Equifinality

Equifinality is the principle that in <a href="/facts/Open_system_(systems_theory)/V9KwQ0dS">open systems</a> a given end state can be reached by many potential means. The term and concept is due to the German <a href="/facts/Hans_Driesch/QC22kE7X">Hans Driesch</a>, the developmental biologist, later applied by the Austrian <a href="/facts/Ludwig_von_Bertalanffy/3R2540Vt">Ludwig von Bertalanffy</a>, the founder of general <a href="/facts/Systems_theory/C56Ck7DQ">systems theory</a>, and by <a href="/facts/William_T._Powers/lBnDIHzF">William T. Powers</a>, the founder of <a href="/facts/Perceptual_control_theory/XEN3s8mt">perceptual control theory</a>. <a href="/facts/Driesch/CUkBUcsN">Driesch</a> and <a href="/facts/Von_Bertalanffy/3R2540Vt">von Bertalanffy</a> prefer this term, in contrast to "<a href="/facts/Objective_(goal)/N5UtLKVk">goal</a>", in describing <a href="/facts/Complex_systems/eGG3B1nn">complex systems</a>' similar or convergent behavior. Powers simply emphasised the flexibility of response, since it emphasizes that the same end state may be achieved via many different paths or <a href="/facts/Trajectories/STNN33FK">trajectories</a>.
In <a href="/facts/Closed_system/8KEjjgQE">closed systems</a>, a direct cause-and-effect relationship exists between the initial condition and the final state of the system: When a computer's 'on' switch is pushed, the system powers up. Open systems (such as biological and social systems), however, operate quite differently. The idea of equifinality suggests that similar results may be achieved with different initial conditions and in many different ways. This phenomenon has also been referred to as isotelesis (from <a href="/facts/Ancient_Greek/LIK7NlUh">Greek</a> ἴσος isos "equal" and τέλεσις telesis: "the intelligent direction of effort toward the achievement of an end") when in games involving <a href="/facts/Superrationality/qIpl0DRk">superrationality</a>.

Equifinality open-in-new

Equifinality