeding Miller's admonition, this paper will attempt to

connect this creative system in transcendent space with physical space.
Transformation will require the use of metaphor and symbol. This
writing will use what St. Bonaventure called; "the eye of the flesh," the
eye of reason," and "the eye of contemplation," as metaphors for such
transformation. I will explain them in detail later in this paper. The
transformation process from transcendent to physical space involves
certain key terms that Miller defines for concrete systems. This essay
will will now outline General Living Systems Theory and briefly discuss
these terms as Miller uses them and though they may prove to be
problematic in describing transcendental systems.
General Living Systems Theory
My central thesis is that systems at all levels are open systems
composed of subsystems which process inputs, throughputs, and
outputs of various forms of matter, energy, and information. (Miller,
1978, p.1)
The above quotation describes living systems. James Miller elaborates
an extensive model of living systems, a subset of all systems described
in general systems theory (Bertalanffy,1968). This explication will, of
needs, reduce Miller's thoughts within the constraints of this writing. It
has taken Miller hundreds of pages to construct his thesis: I can
scarcely represent it properly in the pages of this essay. The limitations
not with standing, there are good reasons to choose General Living
Systems Theory as a model to understand further the creative process
that will become evident in this writing.
Miller's method is a conceptual system used to describe concrete
systems. Concrete systems have empirical components: they can be
measured and studied. However, living systems theory ignores a key
component of its systems; that component is life itself. Life is abstract
and unobservable. We study its effects and describe its presence but,
life itself remains a mystery. It is this that both gives credence to the
value, and exposes the weakness, of using living systems theory in
studying creativity. This writing will consider creativity synonymous
with life for life processes are a continuous act of creation. To live is to
create whether consciously or unconsciously. We unavoidably
encounter creativity in everything from the processes of the simplest
cell, to the theoretical thoughts of this paper.
Central Concepts in Living Systems Theory
Space-Time
As mentioned, living system are concrete, they exist in physical space.
Over time the actual physical space occupied by a living system may
change considerably. This may be a change in location, a change in
form like growth and aging, or both. Time is the fourth dimension of the

physical universe and living systems. Though free to move in any
direction in the other dimensions, living systems only move forward in
the temporal dimension. Thus, a living system will always change from
one observation to the next with no ability to reverse the changes that
have occurred. Living systems maintain their integrity, albeit changing,
by imputing energy from outside their boundaries. Even so, eventually
entropy (the tendency to move into a state of random disorganization),
overtakes the system as its ability to move matter-energy across its
boundary declines. The system then dies or disintegrates.
Matter-energy
"Matter is anything which has mass and occupies physical space.
Energy as defined by physics is the ability to do work" (Miller 1978,
p.11). The total amount of energy and matter remains constant in the
universe though it may change from one state to the other. This is the
conservation of energy in physics. Living systems sustain themselves by
ingesting matter and converting it to energy. Living systems are unable
to receive energy directly, except for plants that use sunlight through
the process of photosynthesis. All living systems primarily derive energy
from sunlight stored in matter by earlier living systems that contained
chlorophyll. Miller uses the term matter-energy since they are they are
in an inseparable relationship, as sort of flux equilibrium. As
mentioned, living systems must import matter-energy from outside their
boundaries to maintain their integrity and perform their processes. If
input stops, the living system ceases to exist. The import of matter-
energy to minimize entropy within the system increases entropy outside
the system, thus the physical universe conserves the flux equilibrium
by decreasing order in one area to increase or maintain it in another.
Information
Information means "the degree of freedom that exist in a given situation
to choose among signals, symbols, messages, or patterns to be
transmitted" (Miller, 1978, p. 11). This also seems true of receiving
information. Miller uses "meaning" as the significance a given system
places on information, that is, its usefulness to the system. In concrete
systems (including living systems), information markers are
quantifiable; for example, the digital signals found in electronic
communication systems. Information may be of several types from
which the system must find meaning. Information literally means to
bring into form. Thus, information is the creative directive for a system
in its use of matter-energy. The information selected determines what a
system will do with input, how it will be throughput, and what its
output will be.
Information transfers on what von Neumann (1958) termed markers.
Markers are the observable bundles, or units of matter-energy that
contain and communicate symbols from one place to another. Examples

of markers range from the digital bits used by a computer, patterning of
a DNA molecule, or the vibration of a radio transmission. The less
energy needed to transfer the information marker from one place to
another, the more efficient the system is and the greater the amount of
information the system can process. Bremermann (1962), an
information theorist, estimated a minimum amount of energy that can
transfer information as a marker based on quantum-mechanical
considerations and estimated that the maximum information a system
can process is 2 x 1047 bits per second, per gram of its mass. Thus, in
concrete systems markers can be measured and the information it can
process estimated. This material is less useful in this paper's
description of transcendental systems since we are at this time unable
to measure and observe this realm but it will help to consider
information markers in relation to the creative process later in this
writing.
Before attempting a synthesis of General Living Systems Theory into a
general theory of creativity, I will describe living systems as Miller's
depicts them.
Section I: General Living Systems Theory
Living systems exhibit similarities though they express different levels of
complexity. In Miller's system there are seven hierarchical levels: the
cell, the organ, the organism, the group, the organization, the society,
and the supranational system. Each level in this hierarchy subsumes
those below it though they may exist in different spaces. For example,
though all exist in physical space, groups, organizations, societies and,
the supranational systems also exist in a conceptual space defined by
consensus in the social sciences. Though expressing these differences,
Miller asserts that these systems are isomorphic and that all of them
inherently possess similar critical subsystems. Miller outlines 19 such
critical subsystems. These subsystems, though obviously made up of
different components at each level of the hierarchy, perform the same,
or similar, functions and processes for their respective systems. This
paper will now give a short description of each of these subsystems and
provide some examples from different levels of the hierarchy. Describing
all levels is imprudent in this writing so I will concentrate on the cell,
and the society as examples and refer little to other levels. These two
levels represent a concrete and a conceptual type of space respectively.
The 19 Subsystems
Component subsystems at each level of the hierarchy handle different
processes for the system in which they exist. Some process matter-
energy, some process information and, a few process both matter-
energy and information. I will describe them below according to what
they process.

Subsystems which process both matter-energy and information:
1. Reproducer
The reproducer subsystem is capable of producing another system like,
or similar to, the one it is in. To accomplish this task, the reproducer
transmits the information needed to organize, and the matter-energy
necessary for construction of the offspring system. There are many
processes carried out by this subsystem but the result is the output of
an independent offspring that will replicate the system in the larger
environment. Because there are several processes involved, reproducer
subsystems at different hierarchical levels may be independently
capable of reproducing the system or, at higher levels they may be
downwardly dispersed and dependent on their component subsystems
to reproduce as well as upwardly dispersed toward their suprasystems.
For example, some cells can reproduce through one or both of two
methods, asexual (fission), or sexual reproduction that requires
combining genetic material from another cell (fusion). Organs are not
able to reproduce themselves. An organ downwardly disperses
reproduction requiring its cells (its subsystem), to generate new
material. It also upwardly disperses reproduction by requiring its
organism (suprasystem), to provide matter-energy and information. The
process disperses further to a supra-suprasystem as the organism
forms a mating dyad and inputs new genetic materials and information.
At the cell level, the reproducer subsystem involves both the
components of the nucleus, and the cytoplasm of the cell. Again
prudence does not allow explanation of the entire process in this
example but, as mentioned, reproduction can involve either asexual or
sexual processes. The nucleus divides through the process of mitosis in
asexual reproduction and later the cell divides all its component
subsystems to regenerate them in a new cell. In sexual reproduction
called meiosis (a special form of mitosis), the chromosomes separate
and eventually create four cells, each of which contain half the original
chromosome chain. These cells (i.e., sperm, eggs, or certain conjugal
protozoan), then merge with a cell from a mate to form a new cell, or
eventually an organism.
A second process emerges as the reproducer from the group level on up
the hierarchy. The reproducer subsystem in these cases implements the
production of new systems through the process of chartering. In
societies for example, chartering is the reformation or reorganization of
components such that a new society comes into being. This may occur
when a society becomes too large and separates for economic or
geographical reasons, or when a leader emerges who brings revolution
or independence within the society. In all these cases the parent society
transfers matter-energy and information to the offspring. The process
metaphorically resembles mitosis when it is a simple division of the
component groups, or meiosis when the new society results from a

recombination of component elements from more than one society, such
as the Spanish settling Latin America causing both the Spanish and
Indian cultures to merge in a new society.
2. Boundary
The boundary is the subsystem at the periphery of the system that
holds it together separating it from its environment. It protects the
system and allows needed matter-energy and information to pass in and
out of the system and excludes what is either not useful, or harmful to
the system. Living systems may have artifacts distributes along their
boundaries that give added strength like the bark of trees, feathers, or
fortifications such as the Golan heights between Israel and Syria.
In the cell, the boundary is a semi-permeable membrane that
surrounds it. It may have flagella, cilia, or secreted substances that
help protect it, or transport materials across the boundary. The
boundary is more easily crossed in specific locations; i.e., near the
ingestor and input transducer for importing matter-energy and
information respectively, and near the extruder and output transducer
for eliminating system products and byproducts.
In a society the boundary consists of organizations that protect the
system and, as with the cell, regulate the transfer of matter-energy and
information in to and, out of, the system. These organizations may be
military, and administrative such as immigration services, or diplomatic
stations. Services like diplomatic embassies may exist outside the
system yet serve as access points to their original systems boundary.
Matter-energy arrives at the boundary as raw material for industry,
immigrants, and products from other systems. Along with being a
barrier, the boundary filters the matter-energy and maintains the flux
equilibrium between the matter-energy outside and inside the system.
Thus, a system retains a steady state.
Information boundaries are more complex. They may be the same as
physical boundaries in some cases. Information boundaries might also
include organizations that process and regulate the information in
different localities like banks exchanging currency, agencies with
society members on foreign soil, and electronic connectivity of many
sorts that extend outward to the system's environment.
Subsystems which process Matter-energy:
3. Ingestor
The ingestor brings matter-energy across the boundary for use by the
system. It enables a system to eat, or import matter-energy. There are
many specialized ingestors that vary at each hierarchical level. In

general, the more complex the system the more specialized is the
ingestor. As examples, a cell wall may have only a gap in it, while an
organization might have several groups that process various types of
matter-energy input.
The cellular system level may also have a variety of ingestors. Much of
the matter-energy that comes to a cell arrives in solution; thus, many
cell boundaries are semi-permeable membranes that, by osmosis, allow
fluid suspensions to enter the system. Some cells like amoebas and
leukocytes can also pass solid materials across their boundaries. In free
living cells there may be a more specialized ingestor at the base of a
depression on the cell wall that ingests matter. Flagella or cilia might
move the particulate matter to this opening at their base. Thus, even in
a simple cell, ingestors involve a variety of processes.
A society diversifies multiple processes throughout many specialized
groups. Societies ingest many forms of matter-energy including new
citizens, tourists, raw materials from mining and agricultural imports,
and many other forms of living and non-living matter-energy. These
many forms require vastly different ingestor mechanisms. Societies who
are capable of handling more information ingest different types of
matter-energy. For example, a technologically advanced society
generally imports more raw materials. This suggests a link between the
ingestor and information input transducer though the process different
elements. In a material sense, the ingestor system of a society is where
the infrastructure meets the boundary. Ingestor artifacts are ports,
airports, train depots, and everything that brings matter-energy within
the system boundary.
4. Distributor
Once inside a system, matter-energy moves about its infrastructure by
the distributor subsystem. It transports the matter-energy that is either
input, or processed by another subsystem around the system to the
appropriate component. In simple organisms the distributor may be a
system of canals, or the vascular system in more advanced organisms.
This subsystem is the viaduct that carries throughput, whether it is
waist material or the final output while the system processes it.
The endoplasmic reticula (a system of minute tubules and vesicles that
traverse the cell's cytoplasm), distributes matter-energy in most cells. In
muscles cells, a similar system called the sarcoplasmic reticula is the
distributor. A membrane encloses these tiny pathways that connect
with the cell membrane (ingestor). As matter-energy enters the system it
carried to the various organelles and components of the cell. There are
other organelles that also participate in the distributor system in some
cells: I will not mention them all.

Societies move massive quantities of matter-energy from one place to
another to supply the needs of all its component members. To
accomplish this task societies build mass transit systems that carry
automobile, trucks, trains, and planes. All of these engage in the
process of distribution. There are also electric power lines and pipelines
that move materials through the system. All of these, and the
organizations engaged in providing and maintaining them, are part of
the distributor. The efficiency of distribution has much to do with the
overall vigor of the system. Inefficient distribution systems lose much
energy within the subsystem itself. As an example, imagine moving
produce from west coast to the East by pony express as opposed to air
freight; matter-energy would be subject to complete entropy in the first
example.
5. Converter
Matter-energy brought into a system often needs processing to be useful
to the system. The converter subsystem changes such matter-energy
into an appropriate form. Converter subsystems are quite different from
level to level as each level processes different matter-energy. For
example, in a family group, a cook may prepare a meal by cooking,
chopping and combining food stuffs that individual organisms chew and
mix with secreted saliva enzymes that further convert the matter-energy
to a useful form.
In the cell, the converter subsystem has several member components
that include the mitochondria and other organelles. The various
organelles contain or secret enzymes that change the substances
entering the cell into the less complex chemical "building blocks"
needed for cell process, and the energy needed to function.
Mitochondria locate in places where the cell needs energy. In muscle
cells this is often at points of contraction. The cell obtains energy by
breaking down the larger molecules found in proteins, fats and
carbohydrates. Enzyme conversions may extend beyond the organelles
and occur as hydrolyzed matter-energy substances brought into the cell
in solution. Oxidation furthers the process that occurs again in the
mitochondria. I will describe any more of the cell's chemical reactions
that are part of this process: there are too many for inclusion here.
Societies convert matter-energy in many ways. They convert matter into
energy when they burn fuel to produce heat or electrical power for
example. They convert matter into other forms of matter through
various manufacturing enterprises such as raw ore into refined metals,
or timber into lumber. Hydroelectric plants convert potential energy into
electric power as another example. Societies then convert electric power
back into heat and light for distribution throughout. The converter
subsystem may disperse downwardly to organizations, groups, and
individuals that convert energy for their own needs. Organizations that
comprise the converter subsystem include power companies, smelting

operations, mills of all types, refineries, and food processing plants
among many others. In general, advanced societies rely heavily on
artifacts for this operation in the form of tools created for the various
operations. More primitive societies tend to use greater amounts of
human physical labor.
6. Producer
The producer subsystem "forms stable associations that endure for
significant periods among matter-energy inputs to the system or
outputs from its converter." (Miller, 1978, p.58) Clearly the producer at
different levels of this hierarchy forms associations of varying
complexity. The system may use these associations for growth, damage
repair or replacement, energy for moving or constructing system output,
or for information markers to be transfers to its environment. Examples
of this might be the production of artifacts by physically combining and
bonding together converted materials as happens in the manufacture of
an automobile through forming metals and plastics into parts and
fastening them together in permanent relationships. In an organism it
may be the synthesis of specialized products that occurs when bone
marrow generates red blood cells.
Cell level producers include the mitochondria (a widely functioning
organelle), ribosomes and other organelles that synthesize converted
raw materials into more stable molecular structures like enzymes to
continue cell processes, lipids to repair cell membranes, and energy to
function. Cells that contain chlorophyll synthesize energy and produce
glucose; they are thus able to provide their own nutrition. Other cells
must use the substances from the converter subsystem and extend
their synthesis in production. Production at the sub cellular level
involves many chemical processes, some of which are still not
understood. Thus I will not attempt to describe them here.
Producers in society make and repair artifacts, and contribute to the
maintenance of societal subsystems. There are many such producer
organizations some of which disperse downwardly by relying on groups
and individual organisms. Examples include industries that combine
matter and energy to create a myriad of products useful to societal
subsystems or output as a product of the societal system. This also
includes health care providers that help repair and maintain member
organisms. Technologically advanced societies are generally more
efficient producers while less advanced societies again require more
man hours of labor to accomplish tasks. Likewise, there is a difference
in the complexity of the products produced; for example, the basket
woven by on individual in a primitive society compared to a computer
and its component parts in a technological society.
7. Matter-energy storage

Matter-energy storage is the subsystem that preserves and maintains a
reserve for the system to use later. This occurs in various ways at
different system levels. A cell stores energy as rapidly available
phosphate molecules or, for longer storage as glucose or glycogen. Some
cells store fat and lipids for even longer periods. In organisms there are
subcutaneous, and other, tissues that store fat as a reserve for the
entire organism. Groups and organizations have storage areas that may
include artifacts like pantries, batteries, water tanks and more. These
store food and materials for later use. Societies extend this process with
entire organizations dedicated to the storage process. All system levels
involve three aspects of this process; putting matter-energy into storage,
maintaining it, and retrieving it when needed. This subsystem's purpose
is relatively clear; thus, I will not give more examples at the cell and
society levels as I have with other subsystems.
8. Extruder
Systems process matter-energy that, after use, they must remove. The
extruder transmits such matter-energy out of the system either as
products or as waste. Often the system's output goal is producing a
product useful to its suprasystem. However, some extruded matter-
energy that is waste to the system may also be useful to the
suprasystem. The symbiotic relationship between plant and animal life
is such and example.
Like numerous subsystems at the cellular level, many components
comprise the extruder that may play a role in other subsystems. The
cell membrane, for example, serves as extruder in many cells. Some free
living cells have specialized anal pores or cytoprocts or, contractile
vacuoles that extrude waste from the system. There can be other non-
waste output from cells that is useful to their suprasystem. For
example, cells called electroplaques generate electrical charges that
serve their suprasystem as a defense mechanism. Glandular cells and
neurons extrude secretions that transmit information for the
suprasystem: in some cases they are also part of the output transducer
subsystem.
Societies process many kinds of matter-energy; thus, they have a wide
variety of waste matter and products. A society's extruder subsystem
must perform many functions and therefore often requires specialized
organizations. Societies must safely transport waste materials from
human industry and human life and dispose them where they are less
harmful. Waste disposal is of such magnitude in modern societies that
it often breeds contention between societies or among competing
interests within a society as happens with nuclear waste products.
Thus, waste management organizations and dump sites are part of a
society's extruder subsystem including the many artifacts used to
transport and process the waste. Societies may also extrude human
members by permanently segregating them in penal facilities.

Immigration services likewise remove non-members by sending them
outside the system boundary. A society extrudes and transports output
to other societies through trade in the form of products. The distributor
subsystem moves these products that then leave the system through
ports, airports, pipelines, electrical lines and so on much the same as
when material entered the system through similar facilities. One
additional product the system may extrude is information markers that
convey messages to other societies with which the system interacts.
9. Motor
Motor subsystems move the system, or its parts, in relation to one
another or their environment. In some cases they may be immobile and
instead move their environment to meet their needs. Plants that move
gases and liquids through their system for nourishment, input and,
dispersing their output are examples of this. More complex systems
may downwardly disperse the motor subsystem such that its member
components can move themselves independently.
Cells may be free living or, component members in the tissue of organs
and organisms. Thus, the motor subsystem in each type is quite
different. Free living cells move about their environment with flagella or
cilia in most cases or, as in the amoebae, by moving their cytoplasm
into pseudopodia or "false feet." As members of tissue, cells move by the
motor subsystem of their suprasystem, or they may be part of the
muscle tissue that makes up the suprasystems motor. Thus, these cells
upwardly disperse locomotion whether they are part of their
environment's motor tissue or not.
Societies rarely move in full. On the occasion that they do, they require
a massive mobilization. The exodus of the Israelites is perhaps the most
noted example of such a move. However, societies often downwardly
disperse their motor functions to organizations and individuals. In
modern societies this includes the vehicles driven by individuals and all
other forms of transportation. The companies that provide and maintain
mobility are also part of the motor subsystem. Thus, society's motor
serves to move its component parts around in relation to one another
more frequently than it moves as a whole. Societies, like sessile life,
may also move their environment to serve their purposes. Examples of
this are the movement of water through dams and canals so the society
can develop new settlements. They may even move mountains to
provide a pathway for the distributor system. All these are part of
society's motor subsystem in application.
10. Supporter
The supporter subsystem holds its system together. How it fulfills that
function though differs greatly from on system level to another. The

supporter is the skeletal structure that keeps member components in
their proper physical relationship with one another.
The supporter in the cell is usually the cell wall that holds the periphery
about the nucleus and nucleolus that remain near the center. Other
organelles may also play a part in maintaining the relationships. For
example, mitochondria properly arrange enzymes in the cell. Cells also
have a network of protein molecules in solution that, in combination
with the microtubules and microfiliments, make up a cytoskeleton.
Societies conversely, require an assortment of structures to maintain
their integrity. The land upon which the society builds and its water
ways are the primary supporters. Mountain ranges, lakes, and swamps
determine component placement and maintain their separation.
Changing this structure requires major construction projects like the
building of dams, filling in swamps and land fills. These can change the
relationships, but the land and water largely determine the kind, and
structure, of society built in a given location. The irrigation canals in
the central California valleys are examples of a change made by a
society in its supporter that enabled it to expand and make
uninhabitable land available for agriculture and life.
Subsystems which process information:
As systems import matter-energy, they must also input information.
While not all matter-energy carries information for system use, all
information is carried on matter-energy bundles known as information
markers. Such markers may hold information needed by the system to,
process matter-energy, adjust to their environment, respond to the
needs of their suprasystem or their subsystems, or markers may be
communication from other systems. Information as it arrives may not
be in a form the system can use or understand. Therefore, information
goes through a series of specialized subsystems that transform it into
the appropriate forms needed for communication outside system
boundaries, and for internal communication between components.
11. Input transducer
A system brings information markers in through the input transducer
and changes it into the appropriate form for transmission inside the
system. This process is similar to the way the ingestor brings matter-
energy into the system. This transducer is specialized to respond to
particular energies that convey information to the system; for example,
heat, pressure, sound, chemical stimulants, or in larger systems
electronic signals like blips on a radar screen. Input transduction
requires specialization because the system may process many types of
information. Thus, an organism may have several kinds of cells that
handle particular signals. Some examples are, the rods and cones of the
eyes, vestibular hair cells that react to the orientation of the head in

space, auditory hair cells that react to sound waves, olfactory cells that
react to smell, and gustatory cells that sense taste, to name a few.
Likewise, organizations have special groups that similarly observe the
environment like military scouts, researchers, intelligence groups.
Cells diversify how they process such information pending whether they
are cells in an organism, free-living, or completely specialized cells like
neurons and receptor. Though not yet observed, it is believed that cells
have specialized molecular receptor regions on the cell membrane.
Neurons, muscle, and glandular cells are subsynaptic regions that are
also examples of such specialization.
Information enters societies through many gateways. These gateways
bring in various sorts of information and, like the cell, specialized input
transducers handle them. As examples, information enters through
many electronic forms such as radio, television, and satellite
transmissions and, telephone and telegraph. Messages may also arrive
as signs from the natural environment, or information carried by
individuals or organizations. Thus an array of matter-energy carries the
information markers that enter the system. The input transducer is the
first sorting of this information. The input transducer accepts some
markers and passes them into the system while it turns information
that is of little value away at the boundary. The immigration service,
again as an example, selects who may enter the system, and why.
12. Internal transducer
Inside a system, component subsystems must pass information among
themselves and the system itself. The internal transducer receives this
information and changes it as needed to communicate with other
components. Member subsystems may undergo changes that require
action by other subsystems to restore balance in the entire system.
They may also require information about processing matter-energy. For
example, a group learns how it is functioning through the
communication of members about their particular tasks in the group.
They may communicate their needs to get assistance from the group.
The internal transducer accomplishes this task. It may be verbal
communication or by some other means.
Cells contain repressor molecules that react to other molecules
produced by chemical reactions occurring in its metabolism. This is an
internal transduction that communicates information about the
processing state in the cell. Repressors control the synthesis of certain
substances by the cell when they are sufficiently present. Thus, they
conserve the cell's energy use. There are many substances that carry
and transfer this information. Besides repressor molecules, some
enzymes are internal transducers that recognize only the substances
with which they react. Finally, other cell components may change
information markers from one form to another; as an example, one

neuron passes electrical current along to another in synaptic transfers
and a few other processes.
Societies likewise must communicate internally. They dedicate many
organizations to handling and transferring internal information.
Societies may downwardly disperse this subsystem to groups and
individuals or upwardly disperse it to interact with their suprasystem.
Examples of internal transducers in society are organizations that
gather information from its members and change the information
makers into public policy like voting, legislative and presidential
listening posts, various bureaucratic agencies, and organizations that
arise from public concerns and then seek to change public policy like
the Sierra Club. Thus various groups and organizations change and
gather information by the d as needed and communicate with the
system as a whole, and to other subsystems, so they may adjust
accordingly.
13 Channel and net.
Systems pass information signals along either a single, or a multiple
interconnected route. The subsystem may contain all, or part of the
distributor subsystem's components but in this case it is transferring
the information markers that the matter-energy carries. There may also
be a separate subsystem like an organism's nervous systems that
transfers information.
In the cell, the channel and net are the same as the distributor moving
the matter-energy to its appropriate locations: the matter-energy carries
the information as chemical markers of some form. As this process is
quite similar to the distributor subsystem, I will not describe it in the
cell.
The channel and net of society consist of the organizations, groups, and
individuals that pass information from on component to another. Mass
media, in all its forms, is such a communicator as are the telephone
and telegraph. Thus, the net, may consist of transmission paths
through the air, cables, in written form, or spoken by individuals. It is
the nerve system of the society. Like the cell, it may also use the same
components as the distributor but transfers the information instead of
the matter-energy.
14. Decoder
Decoders change information from a public code to the private code
needed by the system. The decoder receives information markers much
as the converter receives matter-energy but the processes are different.
The decoder differs from the input and internal transducers in that it
changes the code of the information: the other two change the form of
the information marker. For example, this paper is in English. If I sent

the paper by fax the information code remains the same (not
considering the digital coding and translation), but I change the matter-
energy form of the marker bearing the information. If I translate this
paper into German, I change the code of the information though the
form of the marker remains the same. Decoding is often be done by the
same sensory components as the input or internal transducers, but the
decoder compares the information code and determines its meaning to
the system.
Information enters the cell as either Alpha-coded information that
arrives as markers on chemical molecules, or Beta-coded information as
patterns of energies like light, temperature change, sound, pressure, or
perhaps electrical transmissions. Sometimes a cell may use the
information in the public form in which it arrives: in these cases the
decoder subsystem does not function. However, other information may
need translation into the system's private coding or its component's.
The code may change several times as the information passes through
the system until another subsystem encodes it again in a public form
for output transmission. There are many examples of these coding
processes. They will take too long to describe here s; I refer the reader to
Miller (1978) for a complete explanation.
Interpreting the information arriving at society's boundaries, and the
output from various internal components is the task of the decoder
subsystem. Society downwardly disperses decoder tasks to individuals,
groups and organizations. This involves using the perceptions of
member organisms as the first level of decoding. The decoder then
interprets the meaning of the information and then passes it up the
system echelon. The decoding process uses many artifacts that help
interpret information like, instruments that measure the signals from
the natural environment in weather reporting, or detection of other
potential events that may affect society. Intelligence groups are another
example of the decoder subsystem for society as they decipher
information received about other societies and activities of other
components within the societal system. Thus, they change the code of
such information, for example interpreting the meaning of troop
movements along a neighbor's border, into a code intelligible to the
system.
15. Associator
The associator subsystem forms relationships amongst information bits
that endure for some time. It is the first part of learning for the system.
The associator receives information from the input transducer, internal
transducer, and memory from which it forms these relationships.
Through this process a system can determine the required actions
based on what has been successful in previous or similar sets of
circumstances. For example if the decoder passes along information
about troop movements with the message that this is a military action,

the associator would compare that information to other bits of similar
information from the input transducer, internal transducer, and
memory storage and then hypothesize whether this is, or is not, a threat
to the system. It would then output its information to the decider
subsystem that would determine what action to take. Thus, the
associator is predictive in that it can say that if action "A" is occurring
than action "B" is the probable outcome by associating the information
given with the ensemble of information related to the situation.
There is no definitive evidence now of structures that may comprise an
associator subsystem in the cell. Miller believes that association may be
the action of certain macromolecules. Free living cells show behaviors
that suggest an associator, or learning but there are multiple
explanations for some of these behaviors. At this level, the actions of the
subsystem are not readily available for examples.
Societies modify their structure and behavior through experience. They
compare new information to their experience and associate
commonalties that suggest the right course of action in a current
situation. The example of military troop movements is one such case.
Information brought to the associator might also arise from the internal
transducer. For example, a subsystem may require action by the
system, or another subsystem, to restore balance. The possible
impeachment of President Nixon by the legislative branch is such an
example of how information about a current event is associated, in this
case, with the constitutional and public expectations to monitor and
correct the office of the Presidency. Then, had the process continued,
the decider subsystem would have acted upon the associations.
Notably, the decider may not act upon associations because the
background noise (distortion), in the entire system is so loud that the
associated information is isolated and ignored.
16. Memory
Associated information forms relationships. The system then stores the
results of this process for use in future associations. This is learning.
Memory is the storage and later retrieval of such associated
information. A memory base grows if a system successfully accumulates
experience that enables it to make better use of future inputs. Stored
memory may no longer be useful after a time. It may also become
unavailable due to entropy in the system or subsystems that work in
with memory. New information may also replace data currently in
memory. Thus, the memory subsystem must handle the storage,
maintenance, and retrieval, of associated information much like its
comparable subsystem matter-energy storage.
DNA is the primary information storage unit of the cell. It carries the
necessary genetic information for the cell to develop and function over
its life span. RNA also stores, and transfers, information about the

synthesis of needed proteins in the cell. DNA does not change the data
stored in it except, through long term evolution, or by invading viral
attack. Yet, in consort with RNA molecules, it provides the repertoire of
information with which to associate new information so the cell can
function. This includes many memory like processes like enzyme
induction, antibody formation, and circadian rhythm though they may
not be direct learning. Free living cells appear to learn and remember
the location of favorable environments and food supplies. Cells in other
organisms may play a roll in the memory of the entire system though
those processes are outside the reach of this writing.
Societies exist in some ways because they can store memory. Societies
build traditions over time that characterize them and affect their activity
in a manner that distinguishes them from other societies. Traditions are
a collective memory of society. Societies downwardly disperse such
memory to individuals, organizations, and groups including; religious
groups, educational institutions, archives, libraries and others who
handle specific kinds of information. They store this memory in physical
artifacts like libraries, computers, and books in modern cultures. More
primitive societies pass memory along orally from the elders to the
youth. Societies change their memory either by, replacing outdated
information with something more current, recording or retrieving
information incorrectly, or losing it during storage. When the collective
record of a society ceases to exist, so does the society.
17. Decider
Every system has an executive that receives input from all the other
subsystems and transmits directions to them that determine their
operations in, and for the system: this is the decider subsystem. The
decider in a system may, or my not arbitrarily decide. The decider may
make the same decision every time in the same situation and thus
exhibit no free will. While the function of the decider requires there be
only one, the subsystem may have more than one echelon. Thus, it is
not always clear what structure, if any, comprises the decider in various
systems.
The decider in the cell has two echelons; the "legislative" nucleic acids,
and the "executive" enzymes or protein structures. In combination these
two control cell processes. In the higher echelon, the nucleic acids
contain the blueprint that governs cell processes. The blueprint
contains regulatory genes that control, structural genes that are the
templates of enzyme formation, and architectural genes that specify
placement of proteins in the cell. A fourth set, temporal genes seem to
regulate when to activate each of these other three primary gene
groups. The higher echelon controls the processes of genetic replication
and transcription of RNA from the DNA template. The lower echelon of
the cell's decider, the enzymes, are modulators. They repress or

increase the cell's metabolic processes in the cytoplasm without
involving the higher echelon.
The decider subsystem in a society is its central government. In a
democracy voters have a strong voice in the decider subsystem. In a
monarchy, the king is obviously the decider. There may be echelons in a
central government. The larger the society, the more echelons are likely
needed to decide. Research organization, advisers, cabinet members,
and local officials may be part of a decider's echelon as the society
increases in size. The degree of centralization of power in the decider
differs from society to society. For example, a Pharaoh was thought of
as a God incarnate by his people. This is quite different from the office
of the Presidency in the United States that is accountable to the people,
the Congress and the Supreme Court.
18. Encoder
Systems communicate with their environment. As the decoder
translates the public language coming into the system so the system
can process information internally, the encoder translates the system's
private language back into a public form. To continue with the language
example given about this paper, (in the decoder section), the encoder
would, after using, editing, and modifying this paper in German within
the system, translate it back into English to communicate outside the
system.
Cells that make up tissue in organisms show little evidence of encoding
information for communication. Notable exceptions are the specialized
cells such as neurons, and cells in certain organs that produce
hormones. Free living cells encode information and communicate it as
alpha-coded molecules. Also, some free living, one cell organism
transmit beta-coded information in electrical pulses to which other
organisms respond. The encoder subsystem exists only in highly
specialized cases at the cell level; therefore, I cannot make generalities
about the entire system level.
Society has many components in the encoder subsystem. Primary
components might be the governmental agencies that communicate
with other societies. In the United States, the Presidency and the State
Department encode information from our government into a form
communicable with the world. Congress signs treaties and declares war;
both of these are examples of encoded information. Likewise, the
judiciary branch writes opinions that encode legal language back into a
code intelligible for transmission. This subsystem is also downwardly
dispersed including those who write and produce official radio and
television broadcasts and cultural missions. Individuals such as
diplomats, and other societal representatives may also carry encoded
information.

19. Output transducer
The output transducer converts the information marker's form from
that useful inside the system, to a form transmittable from the system
for use by its suprasystem or, another system with which it is
communicating. As the encoder translates the information, the output
transducer changes the matter-energy markers form. This is
comparable to spoken communication that has occurred inside a
system being written in a letter and sent to another system. This
subsystem reverses the process of the input transducer though the new
marker will be different after processing by the system. It is the output
sent by the system to the input transducers of other systems.
Cells, often use the same components for extruding matter-energy as
they do for output transduction because much of the information
output from the system is born on chemical molecule markers. This
process usually involves some area of the cell membrane that has either
an opening or a permeable surface. Occasionally the output may be in
the form of electrical charges as with the often herein cited case of
electroplaque cells in electric fish. In neurons this is the presynaptic
region of the cell that would pass its signal along to the postsynaptic
region of an adjoining cell. There are several processes involved by the
various types of cells but again I must avoid greater explanation and
refer the reader to Miller for extensive details.
In society the chief of state or other governmental agencies are the
prime component of this subsystem as they are of the encoder
subsystem. Here again it is changing the form of the marker for
dissemination that distinguishes it from the encoder that has translated
the information. Likewise, many of the artifacts used in input
transduction may be part of this subsystem; i.e., written materials,
radio and television stations, telephone and telegraph cables, satellites
and dishes and so forth. A system may use everything that brought the
information markers in to transfer them out again once the system has
used and processed them. This is the final step along the information
processing network. The system has now communicated information
about itself and its needs to other societies and the supranational
suprasystem.
General living systems theory is a conceptual system of thoughts used
to describe concrete systems. Miller stresses the importance of
connecting the space described by one system, like the physical space
of a concrete system, with the space described in any other system such
as the abstract space of conceptual systems. He attempts to make such
a conversion of space in his theory. However, some system theorists,
Boulding (1956), Checkland (1981), Jordan (1968), refer to another
category of systems, transcendental systems. They suggest that the
transcendental is beyond knowledge; thus, it is difficult to model.
Likewise, it is much more difficult to provide a defensible conversion of

the space described in a transcendental system to physical space. This
paper will now extrapolate from the living systems model and attempt to
describe such transcendent systems. I will specifically apply this
extrapolation to creativity as a transcendental system. The space
described will be both abstract and physical; thus, I will attempt to
express a relationship between the two.

3.3.1 taxonomìa de jordan

More Related Content

What's hot

Similar to 3.3.1 taxonomìa de jordan

Recently uploaded

3.3.1 taxonomìa de jordan