A subset and part of a partition of a
system 's
state s such that no state in one basin succeeds or is succeeded by states in another basin and any two state in one basin share at least one preceding state or successor. Inasmuch as
behavior is defined as a sequence of states, the partition of a system's states into basins is also a partition of that system's possible behaviors, each defining a separately analysable
behavior space or region thereof. Each basin may have one or more sets of
equilibrium states. Ashby visualized a basin as a geographical area, fully surrounded by mountainous water sheds within which all rivers end up in one or more lakes. (
krippendorff )
