The analysis of the literature, reflecting the problem of potentiality in creating complex systems, including human-machine complexes (HMC) is carried out. On the basis of the generalized data, potentiality is defined as a fundamental property of objective reality, an integral part of the integrity structure of complex objects, which in the process of their functioning manifests itself in the form of engineering control situations unforeseen by the developers. A strategy for solving the problem of revealing the potential properties of HMC is considered from the viewpoint of comparing two approaches of “passive” and “active” strategies. A “passive” strategy means that the situations that arise unforeseen by the developers are taken into account by them, usually in the future when improving the technique. This approach does not consider the specifics of manifesting the systemic properties of the HMC and is incorrect from the methodological positions of modern systemic studies that assert the equivalence of subject-object relations in HMC. An “active” strategy for solving the problem under study includes a targeted search, disclosure and actualization of the potential properties of an object not only at the stages of its design and creation, but also at the stages of the exploitation in the joint activity of all professionals, namely developers, operators, engineering psychologists. This approach is based on forecasting and studying the potential properties of an exploited object on the basis of organizing a systematic and controlled cognitive process and studying the dynamics of changes in its operational characteristics under conditions of external factors that go beyond normal situations. It is concluded that to assess the characteristics of the HMC and determine the rational organization of its structures, it is necessary to develop an “active” strategy that allows using any type of information, including accurate data obtained on the basis of the deterministic methods of analysis, and inaccurate data obtained on the basis of an analysis of intuition, experience, considering all specialists’ values of judgments and figurative guesses, which will contribute to disclosing the potential of the created technical objects in the process of ergonomic support for their design and operation.
human-machine complexes, subject-object relations, technosphere, potentiality, homeostaticity
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