Requisite Variety and Its Implications for the Control of Complex SystemsW. AshbyPublished 1991MathematicsRecent work on the fundamental processes of regulation in biology (Ashby, 1956) has shown the importance of a certain quantitative relation called the law of requisite variety. After this relation had been found, we appreciated that it was related to a theorem in a world far removed from the biological—that of Shannon on the quantity of noise or error that could be removed through a correction-channel (Shannon and Weaver, 1949; theorem 10). In this paper I propose to show the relationship between the two theorems, and to indicate something of their implications for regulation, in the cybernetic sense, when the system to be regulated is extremely complex.
[PDF] Requisite Variety and Its Implications for the Control of Complex Systems | Semantic Scholar
Category Archives: Discussion
A view or perspective on the world
How Embodied Is Cognition? | Hutto and McGivern (2015)
How Embodied Is Cognition?Daniel D. HuttoPatrick McGivern4564 Views6 Pages1 File ▾Cognitive Science,Philosophy of Mind,Embodied Cognition,Philosophy of Cognitive Science,EnactivismShow more ▾E is the letter, if not the word, in today’s sciences of mind. E adjectives proliferate. Nowadays it is hard to avoid claims that cognition – perceiving, imagining, decision-making, planning – is best understood in E terms of some sort. The list of E-terms is long: embodied, enactive, extended, embedded, ecological, engaged, emotional, expressive, emergent and so on. This short piece explains: the big idea behind this movement; how it is inspired by empirical findings; why it matters; and what questions the field will face in the future. It focuses on the stronger and weaker ways that different E-approaches understand cognition as depending deeply on the dynamic ways in which cognizers use their bodies to engage with wider world.
(99+) How Embodied Is Cognition? | Daniel D. Hutto and Patrick McGivern – Academia.edu
The origin and conservation of self‐consciousness: Reflections on four questions by Heinz von Foerster – Maturana (2005)
The origin and conservation of self‐consciousness: Reflections on four questions by Heinz von FoersterHumberto Maturana Romesín KybernetesISSN: 0368-492XArticle publication date: 1 January 200
The origin and conservation of self‐consciousness: Reflections on four questions by Heinz von Foerster | Emerald Insight
Full text: https://www.univie.ac.at/constructivism/pub/hvf/papers/maturana05selfconsciousness.html
Asymptotic burnout and homeostatic awakening: a possible solution to the Fermi paradox? | Wong and Bartlett (2022)
Asymptotic burnout and homeostatic awakening: a possible solution to the Fermi paradox?Michael L. Wong and Stuart BartlettPublished:04 May 2022
Asymptotic burnout and homeostatic awakening: a possible solution to the Fermi paradox? | Journal of The Royal Society Interface
Electromagnetism – Maxwell’s Laws – YouTube
@fluffbuster says:
Hey Sys Thinkers & Change If you want practise thinking about just 3 simultaneous interacting causes – here is a great video. Also – see how clear simple semantic-triplet statements about Things/Properties/Relations can communicate anything, even .
VSMod – Home
What is VSMod ®?VSMod® is the software created to facilitate the application of the Organizational Cybernetics and more specifically the Viable System Model to the design or diagnosis of organizations from the point of view of their viability.VSMod® helps, in first place, to design a new organization, by providing the means to create its structure and to guide the designer during the process of identification of the functions required for its viability, as well as the communication channels required by those functions to work properly. The other fundamental use is to help the diagnosis of any organization from the point of view of its viability.VSMod® permits the following activities:Creating a new VSM study or modifying an existing one.Creating the structure of a complete system using as many recursion criteria as wished.To navigate through the structure of the systemVisualising the complete detailed map of the VSM corresponding to the system-in-focus selected.Adding information to the model in any format (text, audio, video, graphics, simulation models, links to web pages, etc.) and in every one of the VSM components (including communication channels, environments, etc.).All the above-mentioned functions relating to the addition or visualisation of information may be carried out at each of the recursion levels identified for the model.As well as many other features…
VSMod – Home
Intro video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLKvLyDTpF4&t=6s
Catalysing Change 2022 – Catalyst 2030
Our recently released report “Catalysing Change 2022” tells the story of the movement over the last two years and highlights the seven lessons of growing “catalytic networks”. This report is written for those who are looking to organise collectively for change, in particular, those who are seeking to exchange a competitive mindset for a collaborative one. It is designed to support leaders from all sectors – NGOs, non-profit organisations, social enterprises, businesses, government agencies, media and civil society – to work together to accelerate progress on the SDGs.
Catalysing Change 2022 – Catalyst 2030
The Santa Fe Institute community lecture series | Santa Fe Institute
Community
The Santa Fe Institute community lecture series has been running for more than 30 years. We bring the best minds to Santa Fe to discuss the most profound questions in 21st century science and society — always with a complexity angle!OverviewRooted in Santa Fe, New Mexico and extending through our global network of researchers and scholars, the Santa Fe Institute brings leading thinkers to the local community through its signature Community Lecture series.For more than 30 years, this popular series has engaged the Santa Fe community with lively and diverse talks exploring a variety of topics, from cutting-edge research insights to the nature of human creativity. Lectures are free and open to the public. For those unable to attend in person, you can live stream all of our lectures from the Santa Fe Institute’s YouTube page.
Community | Santa Fe Institute
Learning to think in systems to tackle complexity | ANZSOG (the Australia and New Zealand School of Government) series of masterclasses
LEARNING TO THINK IN SYSTEMS TO TACKLE COMPLEXITY
Published Date: 10 May 2022
In a complex and volatile world, many parts of the public sector are struggling with policy challenges that cut across agencies and jurisdictions and involve actors inside and outside government.
David R. Keith, Assistant Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, believes that understanding system dynamics – and where governments fit into broader systems – can improve public sector leaders’ ability to deliver better responses to complex challenges.
Prof. Keith is one of the new masterclass presenters in ANZSOG’s Future public sector leaders’ series and will deliver the Diagnosing and Solving Complex Policy Problems masterclass on 1 June. The masterclass will introduce public sector leaders to System Dynamics, a methodology for the modelling and analysis of complex systems and design of high-leverage interventions.
Learning to think in systems to tackle complexity | ANZSOG
Marginal speed confinement resolves the conflict between correlation and control in collective behaviour | Cavagna, Culla et al (2022)
Article
Open Access
Published: 10 May 2022
Marginal speed confinement resolves the conflict between correlation and control in collective behaviour
Andrea Cavagna, Antonio Culla, Xiao Feng, Irene Giardina, Tomas S. Grigera, Willow Kion-Crosby, Stefania Melillo, Giulia Pisegna, Lorena Postiglione & Pablo Villegas
Nature Communications
volume 13, Article number: 2315 (2022)
Abstract
Speed fluctuations of individual birds in natural flocks are moderate, due to the aerodynamic and biomechanical constraints of flight. Yet the spatial correlations of such fluctuations are scale-free, namely they have a range as wide as the entire group, a property linked to the capacity of the system to collectively respond to external perturbations. Scale-free correlations and moderate fluctuations set conflicting constraints on the mechanism controlling the speed of each agent, as the factors boosting correlation amplify fluctuations, and vice versa. Here, using a statistical field theory approach, we suggest that a marginal speed confinement that ignores small deviations from the natural reference value while ferociously suppressing larger speed fluctuations, is able to reconcile scale-free correlations with biologically acceptable group’s speed. We validate our theoretical predictions by comparing them with field experimental data on starling flocks with group sizes spanning an unprecedented interval of over two orders of magnitude.
Marginal speed confinement resolves the conflict between correlation and control in collective behaviour | Nature Communications
The latest on flocking/murmurations. I have enquired about connections to the famous SFI/Langton work here:
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6929809303751012353?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28activity%3A6929809303751012353%2C6929916328275283968%29
(Thanks to m’colleague Arthur Battram)
conference – Complexity and change: thinking, practices and processes for addressing global challenges , 5-9 September 2022, online
CONFERENCEComplexity and change: thinking, practices and processes for addressing global challenges 5 – 9 September 2022Online
Complexity and change: thinking, practices and processes for addressing global challenges
HvF’s Ethical Imperative:
“The world will ask you who you are, and if you don’t know, the world will tell you” – Carl Jung
In today’s post, I am looking at Heinz von Foerster’s ethical imperative. He explained this as follows – ‘I shall act always so as to increase the total number of choices’. This might seem as a strange choice of words. I will try to explain my understanding of this based on constructivism and existentialism. HvF believed that we construct our stable experiential reality based on our historical interactions with our environment in an autonomous manner. Our ongoing interactions lend stability to our experiences that we can identify as “tokens” for objects. This gives us the ability to recall an object in the external world.
From a social realm standpoint, this goes further in that we identify the “self” and the “others” based on this. We differentiate ourselves from the…
View original post 1,519 more words
On knowing and understanding • Gaining Systemic Insight – Marcus Jenal
MAY 9, 2022, 7:38 A.M.On knowing and understanding
Gaining Systemic Insight
I have read a very interesting article recently on a concept called Tamkeen that is practised in Marokko. The article is called Beyond the magic – growing our understanding of societal metamorphosis and was written by Karima Kadaoui (Tamkeen Community Foundation for Human Development) and Louis Klein (European School of Governance – EUSG).
On knowing and understanding • Buttondown
Symbiosis: Beyond Sustainability Expo – Event by Global Regeneration CoLab May 14, 2022, May 14, 2022, 3:00 AM – 5:00 PM (UTC-07:00)
Symbiosis: Beyond Sustainability Expo
(1) LinkedIn
Symbiosis: Beyond Sustainability Expo
Event by Global Regeneration CoLab
May 14, 2022, 11:00 AM – May 15, 2022, 1:00 AM
Online
About
Symbiosis: Beyond Sustainability Expo : A showcase of the abundance and diversity of impact stories and projects in regeneration. Join to expand horizons on what regeneration looks like in practice, and build new connections and relationships of support with regenerators worldwide.
Join us on May 14th, 2022 for a full day of interactive sessions and one-on-one interaction with project leads working in different fields of regeneration in agriculture, ecosystem service restoration, finance, capacity building, art, science and many more. Choose your own adventure from following a track to hopping into random conversations, we’ll be there to help you through it!
More Presenters to be unveiled as we get closer to the D-day!
SYSTEMIC INTERVENTION: Multi-Agency, Stakeholder-Engaged System Change | Professor Gerald Midgley – 1-3pm Swedish time (12-2pm UK time), Thursday 12 May 2022.
SYSTEMIC INTERVENTION: Multi-Agency, Stakeholder-Engaged System Change
SYSTEMIC INTERVENTION: Multi-Agency, Stakeholder-Engaged System Change | lnu.se
Gerald Midgley says:
This is the second of two online seminars I am giving at Linnaeus University in Sweden next week. You’re welcome to sign up for it.
SYSTEMIC INTERVENTION: MULTI-AGENCY, STAKEHOLDER-ENGAGED SYSTEM CHANGE
1-3pm Swedish time (12-2pm UK time), Thursday 12 May 2022.
https://lnu.se/…/seminarium-systems-thinkings-20220512/
In this seminar, Gerald Midgley will discuss the systemic intervention methodology that he has been developing for over thirty years. This is useful for tackling really difficult organizational, social and environmental problems – especially when we need to get multiple organizations pulling together on system change. It is also helpful when we want to put the voices of communities, stakeholders or service users at the centre of planning, policy-making, evaluation or organizational design. Gerald will focus on key aspects of his systemic intervention methodology, such as the need for critical reflection on ethical and boundary judgements, and the value of mixing methods from a wide variety of sources to ensure that intervention is flexible and responsive to stakeholders’ concerns. The methodology will then be illustrated with a detailed case study of an intervention conducted in Central Manchester (UK), in which children and a variety of agencies developed new ideas to support young people missing from home or care. Gerald will describe how systemic intervention seeks out and amplifies the voices of marginalized stakeholders (in this case, homeless children). He will also explain the value of mixing a variety of methods to promote co-operation and mutual learning in a situation where getting a commitment to change from all the agencies was highly problematic. While the case study in this talk is about the design of new services for homeless children, this is purely illustrative: the methodology has been used to tackle a wide range of social and ecological issues involving people in the public, private, voluntary and community sectors. Some of projects tackling these issues have involved the resolution of decades-long stakeholder conflicts. In the question and answer session at the end of the talk, Gerald will draw upon some of these other project examples, as and when they are relevant.
Systems Community of Inquiry 
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