Skip to main content
Dictionary
Store
Blog
World
Help
Advertise
Chat
System Status
Information Collection Notice
Trademark Concerns
reCAPTCHA Privacy
Terms of Service
reCAPTCHA Terms
Privacy Policy
Accessibility
Report a Bug
Data Request
Contact Us
Security
DMCA
© 1999–2026 Urban Dictionary ®
Mugs
Tees
Hoodies
Pro Customization
Create unique products with your own words and definitions
Preview
Personalize Your Design
Your Word
Your Definition
A framework that applies dialectical logic—thesis, antithesis, synthesis—to the analysis of complex systems. It posits that systems evolve not through smooth, linear change but through internal contradictions and conflicts that generate transformative leaps. A system contains opposing tendencies (stability vs. change, centralization vs. decentralization, order vs. chaos); their interaction produces crises that resolve into new, higher‑level configurations. The theory is used in social sciences, organizational studies, and evolutionary biology to understand how systems undergo revolutionary rather than incremental change. It rejects equilibrium models in favor of perpetual, contradiction‑driven becoming.
Text fits
Save
Cancel