What is General Systems Theory?

General Systems Theory, developed by biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy, proposes that systems across very different domains, biological, mechanical, social, and ecological, share common organizing principles, such as hierarchy, openness to the environment, and self-regulation, that can be studied as a unified field rather than domain by domain.

This idea laid the intellectual groundwork for modern systems thinking, cybernetics, and system dynamics, because it gave researchers permission to borrow concepts like feedback and equilibrium across fields, from cell biology to organizational design, instead of treating every discipline's problems as entirely unique.