SYMBOLIC AND SUBSYMBOLIC MODELS, AND THEIR USE IN SYSTEMS RESEARCH

This paper contains a sketch of a generalized systems theory in order to deal with the so-called ''subsymbolic'' models, whose implicit info rmational content cannot be made entirely explicit in a reasonable amo unt of time. To deal with such a situation, a new ''genetic'' approach has been proposed, in which the researcher manages a ''population'' o f models, instead of a single one. The systemic modeling activity thus become equivalent to an evolutionary dynamics of this population, dri ven by suitable ''genetic'' rules and satisfying some fitness criteria . Some concrete examples are presented to this regard, so that a rigor ous formalization of this new type of systems theory becomes possible, opening the way for a semi-automated application to the modeling of e conomic, social, and psychological systems, where we deal with organiz ed complexity.