Synergetics: is there really a law that explains everything in the world
Miscellaneous / / April 04, 2021
Do not confuse this discipline with pseudoscientific theory.
What is synergetics
Synergetics is an interdisciplinary field of science that explores some of the processes of self-organization in nature. The name comes from the ancient Greek words συν and ἔργον - "plus" and "business", which can be translated as "joint activity, assistance."
Synergetics studies Gubin V. B. On the methodology of pseudoscience. M. 2004 macroscopic ordered systems, which sharply differ from ordinary thermodynamic (chaotic) systems in that they formBoldachev A. AT. Innovations. Judgments in line with the evolutionary paradigm. SPb. 2007 elements of self-organization: structures, vortices, waves or periodic oscillations.
Any chemical reactions in which molecules are formed, the union of elementary particles into atoms, gas turbulence - all this is possibleBoldachev A. AT. Innovations. Judgments in line with the evolutionary paradigm. SPb. 2007 to name examples of synergistic processes. The most indicative of them is the formation ("growth") of crystals.
The pathways of synergistic processes are very difficult to predict. Under the same conditions, they can lead to different results, therefore, they are describedBoldachev A. AT. Innovations. Judgments in line with the evolutionary paradigm. SPb. 2007 nonlinear equations. The moments when there is a "choice" of a further trajectory are called bifurcation points.
One of the main achievements of synergy is consideredBoldachev A. AT. Innovations. Judgments in line with the evolutionary paradigm. SPb. 2007 discovery of dissipative structures, self-organizing at the macroscopic level. For this, the Belgian physicist and chemist Ilya Prigogine receivedThe Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1977. Nobel Prize Nobel Prize in Chemistry. An example of dissipative structures are the so-called Benard vortices. They can be observed when, when heated, thin layers of liquid begin to circulate up and down, forming peculiar cells of a regular hexagonal shape.
For the first time, the term in its current understanding was Knyazeva E. N. Synergetics. Encyclopedia of Epistemology and Philosophy of Science. M. 2009 introduced in 1969 by German theoretical physicist Hermann Hacken.
What is pseudosynergetics
ExistBoldachev A. AT. Innovations. Judgments in line with the evolutionary paradigm. SPb. 2007 a number of concepts close to synergetics: nonlinear dynamics, the theory of complex adaptive systems, the theory of deterministic chaos, or fractal geometry, the theory of autopoiesis, the theory of self-organized criticality, the theory of nonstationary structures in modes with sharpening.
In some interpretations, synergetics generalizes Knyazeva E. N. Synergetics. Encyclopedia of Epistemology and Philosophy of Science. M. 2009 all these directions apply to any systems: biological, ecological, economic, social, psychological and others.
In this sense, it can be considered a modern stage in the development of cybernetics and systems analysis and is viewed as a kind of universal theory of global evolution. That is, with its help, they try to describe the entire history of the Universe from inception to the appearance of people as a single successive process.
Followers of this understanding of synergetics consider it possible to single out a certain single mechanism according to which any Gubin V. B. On the methodology of pseudoscience. M. 2004 innovations: from physical and chemical to sociological and linguistic, from Big bang before socio-economic changes. It can be described as a world-wide process when there is a choice Porus V. N. Synergetic epistemology. Encyclopedia of Epistemology and Philosophy of Science. M. 2009 from several options, and not an endless chaotic change of states.
This approach was initiated by Fuller B. R., Applewhite E. J. Synergetics. V. 1–2. Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc. 1975, 1979 American author and theorist Buckminster Fuller, and he used the very word "synergetics" earlier than Hermann Haken. Fuller substantiated his ideas in geometric, mathematical, physical, biological, and social terms. He called for the study of synergetics, because he considered it a theory that could explain everything in the world and save the world from catastrophe.
In Russia, the main popularizer of these ideas wasS. P. Kurdyumova mathematician Sergei Kurdyumov, author of the term “human-dimensional systems”.
However, this approach is criticizedBoldachev A. AT. Innovations. Judgments in line with the evolutionary paradigm. SPb. 2007 for the transfer of the laws and terms of synergetics to phenomena unusual for it, for example, the human psyche, society or civilization. This philosophical and expansive stretching of the boundaries of the discipline, according to critics, is unscientific, since the theory is loosely adjusted to the facts.
This desire to create a universal theory out of synergetics is compared to how the successes of classical mechanics in the past led to the desire to calculate and predict everything and everyone (determinism). This has already happened with the ideas of Darwin, and with the theory of relativity, and with quantum mechanics and cybernetics.
Opponents of the expansive use of synergetics considerBoldachev A. AT. Innovations. Judgments in line with the evolutionary paradigm. SPb. 2007that it can adequately describe only some physical, chemical, astronomical and biological processes. Critics also complain that synergetics and its terminology are often used Gubin V. B. On the methodology of pseudoscience. M. 2004 to give weight to pseudoscientific research. For example, "research" about bioenergy or any other types of "subtle energy".
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Therefore, scientists talk about the emergence and popularization of pseudo-synergetics. It can be designated as a speculative pseudoscientific directionBoldachev A. AT. Innovations. Judgments in line with the evolutionary paradigm. SPb. 2007who juggles terms and spreads vapid rhetoric about "self-organizing systems." Pseudosynergetics like to declare the discovery of some "new knowledge", but in fact there is nothing like this behind their words. At the same time, almost no one criticizes them, since they do not understand Gubin V. B. On the methodology of pseudoscience. M. 2004 real synergy.
How to distinguish between synergetics and pseudo-synergetics
Here are some criteria to help you do this.
Justification of the ways of "universal evolution" using synergetics
Often in pseudo-synergetic publications one canBoldachev A. AT. Innovations. Judgments in line with the evolutionary paradigm. SPb. 2007 see phrases in the spirit: "synergetics is the theory of self-organization and evolution of complex systems" or "synergetics substantiates the alternative paths of evolution."
However, in reality, this science studies much more "simple" processes, such as combustion, heat conduction and chemical reactions, which fit quite well into the existing scientific picture. the world. It fits more or less into "universal evolution" except perhaps the example with the formation of crystals, and then only with great assumptions.
It should be understood that synergetics (like any science) cannotBoldachev A. AT. Innovations. Judgments in line with the evolutionary paradigm. SPb. 2007 used as a general theory of an evolving system. This discipline can only describe its individual processes.
"Synergetic approach" and incorrect analogies
Another important marker of pseudo-synergetics is the phrasesBoldachev A. AT. Innovations. Judgments in line with the evolutionary paradigm. SPb. 2007 in the spirit of: "from synergetics follows ...", "according to the synergetic paradigm ...", "based on the laws of synergetics ...". But they are not directly related to science, despite the similarity, for example, with such revolutions as "according to the second law of thermodynamics ..." or "based on Maxwell's equation ...".
Most likely, you will find similar phrases in philosophical and generalizing publications using comparisons by analogy - such a kind of "logical jump". They can substantiate economic processes “from the point of view of synergetics”. Or compareV. Budanov G. Synergetic algebra of harmony. Synergetic paradigm. A variety of searches and approaches. M. 2000 frequency of requests planets with musical intervals, and then with world religions and colors, for example green.
In the end, Hermann Haken, its creator, also came to a similar view of synergetics. In the book Haken G. Secrets of nature. Synergetics: the study of interaction. M. - Izhevsk. 2003 "Secrets of nature. Synergetics: The Study of Interaction ”he discusses, for example, whether conflicts are inevitable and whether revolutions are predictable.
In a scientific publication, the synergistic process will beBoldachev A. AT. Innovations. Judgments in line with the evolutionary paradigm. SPb. 2007 described through an equation that can be confirmed or disproved experimentally. For evolution, no one, of course, will make up such an equation (because this is hardly possible). Needless to say, the formulas describing physical and chemical processes cannot be transferred to biological or social processes.
Of course, both a thin layer of liquid heated by a laboratory burner and the economic activity of an enterprise have several possible development options. But relate them to each other, at least, incorrect.
Therefore, the appeal to the "synergetic approach" in social and human sciences is unsubstantiated.Gubin V. B. Pseudosynergetics is the latest pseudoscience. In Defense of Science # 1 and unscientific, since it is formal, superficial and based on a lack of understanding of the principles of synergetics. In particular, thermodynamics, linear and adaptive models.
Esotericism, an abundance of incomprehensible terms and a free attitude to scientific methodology
Under the guise of synergetics in "scientific" journals can Gubin V. B. On the methodology of pseudoscience. M. 2004 to publish absolutely esoteric articles. For example, about "soliton-background excitations of fractal layers of a crystal of primary matter, called the physical vacuum", deforming and resonating with living cells. Or about "ψ-fields of degrees of self". Sometimes in such works, and even with a serious mine, they talk about cosmic-esoteric concepts, as in the exampleV. Budanov G. Synergetic algebra of harmony. Synergetic paradigm. A variety of searches and approaches. M. 2000 from astrology about the connection of the planets with musical intervals.
Naturally, synergetics is needed here for solidity and substantiation of unproven theories and statements. Such "researchers" hide the inconsistency of their reflections behind a complex and obscure terminology, which ultimately only confirms the unfoundedness of pseudo-synergetics. After all, as you know, a real scientist should be able to explain his research in simple language.
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"New paradigms"
Pseudo-synergetics is also often used to signal the beginning of a "new turn" in science, especially by emphasizing the "post-nonclassical" nature of synergetics. In such "studies" she allegedly sheds light on the limitations of the old approaches.
However, upon close examination, such statements breakGubin V. B. Pseudosynergetics is the latest pseudoscience. In Defense of Science # 1 to smithereens. For example, the joint simultaneous action of several factors was taken into account in geology and medicine long before synergetics. The linearity of processes has also long been questioned by historians and economists.
Synergetics is becoming more and more a beautiful word. It is used by those who want to be known as a progressive person. But in fact, this is a rather narrow and complex discipline that is of little use in everyday life. Therefore, it is worth thinking carefully before talking about "synergistic interaction" or using other similar constructions.
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