Organic (model)
Encyclopedia
Organic describes forms, methods and patterns found in living systems such as the organisation of cells
Cell (biology)
The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and is often called the building block of life. The Alberts text discusses how the "cellular building blocks" move to shape developing embryos....

, to population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...

s, communities, and ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....

s.

Typically organic models stress the interdependence of the component parts, as well as their differentiation. Other properties of organic models include:
  • the growth, life or development cycle
  • the ability to adapt, learn, and evolve
  • emergent behaviour or emergent properties
  • steady change or growth, as opposed to instant change
  • regulatory feedback
  • composed of heterogeneous (diverse) parts


Organic models are used especially in the design of artificial systems, and the description of social systems and constructs.

Uses

In the social sciences, the organic model has been drawn upon for ideas such as mechanical and organic solidarity and organic unity
Organic unity
Organic Unity is the idea that a thing is made up of interdependent parts. For example, a body is made up of its constituent organs, or a society is made up of its constituent social roles....

. Carl Ritter
Carl Ritter
Carl Ritter was a German geographer. Along with Alexander von Humboldt, he is considered one of the founders of modern geography. From 1825 until his death, he occupied the first chair in geography at the University of Berlin.-Biography:Ritter was born in Quedlinburg, one of the six children of a...

 forwarded the idea of Lebensraum
Lebensraum
was one of the major political ideas of Adolf Hitler, and an important component of Nazi ideology. It served as the motivation for the expansionist policies of Nazi Germany, aiming to provide extra space for the growth of the German population, for a Greater Germany...

 through the concept of an organic, growing state
State (polity)
A state is an organized political community, living under a government. States may be sovereign and may enjoy a monopoly on the legal initiation of force and are not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. Many states are federated states which participate in a federal union...

.

In computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...

, organic networks grow in an ad hoc manner, while organic computing
Organic computing
Organic computing is a form of biologically-inspired computing with organic properties. It has emerged recently as a challenging vision for future information processing systems...

 is autonomous and able to self-organise and heal
Self-healing
Self-healing is a phrase applied to the process of recovery , motivated by and directed by the patient, guided often only by instinct. Such a process encounters mixed fortunes due to its amateur nature, although self-motivation is a major asset...

.

Bionics
Bionics
Bionics is the application of biological methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology.The word bionic was coined by Jack E...

 (biomimicry) is the engineering of technology through the use of systems found in biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...

.

Organic architecture
Organic architecture
Organic architecture is a philosophy of architecture which promotes harmony between human habitation and the natural world through design approaches so sympathetic and well integrated with its site that buildings, furnishings, and surroundings become part of a unified, interrelated...

 stresses interrelatedness as it combines the site, buildings, furnishings, and surroundings into a unified whole, each adapted to the others. Examples include the use of passive solar and wind energy as elements of design so that the building can be easily adapted to maintain the desired levels of human comfort within the structure.

In economics and business, organic growth
Organic growth
In finance, organic growth is the process of businesses expansion due to increasing overall customer base, increased output per customer or representative, new sales, or any combination of the above, as opposed to mergers and acquisitions that are examples of inorganic growth. Typically, the...

 refers to market growth that has happened gradually, and not through a sudden buyout or acquisition. An organic organisation
Organic organisation
A term created by Tom Burns and G.M. Stalker in the late 1950s, organic organizations, unlike mechanistic organizations , are flexible and value external knowledge....

 is one which is flexible and has a flat structure, or one of minimal height.

In military, organic
Organic (military)
In military terminology, organic refers to a military unit that is a permanent part of a larger unit and provides some specialized capability to that parent unit...

refers to mixtures of military unit types.

See also

  • Genetic algorithm
    Genetic algorithm
    A genetic algorithm is a search heuristic that mimics the process of natural evolution. This heuristic is routinely used to generate useful solutions to optimization and search problems...

  • Cybernetics
    Cybernetics
    Cybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first-order form...

  • Organic law
    Organic law
    An organic or fundamental law is a law or system of laws which forms the foundation of a government, corporation or other organization's body of rules. A constitution is a particular form of organic law for a sovereign state....

  • Ecological Engineering
    Ecological engineering
    Ecological engineering is an emerging study of integrating ecology and engineering, concerned with the design, monitoring and construction of ecosystems...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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