⊿ Point. {R} Glossary. ◢ Keyword: B. ▰ Sources. 〓 Books [B] ◥ University. {q} PhD. ⏫ THEMES. ⏫ Big Data. [B] Big Data. ⚫ USA. ↂ EndNote. ☝️ BD Dummies. Black Box. System where only the inputs and outputs can be viewed, and not its implementation In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The term can be used to refer to many inner workings, such as those of a transistor, an engine, an algorithm, the human brain, or an institution or government.
History[edit] In cybernetics, a full treatment was given by Ross Ashby in 1956.[4] A black box was described by Norbert Wiener in 1961 as an unknown system that was to be identified using the techniques of system identification.[5] He saw the first step in self-organization as being to be able to copy the output behavior of a black box. Systems theory[edit] The constitution and structure of the box are altogether irrelevant to the approach under consideration, which is purely external or phenomenological. . (...)