Feedback
When a system's output loops back to change its own input, either amplifying or dampening the change.
At a glance
Key signals
45% cross fields · reaches 18 more
- Systems Science
- Biology
- Engineering
- Explanation
- Examples
- Misconception
- Sourced relations 7
- Attribution
Dependencies
What this concept builds on and what it makes possible — derived from the atlas’s dependency, causal and structural relations, not from every related edge.
Enables · leads to
Feedback controllerdepends onFeedbackEstablished
A controller runs on feedback.
Mechanism: It measures the output, compares it to the target, and adjusts the input to shrink the gap.
Resiliencedepends onFeedbackSupported
Resilience depends on balancing feedback that restores a system.
Mechanism: Resilience depends on feedback: balancing loops that quickly correct disturbances let a system absorb shocks without breaking.
- Thinking in Systems: A Primer (2008) verified
System context
Feedbackis part ofSystemEstablished
Feedback is a core feature of systems.
Mechanism: Feedback is a system connecting to itself: an output loops back as an input, so the system responds to its own behaviour.
- Thinking in Systems: A Primer (2008) verified
Audio feedbackis aFeedbackEstablished
audio feedback is a kind of feedback.
Mechanism: Audio feedback is a positive feedback loop between speaker and mic.
- Wikipedia (English & German editions) verifiedmoderate evidence
Balancing loopis aFeedbackEstablished
A balancing loop is a kind of feedback.
Mechanism: A balancing loop is feedback that stabilises: the output feeds back to oppose the change, steering the system back toward a set point.
- Thinking in Systems: A Primer (2008) verified
Homeostasisis aFeedbackEstablished
Homeostasis is a kind of feedback.
Mechanism: Homeostasis is negative feedback in biology: a sensed deviation from a set point drives a correction back toward it.
- Wikipedia (English & German editions) verifiedmoderate evidence
Reinforcing loopis aFeedbackEstablished
A reinforcing loop is a kind of feedback.
Mechanism: A reinforcing loop is feedback that amplifies: the output feeds back to push the same change further, producing runaway growth or collapse.
- Thinking in Systems: A Primer (2008) verified
Structural role & consequence
Interpreted from the current atlas graph — what the connections mean, not just how many there are.
Removing this node lengthens the structural route between Circular causality and Disease surveillance from 2 to 11 steps (they stay connected — alternative routes exist).
structural · Structural removal simulation — not a historical or causal counterfactual.
45% of its relationships cross field boundaries, reaching 18 other disciplines — above the 23% median of 8 concepts in the same discipline.
structural · Structural graph analysis — not a claim of importance, causation or history.
Currently dark in the atlas: no key date stored · 11 of 11 of its relations lack claim-level evidence.
atlas representation · Describes the current Thinking OS representation, not the state of the world.
Structural neighbourhood: 11 → 57 → 248 concepts reachable within 3 hops.
structural · Structural reach — being reachable is not the same as being understood.
cross-field
6 within-field, 5 cross-field
Strengths & constraints
Strengths
- Cross-disciplinary connector — 45% of its relationships cross field boundaries. structural
Constraints
- Evidence coverage currently thin in the atlas — few of its relationships carry claim-level evidence. atlas representation
- No dated history stored — the atlas records no key date for this concept. atlas representation
Conditions
- Read structurally — most of its relationships carry no external evidence yet, so claims here are graph-derived. structural
Dependency radial
What this concept builds on (left) and what it makes possible (right) — derived from dependency and causal relations.
What builds on this
2 concepts build on this directly, 2 in total, across 6 disciplines.
Structural downstream reach along dependency edges — not a claim of historical necessity.
Seen through each discipline
How this concept sits in each of its fields — derived from its real connections in the graph, not asserted.
Through this lens it connects to System, Reinforcing loop and Balancing loop.
Through this lens it connects to Homeostasis, System and Balancing loop.
Through this lens it connects to System, Resilience and Cybernetics.
Feedback is studied in this field.
Related ideas to explore
Concepts that look related but are not yet connected here — candidates for a connection to reason about, not established links.
This idea also appears in…
The same structure shows up in other disciplines. These are real recurrences drawn from the graph — a starting point for asking “what carries over, and what changes?”
Feedback loop44 disciplines · 46 concepts
Concepts
shares a mental model · explicitly analogous · crosses a discipline boundary
shares a mental model · crosses a discipline boundary
shares a mental model
shares a mental model
shares a mental model
shares a mental model
Feedback is when a result comes back around to affect its own cause. If it pushes the change further, it is reinforcing; if it pushes back, it is balancing.
Mental models at work here
- Connects 11 other ideas across 5 disciplines.
- A cross-disciplinary bridge — its connections reach into 18 other fields.
- Most of its connections are of the “Kind & structure” kind.
- It exercises 1 reusable thinking pattern.
Derived from the graph’s real structure — observations, not a score.
Sources
- Thinking in Systems: A Primer (2008) verified