ABSTRACT
Interrelatedness, wholeness, and analogy are the three basic concepts on which both the mathematical and the organismic general system theory rest. Awareness of these aspects of reality characterizes the systemic view of the world. The systemic view of the world represents attempts to reintegrate various, often widely separated areas of knowledge so as to allow a coherent picture to emerge. As the outside world impinges on the organism, signals are sent throughout its interior activating different reactions in a way that makes the organism respond “properly” to the impinging stimuli. Philosophers have always striven to present a unified view of the world. Indeed, this is why some classical philosophers are associated with systems—ways of viewing the world in terms of certain categories that are supposed to fit different aspects of reality into a coherent picture. For the most part, however, living systems are too complex to yield to rigorous mathematical modeling.
