The so-called European or Stuttgart version of non-linear dynamics, founded by Herman Haken, and sharing similarities with irreversible thermodynamics. It is a theory of pattern formation in complex, open systems. Originally used to study the behavior of physical systems such as the laser, it is now being increasingly applied to account for structures or patterns that are formed spontaneously in nature as a consequence of self-organization, including the spatial and temporal features of (mainly rhythmical) human movements. An important feature of this theory is that at instability points (i.e., transitions), a complex system is driven by a slaving principle that compresses its many degrees of freedom into low-dimensional behaviour expressed as an order parameter. Another is that pattern formation reflects the interplay between stochastic forces (‘chance’) and deterministic forces (‘necessity’). When a system is in a far-from-equilibrium state, a change in one or more unspecific control parameters can give rise to a non-equilibrium phase transition to new a new state or attractor. This form of synergetics should not be confused with that devised by Richard Buckminister Fuller (1895-1983), which deals with synergies of geometrical forms. More colloquially, the term ‘synergy’‚aa refers to how the action of two or more parts of a system can achieve an effect that cannot be attained by any of its parts alone.
See Catastrophe theory, Chaos theory, Control parameter, Determinism, Dynamical system approaches, Emergence, Irreversible thermodynamics, Non-linear dynamics, Open system, Order parameter, Phase transition (or shift), Self-organization, Stochasticity, Synergetics, Transition