
In the previous chapter we have repeatedly used the concepts of a system, of parts in a whole, of the system’s behaviour, and of its changes of behaviour. These concepts are fundamental and must be properly defined. Accurate definition at this stage is of the highest importance, for any vagueness here will infect all the subsequent discussion; and as we shall have to enter the realm where the physical and the psychological meet, a realm where the experience of centuries has found innumerable possibilities of confusion, we shall have to proceed with unusual caution.