The concept of a system can be defined only by understanding the three fundamental elements that constitute it.
These three elements are Being, Interaction, and Protocol.
Any given being cannot perceive its own existence until interaction occurs.
Only through interaction with something other than itself can a being truly become—that is, existence becomes aware of itself through relation.
It is interaction that transforms beings with latent potentiality into subjects and objects,
and thus, within the framework of system theory, interaction stands on an equal ontological footing with being itself.
Yet, in the absence of protocol, every being within interaction is ultimately destined to vanish.
Only through protocol can being and interaction persist.
Therefore, protocol, together with being and interaction, forms the necessary and sufficient conditions of any system.
What follows is a discussion on the meaning and scope of system theory—what it signifies, and how it should be used.
System theory was conceived in sociology and the social sciences as an attempt to bridge the micro and the macro,