System (Synergetics)

The first subdivision of Universe into an inside and an outside, with everything else irrelevant -- the tetrahedron is the minimum case.

Fuller's Definition

"A system is the first subdivision of Universe. It divides all the Universe into six parts: first, all the universal events occurring geometrically outside the system; second, all the universal events occurring geometrically inside the system; third, all the universal events occurring nonsimultaneously, remotely, and unrelatedly prior to the system events; fourth, the Universe events occurring nonsimultaneously, remotely, and unrelatedly subsequent to the system events; fifth, all the geometrically arrayed set of events constituting the system itself; and sixth, all the Universe events occurring synchronously and or coincidentally to and with the systematic set of events uniquely considered" (S400.011).

"All systems are polyhedra" (S400.04). Every system returns upon itself in a plurality of directions, possessing inherent insideness and outsideness, concavity and convexity. Oneness, twoness, and threeness cannot constitute a system because they lack insideness and outsideness. "At minimum, it takes four triangular planes having inherent fourness of vertexes to constitute differential withinness and withoutness" (S400.05) -- making the tetrahedron the minimum system: four vertices, four faces, six edges. "The minimum single symmetrical system is the regular tetrahedron" (S400.41).

Significance in Synergetics

The system concept is where synergetics moves from philosophy to geometry. Because thought itself is systemic -- "cerebration and intellection are initiated by differential discernment of relevance from nonrelevance" (S400.06) -- and because all systems are polyhedra, Fuller grounds all thinking in polyhedral geometry. The minimum system's Euler inventory of 4 vertices, 4 faces, and 6 edges is itself synergetic: "unpredicted and unpredictable by any of the parts taken separately" (S400.23). This is why systems theory is a distinct branch of science, and why synergetics begins with the tetrahedron as its unit of both volume and conceptual structure. "Unit means system integrity" (S400.08), and "unity is inherently plural" -- at minimum fourfold.

See Also

• Synergy -- all systems exhibit synergetic behavior
• Universe -- the whole from which systems subdivide
• Generalized Principles -- the metaphysical laws governing system behavior
• Vector Equilibrium -- the zero-phase equilibrium system
• Isotropic Vector Matrix -- the coordinate framework of all systems
• A and B Quanta Modules -- minimum asymmetric systems that fill allspace
• Synergetics -- the system of thought this concept belongs to

Sources

• Synergetics -- primary text; S400.011 (definition, six-part subdivision), S400.02 (conceivable entity), S400.04 (all systems are polyhedra), S400.05 (fourness minimum), S400.06 (thought is systemic), S400.08 (unit means system integrity), S400.23 (synergy of minimum system), S400.41 (regular tetrahedron as minimum)
• raw/repos/synergetics.md -- raw source stub