source:

Systems Thinking Ontario – 2021-04-12

April 12 (the second Monday of the month) is the 89th meeting for Systems Thinking Ontario. The registration is on Eventbrite at https://pattern-language-schuler.eventbrite.ca

Patterns and Pattern Languages Supporting Cross-boundary Collaboration

For our April session of Systems Thinking Ontario, we will be honoured to have Douglas Schuler join us online from Seattle.

Doug was exposed to the original A Pattern Language in the mid-1970s. It aimed to generate towns and buildings that would be alive and life-affirming. That framework and perspective served to orient and structure collaboration under the auspices of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR). The Directions and Implications of Advanced Computing conference in 2001 attracted over 100 pattern proposals. These were ultimately transformed into the Liberating Voices pattern language containing 136 patterns by 75 authors. This body of work is available online and in a book published by MIT Press in 2008.

This pattern language addresses collaboration and civic intelligence, a critical under-developed resource necessary for democratic societies and public problem solving. Doug has led workshops in his teaching at the Evergreen State College, and with community groups designing actions and projects, around the world.

Doug is looking forward to an open discussion on the potential for patterns and pattern languages to help address wicked problems on a large scale, via technology, loose coordination, and social commitments.

Douglas Schuler is currently chair of ACM SIGCAS and president of the Public Sphere Project as a non-profit organization in the State of Washington. Doug is Professor Emeritus at The Evergreen State College, former Chair of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR), and a founding member of the Seattle Community Network (SCN).

Venue:

• The link for a Zoom conference will be sent upon preregistration.

Suggested pre-reading:

Public Sphere Project

• Ongoing work at https://labs.publicsphereproject.org/

Seattle Community Network

• “Defund Big Tech, Refund Community”, https://techotherwise.pubpub.org/defund-big-tech.

Christopher Alexander’s early work.

• In 1968, Christopher Alexander wrote about “Systems Generating Systems“.
• Also in 1968, he was developing “A Pattern Language Which Generates Multi-Service Centers“.
• Alexander published A Pattern Language. in 1977, then The Timeless Way of Building in 1979. These works targeted built environments (i.e. architecture of physical places).

Agenda in original link:

Systems Thinking Ontario – 2021-04-12

Please comment at the original link https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6782692265593737216/

Looking for a few good starter papers and books on the history of complexity science, theory and applied practices. I’m particularly interested in the key research disputes, different traditions and paradigmatic/theoretical separations. Could be from the humanities, or natural or social sciences. I want to ease myself in and then explore from there. What’s worked for you?

Post | Feed | LinkedIn

Stafford Beer Collection.- Intro to Cybernetics Liverpool Poly 1991

Stafford Beer Collection.- Intro to Cybernetics Liverpool Poly 1991 – YouTube

source:

ASC: Foundations: History: Timeline

One good way of obtaining a historical overview of a discipline is to review a summary outline of its evolution. This page offers a summary timeline of events relevant to cybernetics.Unfortunately, assembling a linear timeline for cybernetics is not as straightforward as is the case for other disciplines. Cybernetics precipitated out of diverse threads of work fortuitously intersecting during the 1940’s. In the ensuing decades, the themes circumscribing cybernetics’ original definition diverged again to engender or facilitate the rise of an even greater diversity of fields, labels, and disciplines.The timeline below is derived from a number of reference sources. It is deliberately intended to reflect at least a sample of the many subjects and disciplines from which cybernetics descended and into which its themes subsequently flowed. In the early stages, this timeline focuses on the theme of control. As it approaches the 20th century, it begins to reflect developments in fields such as philosophy, biology, mathematics, etc.There is no claim that this timeline is comprehensive, though it’s the most detailed one to be found anywhere on the Internet. If you would like to contribute specific and significant items to be included in this timeline, please contact the Webmaster.

source (with full pdf)

Systems Thinking: A Comparison between Chinese and Western Approaches – ScienceDirect

Systems Thinking: A Comparison between Chinese and Western Approaches☆

lXingPan^aRicardoValerdi^bRuiKang^aShow moreAdd to MendeleyShareCitehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2013.01.108Get rights and contentUnder a Creative Commons licenseopen access

Abstract

This paper presents a comparison between Chinese perspectives on systems thinking and ideas from the West, primarily the U.S. and the U.K. In particular we focus on the debate between reductionism and holism which is one of the classical subjects of study in the philosophy of science. Just like the West, China experienced theoretical debate between holism and reductionism which spanned across a broad range of fields such as traditional Chinese medicine and reliability-centered systems engineering. The Chinese developed their own oriental systems methodologies based on the philosophical foundation of ancient oriental philosophy thoughts and dialectic principle, the most distinctive of which include the Meta-synthesis Approach and the Wuli– Shili–Renli approach. In the Western approach to systems thinking there are similar concepts of holistic thinking, synergism, and cause and effect. However, interesting differences exist between China and the West in the role of intuition in decision making. We explore these differences and discuss the implications for applying each approach in different problem solving contexts.

pdf: https://link.springer.com.sci-hub.se/chapter/10.1007%2F0-387-21722-3_11

Objects: Tokens for (Eigen-)Behaviors | SpringerLink

Objects: Tokens for (Eigen-)Behaviors

Keywords

Stable Behavior Mathematical Biophysics Behavior Figure Logical Calculus Notational Abbreviation These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

A seed, alas, not yet a flower, for Jean Piaget to his 80th birthday from Heinz, von Foerster with admiration and affection.

This contribution was originally prepared for and presented at the University of Geneva on June 29, 1976, on occasion of Jean Piaget’s 80th birthday. The French version of this paper appeared in Hommage a Jean Piaget: Epistémologie génétique et équilibration. B. Inhelder, R. Garcia, J. Voneche (eds.), Delachaux et Niestle Neuchatel (1977).

and

Eigenforms – Objects as Tokens for Eigenbehaviors – Kauffman (2003)

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Eigenforms-Objects-as-Tokens-for-Eigenbehaviors-Kauffman/a0e14bcc782a0f7c066d753ec7ded68ea8fcc224

Eigenforms – Objects as Tokens for Eigenbehaviors

• L. Kauffman
• Published 2003
• Computer Science, Psychology
• Cybern. Hum. Knowing

This essay is a contemplation of the notion of eigenform as explicated by Heinz von Foerster in his paper [4]. In that paper Heinz performs the magic trick of convincing us that the familiar objects of our existence can be seen to be nothing more than tokens for the behaviors of the organism that create stable forms. This is not to deny an underlying reality that is the source of these objects, but rather to emphasize the role of process and the role of the organism in the production of a living map that is so sensitive that map and territory are conjoined. Von Foerster’s papers [4,5,6] in the book [3] were instrumental in pioneering the field of second order cybernetics. The notion of an eigenform is inextricably linked with second order cybernetics. One starts on the road to such a concept as soon as one begins to consider a pattern of patterns, the form of form or the cybernetics of cybernetics. Such concepts appear to close around upon themselves, and at the same time they lead outward. They suggest the possibility of transcending the boundaries of a system from a locus that might have been within the system until the circular concept is called into being, and then the boundaries have turned inside out. As Ranulph Glanville has pointed out “The inside is the outside is the inside is the…” Forms are created from the concatenation of operations upon themselves and objects are not objects at all, but rather indications of processes. Upon encountering an object, after that essay of Heinz, you are compelled to ask: How is that object created? How is it designed? What do I do to produce it? What is the network of productions? Where is the home of that object? In what context does it exist? How am I involved in its creation? Taking Heinz’s suggestion to heart we find that an object in itself is a symbolic entity, participating in a network of interactions, taking on its apparent solidity and stability from these interactions. We ourselves are such objects, we as human beings are “signs for ourselves,” a concept originally due to the American philosopher C. S. Peirce [9]. In many ways Heinz’s eigenforms are mathematical companions to Peirce’s work. We will not follow this comparison in the present essay, but the reader familiar with Peirce is encouraged to do so.

pdf https://cepa.info/fulltexts/1817.pdf

Despite the fact that I tend to believe that systems, complexity, and cybernetics are better viewed as part of one extended and intermingled family of ideas and approaches, and that there are other and better ways to divide the field that these broad headings (see https://stream.syscoi.com/2020/04/21/bringing-together-some-reason-and-old-threads-on-systemsthinking-is-complexity-is-cybernetics/#comment-478 ) , it is possible at the very least to distinguish a number of pieces and perspectives which focus on concepts of complexity etc.

From a recent request on linkedin, I have curated some of them (posted here within the last few years), which I think, together, form an interesting overview (they include links to some more authoritative overviews, but this list in no way claims authority):

Warren Weaver – classic 1948 paper ‘science and complexity’

Science and complexity – Weaver, 1948 (classic paper introduction 2004)

A useful comparison of Gershenon (2020) – an avowedly ‘complexity’ approach with Espinosa, Harnden, and Walker (2007) – an avowedly cybernetics approach:

Guiding the Self-Organization of Cyber-Physical Systems, Gershenon (2020) cf Beyond hierarchy: A complexity management perspective , Espinosa, Harnden, and Walker (2007)

A good facebook comment by Gerald Midgely on ‘complexity science’ in comparison with cybernetics and systems thinking:

Bringing together some recent and old threads on #systemsthinking is #complexity is #cybernetics

A historical account (from 2019) which draws on a few key methods:

Complexity and systems thinking – January 2011, Merali and Allen

Emergence: complexity and organisation (2004)

Systems theory and complexity – Emergence: Complexity and Organization – Richardson (2004)

Some quotes from the depths of history on complexity concepts

some quotes on the theme #complexitythinking is #systemsthinking (is #cybernetics)

A request (not mine) from twitter for books about complexity:

Books on the topic of complex adaptive systems

Editorial by Carlos Gershenson (highly focused on computational work):

Editorial: Complexity and Self-Organization

A big and good resource which (I don’t have to say it, perhaps) seems to me not to credit systems and cybernetics appropriately
https://stream.syscoi.com/2021/03/03/complexity-explained/

An introduction to complexity theory:
https://stream.syscoi.com/2021/02/28/an-introduction-to-complexity-theory-by-jun-park-medium/

‘Dancing landscapes’, a piece which focuses on a key concept form Scott E Page’s ‘understanding complexity’ Great Courses course

Dancing Landscapes – artilce by Tim Maly, RISD Center for Complexity, and sources from Scott E. Page and his ‘Understanding Complexity’ course on ‘The Great Courses’

Three approaches to complexity by second-generation representatives of key thinkers:
https://stream.syscoi.com/2021/03/15/video-complexity-and-the-social-world-building-on-the-legacy-of-allen-byrne-stacey-and-cilliers-complexity-physics-org/

A piece from Martin Reynolds on ‘traditions of complexity and systems science’

Traditions of ‘Complexity and Systems Science’?

from January 2021 – Causality and complexity: the myth of objectivity in science – Chem Biodivers 2007 – Mikulecky
https://stream.syscoi.com/2021/01/30/causality-and-complexity-the-myth-of-objectivity-in-science-chem-biodivers-2007-mikulecky/

From a management blog – Herding Cats – a compendium of resources

Herding Cats: A Compendium of Managing Complex Systems

In the words of the Santa Fe Institute:
https://stream.syscoi.com/2020/11/16/what-is-complex-systems-science-and-reading-list-santa-fe-institute/

Others using the word:
Alicia Juarrero
https://stream.syscoi.com/2021/02/07/systems-and-constraints-discourse-martin-gurri-interview-with-alicia-juarrero-2020/

Thea Snow:

Embracing complexity in government – a story about gardening and thinking in systems :: Thea Snow :: City of the future :: Participate Melbourne

 Complexity Weekend Online Community of Practice   Join the May 2021 cohort of this unique Applied Complexity journey, featuring a Pre-Weekend experience starting 3/21 and a fully-interactive team-forming Weekend experience Friday 5/21 through Sunday 5/23 Register Now (closes April 26th) or Join Mailing List (Registration fee is offered on a sliding scale) What is Complexity?

Complexity Weekend | May 21, 2021 – May 23, 2021

 Complexity Weekend

Online Community of Practice  

Join the May 2021 cohort of this unique Applied Complexity journey, featuring a Pre-Weekend experience starting 3/21 and a fully-interactive team-forming Weekend experience Friday 5/21 through Sunday 5/23

Register Now (closes April 26th) or Join Mailing List

(Registration fee is offered on a sliding scale)

What is Complexity?

Now in a session with June Holley, and I can’t believe I haven’t linked to this before?! Network Weaving is a really significant part of the

NetworkWeaver – Weaving System Shifting Networks

NETWORK WEAVING

During the twenty-first century, activity will increasingly take place in self-organizing, system shifting networks. This site offers resources and discussion space for those who want to better understand network approaches to transformation and improve their skills in facilitating this transition.

This is also the site for the Network Weaver Consultants Network, a loosely affiliated group of consultants who provide a wide range of network services for organizations, networks and communities.

Go to the Network Services page to see a list of ten network services and which consultants offer each service.

source:

NetworkWeaver – Weaving System Shifting Networks

Thanks to Roger James for pointing this out, and its links to scenario planning.

Classic article:

“Memory of the future”: an essay on the temporal organization of conscious awareness

D H Ingvar

• PMID: 3905726

Abstract

The classical tripartite concept of time divided into past/present/future components, has been applied to the analysis of the functional cerebral substrate of conscious awareness. Attempts have been made to localize and to separate the neuronal machineries which are responsible for the experience of a past, a present, and a future. One’s experience of a past is obviously related to one’s memories. Memory mechanisms (in the conventional sense) have a well known functional relation to superficial and deep parts of the temporal lobe. Some such mechanisms presumably have a more widespread distribution. The experience of a present or a “Now-situation” is mediated by the sensory input. This input also exerts a role for conscious awareness of an inner Now-situation, independent of current afferent impulses, as shown by numerous observations on sensory deprivation. The main discussion is devoted to the experience of a future. Evidence is summarized that the frontal/prefrontal cortex handles the temporal organization of behaviour and cognition, and that the same structures house the action programs or plans for future behaviour and cognition. As these programs can be retained and recalled, they might be termed “memories of the future”. It is suggested that they form the basis for anticipation and expectation as well as for the short and long-term planning of a goal-directed behavioural and cognitive repertoire. This repertoire for future use is based upon experiences of past events and the awareness of a Now-situation, and it is continuously rehearsed and optimized. Lesions or dysfunctions of the frontal/prefrontal cortex give rise to states characterized by a “loss of future”, with consequent indifference, inactivity, lack of ambition, and inability to foresee the consequences of one’s future behaviour. It is concluded that the prefrontal cortex is responsible for the temporal organization of behaviour and cognition due to its seemingly specific capacity to handle serial information and to extract causal relations from such information. Possibly the serial action programs which are stored in the prefrontal cortex are also used by the brain as templates for extracting meaningful (serial) information from the enormous, mainly non-serial, random, sensory noise to which the brain is constantly exposed. Without a “memory of the future” such an extraction cannot take place.

pdf: https://www.prospectivepsych.org/sites/default/files/pictures/Ingvar_Memory-of-future-1985.pdf

Memory of the future (Fuster, 2014)

https://www.cambridge.org.sci-hub.se/core/books/neuroscience-of-freedom-and-creativity/memory-of-the-future/1BE1B971ACD2E9E42ADD6360BE28B6B2

Memories of the future: new insights into the adaptive value of episodic memory (various, 2013)

Karl K. Szpunar^1,2*, Donna Rose Addis^3,4, Victoria C. McLelland^3,4 and Daniel L. Schacter^1,2

https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/11708605/3662022.pdf?sequence=1

Remembering Possible Times: Memory for Details of Past, Future, and Counterfactual Simulations (various, 2020)
Felipe De Brigard, Bryce Gessell, Brenda W. Yang, Gregory Stewart, and Elizabeth J. Marsh

Link to scenario planning:

another link:

https://geraldashley.blog/2018/04/21/memories-of-the-future/

and a piece on market research and links to futures work more broadly:

https://www.greenbook.org/mr/market-research-methodology/memories-of-the-future/

WE HAVE ARGUED at some length in another place that the mechanical equilibrium model and the organismic homeostasis models of society that have underlain most modern sociological theory have outlived their usefulness. A more viable model, one much more faithful to the kind of system that society is more and more recognized to k, is in process of developing out of, or is in keeping with, the modern systems perspective (which we use loosely here to refer to general systems research, cybernetics, information and communication theory, and related fields). Society, or the sociocultural system, is not, then, principally an equilibrium system or a homeostatic system, but what we shalt simply refer to as a complex adaptive system.

continues in source: http://coevolving.com/transfer/2013-ISSS-Buckley/1968_Buckley_SocietyAsAComplexSystem_ocr.pdf?source=post_page—————————

h/t Liam Mahon, and then I found the document hosted on David Ing’s coevolving.com

Sweden Game Arena

Systemic design is for many game designers like water to fish: we swim in it daily, but we have a difficult time articulating exactly what it is. Mike Seller’s talk provides useful, practical definitions of important concepts like systems, emergence, and interactivity, as well as a cohesive framework for creating systems and systemic effects in game and AI design.

A Systemic Approach to Systemic Design – Mike Sellers – YouTube

BOUNDARYLESS CONVERSATIONS PODCAST — SEASON 2 EP #13 Trans-contextual Organizing: Shifting Perceptions — with Nora Bateson Nora Bateson joins us for an earnest conversation where we delve into invisible assumptions, entanglement, and trans-contextual organizing. Together we explore what embracing a complexity standpoint truly means for an organization and for the relationships taking place within it and between that and other organizations.

Trans-contextual Organizing: Shifting Perceptions — with Nora Bateson | by Boundaryless | Mar, 2021 | Stories of Platform Design

BOUNDARYLESS CONVERSATIONS PODCAST — SEASON 2 EP #13

Trans-contextual Organizing: Shifting Perceptions — with Nora Bateson

Nora Bateson joins us for an earnest conversation where we delve into invisible assumptions, entanglement, and trans-contextual organizing. Together we explore what embracing a complexity standpoint truly means for an organization and for the relationships taking place within it and between that and other organizations.

https://stories.platformdesigntoolkit.com/trans-contextual-organizing-shifting-perceptions-with-nora-bateson-5a2f233b9d23

American Society for Cybernetics – ASC

Models are not good or bad, right or wrong, only more or less useful in a given context. — Stafford Beer During this ASC Series event Jude Lombardi facilitated a conversation between two long-term members and past-presidents of the ASC, Allenna Leonard and Larry Richards, about the life and work of Stafford Beer. As many might know, Beer was a prolific producer of many things — in a variety of domains. He was, according to Leonard, a “polymath—a scientist who painted, wrote poetry, taught yoga and cooked a delicious Yorkshire pudding.” Event page and links to papers: https://asc-cybernetics.org/asc-speak…

ASC Speakers Series #4 – Leonard and Richards on Stafford – YouTube