System thought has a long history, but as a scientific system theory, it is generally recognized that it was founded by L.Von.Bertalanffy, an Austrian-American and theoretical biologist. He published "Antibody System Theory" in 1952 and put forward the idea of system theory. 1973 put forward the principle of general system theory and laid the theoretical foundation of this science. However, his paper "On General System Theory" was not published alone until 1945, and his theory was not valued by academic circles until 1948 taught "General System Theory" again in the United States. The academic position of this science is the monograph "Theoretical Basis, Development and Application of General Systems" published by Bertalanfi in 1968, which is a recognized representative of this subject.
The word system comes from ancient Greek, which means that parts make up the whole. Today, people study institutions from various angles, and there are dozens of definitions of institutions. For example, "system is a given set of elements and their normal behaviors", "system is an organized whole", "system is a set of related substances and processes", "system is something that many elements keep organic order and work towards the same goal" and so on. General system theory tries to give a general system definition that can describe the same characteristics of various systems. Usually, a system is defined as an organic whole with certain functions, which is composed of several elements connected in a certain structural form. This definition includes four concepts: system, factor, structure and function, which shows the relationship between factor and factor, factor and system, and system and environment.
According to system theory, integrity, correlation, hierarchical structure, dynamic balance and time sequence are the basic characteristics of all systems. These are not only the basic ideas and viewpoints of system, but also the basic principles of system method, which shows that system theory is not only a scientific theory reflecting objective laws, but also has the significance of scientific methodology, which is the characteristic of system theory. Bertalanfi once explained this. English SystemApproach can be translated into system method or system theory because it can represent concepts, viewpoints, models and mathematical methods. He said that we deliberately used the word "close", which is not very rigorous, which just shows the nature and characteristics of this subject.
The core idea of system theory is the overall concept of system. Bertalanfi emphasized that any system is an organic whole, it is not a mechanical combination or simple addition of all parts, and the overall working function of the system is a new quality that all elements do not have when they exist in isolation. He used Aristotle's famous saying that "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" to illustrate the integrity of the system, and opposed the fact that the performance of elements is good and the overall performance must be good, and explained the mechanistic view of the whole with parts. At the same time, it is considered that every element in the system does not exist in isolation, and every element is in a certain position and plays a specific role in the system. These elements are interrelated and form an inseparable whole. An element is an element in the whole. If it is cut out of the whole system, it will lose its function. Just as the hand is a working organ in the human body, once it is cut off from the human body, it is no longer a working organ.
The basic thinking method of system theory is to treat the object studied and processed as a system, analyze the structure and function of the system, study the relationship between the system, elements and environment and the regularity of changes, and optimize the system point of view to see the problem. Everything in the world can be regarded as a system, and the system is universal. The vast universe, tiny atoms, a seed, a swarm of bees, a machine, a factory, a society, ... are all systems, and the whole world is a collection of systems.
There are many kinds of systems, which can be classified according to different principles and situations. According to human intervention, it can be divided into natural system and artificial system. It can be divided into natural system, social system and thinking system according to the subject field; According to the scope, there are macro-system and micro-system; According to the relationship with the environment, there are open systems, closed systems and isolated systems; According to the state, there are balanced systems, unbalanced systems, near-balanced systems, far-balanced systems and so on. There are also relative differences between large systems and small systems.
The task of system theory is not only to understand the characteristics and laws of the system, but also to use these characteristics and laws to control, manage, transform or create a system, so that its existence and development meet the needs of human purposes. In other words, the purpose of studying the system is to adjust the system structure of the municipality directly under the central government and the relationship between various elements, so that the system can achieve the optimization goal.
The emergence of system theory has profoundly changed the way of thinking of human beings. In the past, when studying problems, things were generally broken down into several parts, and the simplest factors were abstracted, and then complex things were explained by the properties of some parts. This is the analytical method that Descartes laid the theoretical foundation. This method focuses on parts or elements and follows a single causal determinism, although it has been an effective and familiar thinking method in a specific range for hundreds of years. However, it can not truthfully explain the integrity of things, can not reflect the relationship and interaction between things, and is only suitable for understanding simple things, but not competent for the study of complex problems. Under the trend of the integration of modern science and business science, human beings are powerless in the face of many complex problems with large scale, complex relationships and many parameters. When the traditional analysis methods are at their wits' end, systematic analysis methods can stand at the forefront of the times and provide an effective way of thinking for modern complex problems. Therefore, system theory, together with cybernetics and information theory, provides new ideas and methods and opens up new ways for human thinking. As a new trend of modern science, they have promoted the development of various sciences.
System theory reflects the development trend of modern science, the characteristics of modern socialized mass production and the complexity of modern social life, and its theories and methods can be widely used. System theory not only provides theories and methods for the development of modern science, but also provides methodological basis for solving various complex problems such as politics, economy, military, science and culture in modern society. The concept of system is permeating all fields.
At present, the development trend and direction of system theory is moving towards the goal of unifying various system theories and establishing a unified system science system. Some scholars believe that "with the system movement, various systems (theories) have emerged, and the unification of these systems (theories) has become a major scientific and philosophical issue."
At present, system theory has shown several noteworthy trends and characteristics. First, system theory and cybernetics, information theory, operational research, system engineering, electronic computer and modern communication technology are mutually infiltrated and closely combined; Second, system theory, cybernetics and information theory are developing in the direction of "three in one", and now it is clear that system theory is the basis of the other two theories; Thirdly, new scientific theories such as dissipative structure theory, synergetics, catastrophe theory and fuzzy system theory have enriched and developed the content of system theory from all aspects, so it is necessary to summarize a systematics as the basic scientific theory of system science; Fourthly, people pay more and more attention to the philosophy and methodology of system science. Under the development situation of these system sciences, many scholars at home and abroad are committed to synthesizing the research of various system theories and exploring ways to establish a unified system science system. Bertalanfi, the founder of general system theory, divided his system theory into two parts. His narrow system theory and broad system theory are two parts. His narrow system theory focuses on the analysis and research of the system itself; And his generalized system theory is to analyze and study a related system science. Including three aspects: 1. System science and mathematical system theory; 2. System technology, involving cybernetics, information theory, operational research and system engineering; 3. System philosophy, including system ontology, epistemology and axiology. Some people put forward a new unified theory based on the basic concepts of information, energy, matter and time. Samuel, a professor at Degermore University in Sweden, published System Theory at the annual meeting of General System Theory in 1976. A tentative idea of integrating cybernetics and information theory into a new discipline. In this case, the American Journal of Systems Engineering was renamed the Journal of Systems Science. Some scholars in China believe that system science should include five parts: system concept, general system theory, system theory analysis, system methodology (including system engineering and system analysis) and application of system method. Professor Qian Xuesen, a famous scientist in China. Since 1979, he has published many articles to express that he regards system science as a big scientific category alongside natural science and social science, and system science, like natural science, is also divided into system engineering technology (including system engineering, automation technology and communication technology). System technology science (including supporting science, cybernetics, giant system theory and information theory); Basic science of systems (i.e. systematics); Systematic view (that is, systematic philosophy and methodology, which is the bridge between systematic science and Marxist philosophy). These studies show that in the near future, system theory will stand in the forest of science with a brand-new look.