ABSTRACT
A dynamic system is a structure of interacting forces. Structure refers to a relatively stable form of order and coherence of the properties of the system at issue. An interacting force is any variable that can affect-and can be affected by-some other variable. An important and maybe also the most interesting property of dynamic systems-at least of an important subclass that is worth studying-is that such systems of interacting forces show a spontaneous increase in structure and order. This spontaneous increase in structure (order, size, complexity, coherence, etc.) is the consequence of a consumption of energy that flows through the structure of interacting components (e.g., in the case of a plant, solar light, nutrients, etc.). The technical name of this spontaneous increase in order is selforganization.
