Ashby's law

proper noun

To control variety externally, you must be able to control even more variety internally.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

Ashby's law1

proper noun

alternative Ashby's Law · alternative law of requisite variety · alternative law of requisite complexity

  1. To control variety externally, you must be able to control even more variety internally.

    His "Law" of Requisite Variety stated that for a system to be stable, the number of states that its control mechanism is capable of attaining (its variety) must be greater than or equal to the number of states in the system being controlled.

    (Can we date this quote?), (Please provide the book title or journal name)

Ashby's Law2

proper noun
  1. Alternative letter-case form of Ashby's law.

Origin

Originally formulated by the cyberneticist W. Ross Ashby in 1956.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Ashby's law. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ashby's%20law

MLA

“Ashby's law.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ashby's%20law. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Ashby's law,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ashby's%20law.

Source: Ashby's law on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.