systemic-instability
Institutions, like natural systems, can enter phases of instability that lead to inevitable collapse or catastrophe due to their internal organizational conflicts.
1 chapter across 1 book
Designing Freedom (1974)Stafford Beer
Stafford Beer presents social institutions as dynamic systems whose internal organizational structures inherently produce outputs that often lead to instability and potential catastrophe. He uses metaphors such as breaking waves and elastic threads to illustrate how institutional complexity and reduced systemic variety, combined with increasing environmental perturbations, create systemic conflicts and instability. The chapter argues that traditional hierarchical and variety-reducing methods are inadequate for modern challenges, framing cybernetics as the science necessary for effective organizational control and adaptation.