Structure
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A Structure is a pattern that organizes components into relationships to form a coherent whole with recognizable properties.
- AKA: Configuration, Arrangement, Organization, Framework, Composition.
- Context:
- It can typically organize Component Elements through spatial relationships and functional connections.
- It can typically maintain Systemic Properties through component interactions and emergent patterns.
- It can typically provide Formal Stability through relationship permanence and pattern recognition.
- It can typically support Functional Processes through component arrangements and relationship networks.
- It can typically define Entity Boundaries through internal connections and external differentiation.
- It can typically enable Complex Behavior through organized interactions between component elements.
- It can typically establish Structural Integrity through load distribution and force equilibrium.
- It can typically facilitate System Function through component coordination and relationship optimization.
- ...
- It can often represent Abstract Concepts through symbolic relationships and conceptual frameworks.
- It can often manifest in Physical Forms through material arrangements and physical properties.
- It can often evolve through Structural Transformation involving component modification and relationship reconfiguration.
- It can often facilitate Information Organization through hierarchical arrangements and network topology.
- It can often preserve Identity Persistence despite component change through structural invariants.
- It can often enable Emergence Phenomena through complex interactions and systemic properties.
- It can often support Functional Specialization through component differentiation and role assignment.
- It can often provide Adaptive Capacity through structural flexibility and reconfiguration capability.
- ...
- It can range from being a Simple Structure to being a Complex Structure, depending on its structure component count and structure relationship density.
- It can range from being a Static Structure to being a Dynamic Structure, depending on its structure change rate and structure adaptation capability.
- It can range from being a Concrete Structure to being an Abstract Structure, depending on its structure materiality level and structure conceptual nature.
- It can range from being a Hierarchical Structure to being a Network Structure, depending on its structure relationship pattern and structure organizational principle.
- It can range from being a Regular Structure to being an Irregular Structure, depending on its structure pattern predictability and structure symmetry degree.
- It can range from being a Centralized Structure to being a Distributed Structure, depending on its structure control distribution and structure authority pattern.
- It can range from being a Rigid Structure to being a Flexible Structure, depending on its structure adaptation capacity and structure modification ease.
- ...
- It can establish Formal Relationships between parts and wholes through organizational principles.
- It can determine System Behavior through constraint imposition and possibility enablement.
- It can manifest across Scale Levels from micro patterns to macro organization.
- It can persist through Temporal Change while maintaining identity continuity and functional integrity.
- It can embody Design Principles through intentional arrangements and purposeful organization.
- It can integrate Multiple Subsystems through interface definitions and coordination mechanisms.
- It can support Information Flow through communication channels and signal pathways.
- It can enable Resource Distribution through allocation patterns and access mechanisms.
- ...
- Example(s):
- Physical Structures embodying material organization, such as:
- Architectural Structures, such as:
- Building Structure supporting structural load through beam-and-column arrangements.
- Bridge Structure spanning physical gaps through tension-compression balance.
- Tower Structure achieving vertical reach through structural stability.
- Dam Structure controlling water flow through engineered barriers.
- Natural Physical Structures, such as:
- Crystal Structure arranging atoms in geometric lattices.
- Geological Structure forming through tectonic processes and sedimentation patterns.
- Mountain Structure resulting from geological uplift and erosion processes.
- Cave Structure creating underground spaces through dissolution processes.
- Engineered Structures, such as:
- Infrastructure providing physical foundations for societal functions.
- Megastructure organizing large-scale construction for complex functions.
- Space Structure supporting aerospace functions through lightweight designs.
- Marine Structure withstanding ocean forces through specialized engineering.
- Architectural Structures, such as:
- Biological Structures organizing living systems, such as:
- Anatomical Structures, such as:
- Skeletal Structure providing support functions and protection for organisms.
- Organ Structure enabling specialized biological functions through tissue organization.
- Circulatory Structure distributing nutrients through vessel networks.
- Neural Structure processing information through neuron connections.
- Cellular Structures, such as:
- Membrane Structure regulating cellular boundaries and molecular transport.
- Organelle Structure performing specialized cellular functions.
- Cytoskeletal Structure maintaining cell shape through protein filaments.
- Chromosome Structure organizing genetic material through DNA packaging.
- Molecular Structures, such as:
- Protein Structure determining molecular function through folding patterns.
- DNA Structure storing genetic information in double helix arrangement.
- Enzyme Structure catalyzing chemical reactions through active sites.
- Lipid Structure forming cellular membranes through hydrophobic interactions.
- Anatomical Structures, such as:
- Social Structures organizing human interactions, such as:
- Institutional Structures, such as:
- Governmental Structure organizing political authority through hierarchical arrangements.
- Economic Structure coordinating resource allocation through exchange systems.
- Educational Structure delivering knowledge transfer through institutional hierarchy.
- Legal Structure implementing justice systems through court hierarchy.
- Relational Structures, such as:
- Family Structure organizing kinship relationships and care provision.
- Network Structure connecting social actors through relationship patterns.
- Community Structure fostering social cohesion through shared activities.
- Professional Structure organizing work relationships through role definitions.
- Institutional Structures, such as:
- Conceptual Structures organizing knowledge and information, such as:
- Logical Structures, such as:
- Argument Structure organizing premises and conclusions in reasoning patterns.
- Categorical Structure classifying concepts through hierarchical relationships.
- Proof Structure establishing mathematical truth through logical deduction.
- Decision Structure organizing choice options through evaluation criteria.
- Linguistic Structures, such as:
- Syntactic Structure organizing language elements according to grammar rules.
- Semantic Structure relating meanings through conceptual relationships.
- Discourse Structure connecting text elements through coherence relations.
- Phonological Structure organizing sound patterns through linguistic rules.
- Representational Structures, such as:
- Data Structure organizing information units for computational processing.
- Knowledge Structure representing concepts and their interrelationships.
- Database Structure storing structured data through relational models.
- File Structure organizing digital content through hierarchical systems.
- Logical Structures, such as:
- Computational Structures organizing digital systems, such as:
- Software Structures, such as:
- Software Program Structure organizing code modules through architectural patterns.
- Algorithm Structure implementing computational logic through control flows.
- Object Structure encapsulating data and behavior through class hierarchies.
- Hardware Structures, such as:
- Circuit Structure routing electrical signals through component networks.
- Processor Structure executing instructions through pipeline architectures.
- Memory Structure storing information through hierarchical caches.
- Software Structures, such as:
- ...
- Physical Structures embodying material organization, such as:
- Counter-Example(s):
- Random Arrangements, which lack consistent patterns and organized relationships between components.
- Chaotic Systems, which exhibit extreme sensitivity to initial conditions rather than stable relationship patterns.
- Amorphous Substances, which lack definite form and internal organization.
- Homogeneous Fields, which possess uniform properties without internal differentiation or component relationships.
- Ephemeral Phenomena, which lack the temporal persistence required for structure recognition.
- See: Physical Structure, Abstract Structure, Data Structure, Syntactic Structure, Semantic Structure, Infrastructure, Superstructure, Biological Structure, Chemical Structure, Object Permanence, Pattern, Megastructure, Component, Composition, Framework, System, Organization, Conceptual Structure, Social Structure, Natural Language Structure, Structured Discourse, Structural Disambiguation, Organizational Structure, Intrinsic Structure, Function Structure, Substructure, Building, Formal Organization, Systematic Framework, Software Platform Architecture, Structured Dataset, Structured Data Structure.
References
2014
- (Wikipedia, 2014) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/structure Retrieved:2014-1-12.
- Structure is a fundamental, tangible or intangible notion referring to the recognition, observation, nature, and permanence of patterns and relationships of entities. This notion may itself be an object, such as a built structure, or an attribute, such as the structure of society. From a child's verbal description of a snowflake, to the detailed scientific analysis of the properties of magnetic fields, the concept of structure is now often an essential foundation of nearly every mode of inquiry and discovery in science, philosophy, and art.[1] In early 20th-century and earlier thought, form often plays a role comparable to that of structure in contemporary thought. The neo-Kantianism of Ernst Cassirer (cf. his Philosophy of Symbolic Forms, completed in 1929 and published in English translation in the 1950s) is sometimes regarded as a precursor of the later shift to structuralism and poststructuralism. [2]
The description of structure implicitly offers an account of what a system is made of: a configuration of items, a collection of inter-related components or services. A structure may be a hierarchy (a cascade of one-to-many relationships), a network featuring many-to-many links, or a lattice featuring connections between components that are neighbors in space.
- Structure is a fundamental, tangible or intangible notion referring to the recognition, observation, nature, and permanence of patterns and relationships of entities. This notion may itself be an object, such as a built structure, or an attribute, such as the structure of society. From a child's verbal description of a snowflake, to the detailed scientific analysis of the properties of magnetic fields, the concept of structure is now often an essential foundation of nearly every mode of inquiry and discovery in science, philosophy, and art.[1] In early 20th-century and earlier thought, form often plays a role comparable to that of structure in contemporary thought. The neo-Kantianism of Ernst Cassirer (cf. his Philosophy of Symbolic Forms, completed in 1929 and published in English translation in the 1950s) is sometimes regarded as a precursor of the later shift to structuralism and poststructuralism. [2]
- ↑ Pullan, Wendy (2000). Structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-78258-9.
- ↑ John Carlos Rowe, "Structure," in Critical Terms for Literary Study, 2nd ed., ed. Frank Lentricchia and Thomas McLaughlin, (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1995), 25.
2009
- (WordNet, 2009) ⇒ http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=structure
- S: (n) structure, construction (a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts) "the structure consisted of a series of arches"; "she wore her hair in an amazing construction of whirls and ribbons"
- S: (n) structure (the manner of construction of something and the arrangement of its parts) "artists must study the structure of the human body"; "the structure of the benzene molecule"
- S: (n) structure (the complex composition of knowledge as elements and their combinations) "his lectures have no structure"
- S: (n) structure, anatomical structure, complex body part, bodily structure, body structure (a particular complex anatomical part of a living thing) "he has good bone structure"
- S: (n) social organization, social organisation, social structure, social system, structure (the people in a society considered as a system organized by a characteristic pattern of relationships) "the social organization of England and America is very different"; "sociologists have studied the changing structure of the family"
- S: (v) structure (give a structure to) "I need to structure my days"