Mechanism may refer to:
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Mechanism (engineering), rigid bodies connected by joints in order to accomplish a desired force and/or motion transmission
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Mechanism (biology)
In the science of biology, a mechanism is a system of causally interacting parts and processes that produce one or more effects. Scientists explain phenomena by describing mechanisms that could produce the phenomena. For example, natural selectio ...
, explaining how a feature is created
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Mechanism (philosophy)
Mechanism is the belief that natural wholes (principally living things) are similar to complicated machines or artifacts, composed of parts lacking any intrinsic relationship to each other.
The doctrine of mechanism in philosophy comes in two dif ...
, a theory that all natural phenomena can be explained by physical causes
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Mechanism (sociology) The term social mechanisms and mechanism-based explanations of social phenomena originate from the philosophy of science.
The core thinking behind the mechanism approach has been expressed as follows by Elster (1989: 3-4): “To explain an event ...
, a theory that all social phenomena can be explained by the existence of a deterministic mechanism
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The Mechanism
"The Mechanism" is a song by British electronic music duo Disclosure and Friend Within. It was released as a digital download in the United Kingdom on 15 April 2014. The song peaked at number 28 on the UK Dance Chart
The UK Dance Singles Cha ...
", song by Disclosure
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''The Mechanism'' (TV series), a Netflix TV series
See also
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Machine
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Machine (mechanical)
A machine is a physical system using power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromolecules ...
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Linkage (mechanical)
A mechanical linkage is an assembly of systems connected to manage forces and movement. The movement of a body, or link, is studied using geometry so the link is considered to be rigid. The connections between links are modeled as providing i ...
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Mechanism design
Mechanism design is a field in economics and game theory that takes an objectives-first approach to designing economic mechanisms or incentives, toward desired objectives, in strategic settings, where players act rationally. Because it starts a ...
, the art of designing rules of a game to achieve a specific outcome
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Mechanism of action
In pharmacology, the term mechanism of action (MOA) refers to the specific biochemical interaction through which a drug substance produces its pharmacological effect. A mechanism of action usually includes mention of the specific molecular targ ...
, the means by which a drug exerts its biological effects
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Defence mechanism
In psychoanalytic theory, a defence mechanism (American English: defense mechanism), is an unconscious psychological operation that functions to protect a person from anxiety-producing thoughts and feelings related to internal conflicts and o ...
, unconscious mechanisms aimed at reducing anxiety
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Reaction mechanism, the sequence of reactions by which overall chemical change occurs
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Antikythera mechanism
The Antikythera mechanism ( ) is an Ancient Greek hand-powered orrery, described as the oldest example of an analogue computer used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses decades in advance. It could also be used to track the four-yea ...
, an ancient Greek analog computer
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Theory of operation
A theory of operation is a description of how a device or system should work. It is often included in documentation, especially maintenance/service documentation, or a user manual. It aids troubleshooting by providing the troubleshooter with ...
, a description of how a device or system should work
{{disambiguation
