4
Systems
The fundamentals of interaction are predicated on the action of one object
influencing another object. The objects may be same or different. For our
purposes, an object is something that exists (i.e., has meaning in the physical
world). This is not to say that things that are not physical have no meaning. It
rather implies that there are things that exist that are not objects, and that are
considered to exist yet differently than as objects. Our mereology distinguishes between objects and processes, where processes are comprised of
things not physical. Objects have properties and characteristics, and can be
considered either a fundamental constituent (at subatomic dimensions) or an
aggregation of sorts of other objects (parts). We use the word object to signify an item of unit importance that is appropriate and consistent with the
level of analysis necessary and sufficient to relate objects and processes to
integration.
Systems are made up of objects. For convenience, levels of detail are often
related by the single descriptive word object. Development efforts generate
words such as components and subcomponents, assemblies and subassemblies, and modules and submodules to coincide with a particular phase of
work, some measure of a task, or in a gross sense, a category of like-kind
entities. In a hierarchical fashion, greater detail is relegated to lower-level
positioning in that hierarchical description. We have defined a framework in
which to organize the variables of groupings of objects. Some of those groupings may be systems or system of systems, some may not. Those that are not
systems fall into two categories: not a system (NotaSystem) and a prototypical system (ProtaSystem). NotaSystem has only a few properties of a system
and ProtaSystem has many. There are no characteristics of NotaSystem that
differ from two objects interacting occasionally. A single object receives no
EMMI, is therefore not under the influence of a force that activates its mechanism, and consequently has no output. A single (by definition) noninteracting object is NotaSystem (by definition). However, two objects can be
distinguished by their properties, traits, and attributes as NotaSystem, a
ProtaSystem, a System, and a System of Systems.* That objects have other
characteristics has been covered in the previous two chapters. Those characteristics include properties (intrinsic to the object), traits (properties posed in
* Recall that we do not distinguish between objects by their design or amount of detail. An
object is an object.
189
Systems
The fundamentals of interaction are predicated on the action of one object
influencing another object. The objects may be same or different. For our
purposes, an object is something that exists (i.e., has meaning in the physical
world). This is not to say that things that are not physical have no meaning. It
rather implies that there are things that exist that are not objects, and that are
considered to exist yet differently than as objects. Our mereology distinguishes between objects and processes, where processes are comprised of
things not physical. Objects have properties and characteristics, and can be
considered either a fundamental constituent (at subatomic dimensions) or an
aggregation of sorts of other objects (parts). We use the word object to signify an item of unit importance that is appropriate and consistent with the
level of analysis necessary and sufficient to relate objects and processes to
integration.
Systems are made up of objects. For convenience, levels of detail are often
related by the single descriptive word object. Development efforts generate
words such as components and subcomponents, assemblies and subassemblies, and modules and submodules to coincide with a particular phase of
work, some measure of a task, or in a gross sense, a category of like-kind
entities. In a hierarchical fashion, greater detail is relegated to lower-level
positioning in that hierarchical description. We have defined a framework in
which to organize the variables of groupings of objects. Some of those groupings may be systems or system of systems, some may not. Those that are not
systems fall into two categories: not a system (NotaSystem) and a prototypical system (ProtaSystem). NotaSystem has only a few properties of a system
and ProtaSystem has many. There are no characteristics of NotaSystem that
differ from two objects interacting occasionally. A single object receives no
EMMI, is therefore not under the influence of a force that activates its mechanism, and consequently has no output. A single (by definition) noninteracting object is NotaSystem (by definition). However, two objects can be
distinguished by their properties, traits, and attributes as NotaSystem, a
ProtaSystem, a System, and a System of Systems.* That objects have other
characteristics has been covered in the previous two chapters. Those characteristics include properties (intrinsic to the object), traits (properties posed in
* Recall that we do not distinguish between objects by their design or amount of detail. An
object is an object.
189