Equifinality

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Equifinality is the principle that in open systems a given end state can be reached by many potential means.

[edit] Examples

"So profoundly simple is the idea in contrast to the obscure word, that I could not grasp equifinality until I read a symposium in a woodworking magazine on how to sharpen chisels. Some twenty experts swore by water stones or oil stones, artificial or natural, from the quarries of Arkansas or the factories of Japan. One expert said rub the chisel back and forth on the stone, another said side to side, a third in small arcs, a fourth in large circles, a fifth in figure eights. Each asserted his combination worked best, some with elaborate scientific rationales backed up by diagrams."

"The outcome of equifinal processes cannot be predicted from initial conditions, nor can its specific path of progress. Rather, it depends on the moment-to-moment opportunities available in the immediate environment. Equifinal processes generate emergent structures when living structures are systeming, that is, open to each other’s openness"

In psychology, equifinality refers to how different early experiences in life (e.g., parental divorce, physical abuse, parental substance abuse) can lead to similar outcomes (e.g., childhood depression). In other words, there are many different early experiences that can lead to the same psychological disorder.

In archaeology, equfinality refers to how different historical processes may lead to a similar outcome or social formation. For example, the developement of agriculture or the bow and arrow occured independently in many different areas of the world, yet for different reasons and through different historical trajectories. Highlights that generalizations based on cross-cultural comparisons cannot uncritically be made.

[edit] See Also

Underdetermination

[edit] References

Croft, Gary W., Glossary of Systems Theory and Practice for the Applied Behavioral Sciences, Syntropy Incorporated, Freeland, WA, Prepublication Review Copy, 1996
Durkin, James E. (ed.), Living Groups: Group Psychotherapy and General System Theory, Brunner/Mazel, New York, 1981
Weisbord, Marvin R., Productive Workplaces: Organizing and Managing for Dignity, Meaning, and Community, Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 1987