For the most practical purposes, the designations ’open system' and 'closed system' relate to relative degrees of openness. Any ’open system' may be closed with respect to certain variables, and any 'closed system' is closed mainly by convention or by the assumption that outside environmental factors will remain within normal limits. The 'closed system' exists only as a convention because any distinction which demarcates a system takes place in a context and is made by an observer. # OPEN SYSTEM An open system is one which exchanges matter, energy or information with an environment or one which may be changed by action of the environment. # SOURCE von Bertalanffy, L. (1968). General System Theory. New York: Braziller.. # EXAMPLES • Living Systems • a cell • an organism • a bee colony • Non-Living systems • the ocean currents • the monetary system of a nation • an academic discipline • Systems with living and non-living parts • a country o a factory o a river # NON-EXAMPLES • a novel • a Mobius strip • the planetary resources insofar as earthbound • a combination of chemicals in a test tube (by convention) # PROBABLE ERROR • Mixing elements of an open system such as a community with those of a closed system such an utopia and expecting consensus • The introduction of a new product into a firm with a tight five year plan # SEE System; Model; Homeostasis
# CLOSED SYSTEM A system which is isolated from the effects of an environment or the changes brought by time. Closed systems are used in a manner comparable to Euclid's perfect planes, lines and points. They do not exist in reality but we may come as close to their ideal as our technology and our desire may take us. # EXAMPLES • a work of literature or theatrical play • standing by itself • a game of chance or strategy • a model under a bell jar # NON-EXAMPLES • a work of literature seen in the context of its time • a game affected by variations in the individual player's attention such as polo • a simulation model into which real world data is fed • the testing of pharmaceuticals in a colony of rats # PROBABLE ERROR • Using results obtained in experiments with 'closed systems' in broader situations, Assuming variables to be constants when they aren't. # SEE Open system; System; Environment; Distinction; Model