In MST Theory , knowledge is understood as consisting of models that allow the adaptation of a cybernetic system to its environment, by anticipation of possible perturbations.
Models function as recursive generators of predictions about the world and the self.
A model is necessarily simpler than the environment it represents, and this enables it to run faster than, i.e. anticipate, the process es in the environment. This allows the system to compensate perturbations before they have had the opportunity to damage the system. What models represent is not the structure of the environment but its action , insofar as it has an influence on the system. Thus, the development of knowledge can best be understood as an evolutionary process characterized by variation mechanisms and selection criteria. The most efficient way to choose or to construct a model which is adequate for the given problem is by reasoning on a metacognitive level , where a class of possible models can be analysed and compared.