Because Concepts are compressed models, and Models are Systems themselves, Concepts are also systems. Since An attractor defines a stable system, successful, i.e. stable, concepts can be understood as their Attractors.
In other words: Concepts are attractors, not essencesDeLanda (2002) makes the same point.
– just stable enough to be used as a component of
successful models.
Concepts are part of and get their meaning from their position in a Concept Network. This network is a Complex System whose stable states fluctuate around its attractor and which can undergo fundamental shifts between its possible attractors.
Thus the content and function of the component concepts, which are constrained by the changing network, also change, with their stable states being their attractors.
References
- DeLanda (2002): Intensive Science and Virtual Philosophy