Welcome to a journey in the realm of systems. The journey is still unfolding as this web site continues to evolve over time. Yet, even with the endless changes, there continues to be a connection, in one fashion or another, with systems. And, I continue to find that the lens which provides a systems perspective is the most revealing of understanding found to date.
The real intent here is not to study systems as a discipline, though more an intent to study lots of things and employ a systems perspective to foster understanding. Agreed, this requires some understanding of systems. As such, information is provided to enable one to develop a level of understanding sufficient to delve into the rest of what resides at this web site.
Every attempt will be made to avoid the major failing of "system science." In the words of Ludwig von Bertalanffy, "The student in 'system science' receives a technical training which makes systems theory -- originally intended to overcome current overspecialization -- into another of the hundreds of academic specialities."
Welcome to a journey in the realm of systems. The journey is still unfolding as this web site continues to evolve over time. Yet, even with the endless changes, there continues to be a connection, in one fashion or another, with systems. And, I continue to find that the lens which provides a systems perspective is the most revealing of understanding found to date.
The real intent here is not to study systems as a discipline, though more an intent to study lots of things and employ a systems perspective to foster understanding. Agreed, this requires some understanding of systems. As such, information is provided to enable one to develop a level of understanding sufficient to delve into the rest of what resides at this web site.
Every attempt will be made to avoid the major failing of "system science." In the words of Ludwig von Bertalanffy, "The student in 'system science' receives a technical training which makes systems theory -- originally intended to overcome current overspecialization -- into another of the hundreds of academic specialities."
Enjoy the journey!
System
The word system probably has more varied meanings than any other word in use today. The definition I have become comfortable with I owe to the late Austrian Biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy.
A system is an entity which maintains its existence
through the mutual interaction of its parts.
The key emphasis here is "mutual interaction," in that something is occurring between the parts, over time, which maintains the system. A system is different than a heap or a collection, mostly.
This definition of a system implies something beyond cause and effect. Rather than simply A affects B, there is an implication that B also affects A. Examples of systems are particle, atom, molecule, cell, organ, person, community, state, nation, world, solar system, galaxy, and universe, in increasing levels of complexity. In truth there is only one system, "the Universe," and all other systems are really just sub-systems of this larger system. The relevant question has to do with where one chooses to draw boundaries.
Emergence
Associated with the idea of system is a principle called emergence. From the mutual interaction of the parts of a system there arise characteristics which can not be found as characteristic of any of the individual parts.
Stumbling across this as I did was most enlightening. It was probably in high school that I was first acquainted with the idea of synergy; the idea that the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. And, for all the examples ever used, emergence never really hit me until I ran into the right example. The right example just happened to be water! Amazing it took so long since there's so much of it around.
One could study hydrogen and oxygen in isolation from each other forever and never discover the characteristic of wetness. Wetness is an emergent characteristic of the mutual interaction of hydrogen and oxygen when combined to produce the molecular form called water. One has to study the system to get a true understanding of wetness. Studying the parts will not provide an appropriate understanding.
A systems view is somewhat in contradiction to the concept of analysis, which is breaking things down into smaller pieces to simplify the study. Analysis brings with it the risk of potentially loosing the most relevant characteristics of the system, and possibly developing a less than complete understanding. Yes, analysis is an important technique, and at the same time another method of study is also warranted, something I have seen called anasynthis. Anasynthis being the study of the whole, and the parts, in the hopes of developing an appropriate level of understanding.
