A good term for something that sustains itself via a positive feedback loop?
So just for context, I would like to pose the hypothesis that the US dollar is the strongest currency because it is the global reserve currency and is the global reserve currency because it is the strongest currency.
I want to sum this up neatly, and am looking for a term that describes something that sustains itself via a positive feedback loop of this kind and so seems to lack a "real" external cause.
I would make an analogy with circular reasoning, coherentism, and stabilization (in AI, e.g. http://lukemuehlhauser.com/wp-content/uploads/Hammond-et-al-The-stabilization-of-environments.pdf).
Solution 1:
I'd call that self-perpetuating:
From Wiktionary:
- Causing itself to continue to exist.
The committee was self-perpetuating: all it did was hold a meeting to decide when the next meeting was, and consume funds to do so.
It's a self-perpetuating error, now that we've made it, we can't fix it without breaking things that depend on it.
Solution 2:
The opposite of a vicious cycle is often called a virtuous circle or cycle.
From Merriam Webster virtuous circle:
A condition in which a favorable circumstance or result gives rise to another that subsequently supports the first. Also called virtuous cycle.
A vicious cycle is a feedback loop that is not desired- negative connotation, in which the result of an action makes things continue to spiral downward. It is the more common phrase. That said, its opposite - in which the feedback tends to be good, is what you are referring too.
For example:
If you're on the receiving end of generous behaviour, your immediate reaction is to be generous back and you find yourself in a virtuous circle.
Solution 3:
Self-sustaining is the phrase I would use.