The potential in unused degrees of freedom to create innovative functions.
This principle has been stated and explained by R. ROSEN (1979, p.63), who gives the following example: "Many fishes possess swim bladdders, a bag or tissue filled with air, as an organ of equilibration. Being a bag of tissue, the swim badder is vascularized (possesses blood vessels). When air and small blood vessels are in contact, there will necessarily be gas exchange between the blood and the air, and so a respiratory function is incipient in this structure".
According to ROSEN: "This Principle of Function Change is thus one of the cornerstones of evolution (and indeed of any kind of adaptive behavior), and it depends essentially on the fact that the same structure is capable of simultaneously manifesting a variety of functions" (Ibid).
Function change can be enhanced by increased variety, which brings about new degrees of freedom – sometimes implicit – and may lead to more complexity.
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To cite this page, please use the following information:
Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (2020). Title of the entry. In Charles François (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics (2). Retrieved from www.systemspedia.org/[full/url]
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