antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 4:16 pm on November 11, 2025

Cybernetics Society events

[These days I seem to miss lots of CybSoc and ASC and ISSS and even SCiO – so it goes – but this looks interesting and unusual]

Cybernetics Live

Tue 18th November 2025 1700-1900. Badlands Event Three: Eudaimonia

Join us for the third installment of our Badlands mini-series exploring technology for malignant purposes and cybernetic responses that might help. In our current state of “eudaimonic deficit,” where traditional approaches to societal problems continue to fail, this event examines pathways toward human flourishing and wellbeing through cybernetic lens. Our distinguished speakers bring decades of system-level expertise:

Giles Herdale will outline his national review of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), drawing from his extensive experience at the interface of technology, policing, data, ethics and policy-making from what the VSM would call ‘System Five’ perspective.

Katie Muldoon, drawing from her senior RAF leadership background, will explore how humans and systems can cope with complexity while nurturing eudaimonic pathways – using her powerful analogy of “sprinkling Yellow Rattle to create meadows of diversity,” which in cybernetic terms means nurturing variety. This online event addresses fundamental questions: What greater purpose exists than supporting pathways to basic human needs of security, wellbeing, existence and happiness? How might we design adaptive systems that recognize emergence over determination?

Badlands 3 brochure

PLEASE REGISTER FOR THIS ZOOM MEETING

10 December 2025 1700-1900 Emergent Language and Systemic Understanding: AI Augmented Deliberations Through a Cybernetic Lens – Kevin Dye

March 2026 Risk and the VSM in the Australian Military – Ray Wilkes

Cybernetics and Systems Calendar

As a reminder, below are the links on our website below to the CybSoc calendar and also the Combined calendar including events by other Societies.

CybSoc

Combined

Enacting Cybernetics Journal

The link to the journal homepage is below, access is free please enjoy:

https://enacting-cybernetics.org/

Jon Awbrey 9:00 am on November 11, 2025
Tags: Abduction ( 4 ), C.S. Peirce ( 13 ), Communication ( 2 ), Control ( 2 ), cybernetics ( 14 ), Deduction ( 4 ), Determination ( 3 ), Discovery ( 3 ), Doubt ( 3 ), Epistemology ( 2 ), Fixation of Belief ( 4 ), Induction ( 4 ), Information ( 4 ), Information = Comprehension × Extension ( 3 ), Information Theory ( 3 ), inquiry ( 9 ), Inquiry Driven Systems ( 6 ), Inquiry Into Inquiry ( 3 ), Interpretation ( 3 ), Invention ( 3 ), knowledge ( 3 ), Learning Theory ( 3 ), logic ( 14 ), Logic of Relatives ( 6 ), Logic of Science ( 4 ), Mathematics ( 13 ), philosophy-of-science ( 3 ), Pragmatic Information ( 2 ), Probable Reasoning ( 2 ), Process Thinking ( 2 ), Relation Theory ( 7 ), Scientific Inquiry ( 3 ), Scientific Method ( 4 ), Semeiosis ( 2 ), Semiosis ( 5 ), Semiotic Information ( 2 ), Semiotics ( 10 ), Sign Relational Manifolds ( 3 ), Sign Relations ( 9 ), Surveys ( 3 ), Triadic Relations ( 8 ), Uncertainty ( 2 ), Visualization ( 8 )

Survey of Pragmatic Semiotic Information • 9

This is a Survey of blog and wiki posts on a theory of information which grows out of pragmatic semiotic ideas. All my projects are exploratory in character but this line of inquiry is more open‑ended than most. The question is —

What is information and how does it impact the spectrum of activities answering to the name of inquiry?

Setting out on what would become his lifelong quest to explore and explain the “Logic of Science”, C.S. Peirce pierced the veil of historical confusions obscuring the issue and fixed on what he called the “laws of information” as the key to solving the puzzle.

The first hints of the Information Revolution in our understanding of scientific inquiry may be traced to Peirce’s lectures of 1865–1866 at Harvard University and the Lowell Institute. There Peirce took up “the puzzle of the validity of scientific inference” and claimed it was “entirely removed by a consideration of the laws of information”.

Fast forward to the present and I see the Big Question as follows. Having gone through the exercise of comparing and contrasting Peirce’s theory of information, however much it yet remains in a rough‑hewn state, with Shannon’s paradigm so pervasively informing the ongoing revolution in our understanding and use of information, I have reason to believe Peirce’s idea is root and branch more general and has the potential, with due development, to resolve many mysteries still bedeviling our grasp of inference, information, and inquiry.

Inference, Information, Inquiry

OEIS Wiki • Information = Comprehension × Extension

Blog Series 2024 • Information = Comprehension × Extension • Preamble

Selections • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6)

Comments • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7)

Blog Series 2019 • { Information = Comprehension × Extension } • Revisited

Selections • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6)

Comments • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5)

Discussions • (8) • (9) • (10) • (11) • (12) • (13) • (14) • (15) • (16) • (17)

Blog Series 2016 • { Information = Comprehension × Extension }

Selections • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6)

Comments • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8)

Discussions • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7)

Pragmatic Semiotic Information

Pragmatic Semiotic Information • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8) • (9)

Comments • (1) • (2) • (3)

Discussions • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8) • (9) • (10) • (11) • (12) • (13) • (14) • (15) • (16) • (17) • (18) • (19) • (20) • (21)

Semiotics, Semiosis, Sign Relations

Semeiotic • OEIS Wiki • Wikiversity
Blog Series • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8) • (9)

Sign Relations, Triadic Relations, Relation Theory

Blog Series • (1)

Discusssions • (1) • (2)

Excursions

Blog Dialogs

Semiotic Theory Of Information • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6)
Icon Index Symbol • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8) • (9) • (10) • (11) • (12) • (13) • (14) • (15) • (16) • (17)
Sign Relations • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8) • (9) • (10) • (11) • (12)
Sign Relations, Triadic Relations, Relations • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8) • (9) • (10) • (11)

References

Peirce, C.S. (1867), “Upon Logical Comprehension and Extension”. Online.
Awbrey, J.L., and Awbrey, S.M. (1995), “Interpretation as Action : The Risk of Inquiry”, Inquiry : Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines 15(1), 40–52. Archive. Journal. Online (doc) (pdf).

cc: FB | Semeiotics • Laws of Form • Ma^thstodon • Ontolog • Academia.edu
cc: Conceptual Graphs • Cybernetics • Structural Modeling • Systems Science

#abduction, #c-s-peirce, #communication, #control, #cybernetics, #deduction, #determination, #discovery, #doubt, #epistemology, #fixation-of-belief, #induction, #information, #information-comprehension-x-extension, #information-theory, #inquiry, #inquiry-driven-systems, #inquiry-into-inquiry, #interpretation, #invention, #knowledge, #learning-theory, #logic, #logic-of-relatives, #logic-of-science, #mathematics, #philosophy-of-science, #pragmatic-information, #probable-reasoning, #process-thinking, #relation-theory, #scientific-inquiry, #scientific-method, #semeiosis, #semiosis, #semiotic-information, #semiotics, #sign-relational-manifolds, #sign-relations, #surveys, #triadic-relations, #uncertainty, #visualization

Jon Awbrey 11:48 am on November 9, 2025
Tags: Algebra, Algebra of Logic, C.S. Peirce ( 13 ), Category Theory ( 3 ), Combinatorics, Discrete Mathematics, Duality, Dyadic Relations, Formal Languages ( 2 ), Foundations of Mathematics ( 2 ), Graph Theory ( 4 ), Group Theory ( 2 ), logic ( 14 ), Logic of Relatives ( 6 ), Logical Graphs ( 4 ), Mathematics ( 13 ), Model Theory ( 2 ), Relation Theory ( 7 ), Semiotics ( 10 ), Set Theory, Sign Relational Manifolds ( 3 ), Sign Relations ( 9 ), Triadic Relations ( 8 ), Type Theory ( 2 )

Survey of Relation Theory • 9

In the present Survey of blog and wiki resources for Relation Theory, relations are viewed from the perspective of combinatorics, in other words, as a topic in discrete mathematics, with special attention to finite structures and concrete set‑theoretic constructions, many of which arise quite naturally in applications. This approach to relation theory is distinct from, though closely related to, its study from the perspectives of abstract algebra on the one hand and formal logic on the other.

Elements

Relation Theory

Relational Concepts

Relation Composition	Relation Construction	Relation Reduction
Relative Term	Sign Relation	Triadic Relation
Logic of Relatives	Hypostatic Abstraction	Continuous Predicate

Illustrations

Six Ways of Looking at a Triadic Relation ⌬ 1

Information‑Theoretic Perspective

Mathematical Demonstration and the Doctrine of Individuals • (1) • (2)

Blog Series

Logic of Relatives

Relation Theory • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6)

Discussions • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5)

Relations & Their Relatives • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4)

Comments • (1) • (2) • (3)
Discussions • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8) • (9) • (10) • (11) • (12) • (13) • (14) • (15) • (16) • (17) • (18) • (19) • (20) • (21) • (22) • (23) • (24) • (25)

Triadic Relations • Preamble

Examples • Mathematics • Semiotics

Triadic Relations • (1) • (2) • (3)

Discussions • (1) • (2) • (3)

Peirce’s 1870 “Logic of Relatives”

Overview
Preliminaries
Selection 1 • Use of the Letters
Selection 2 • Numbers Corresponding to Letters
Selection 3 • The Signs of Inclusion, Equality, Etc.
Selection 4 • The Signs for Addition
Selection 5 • The Signs for Multiplication
Selection 6 • The Signs for Multiplication (cont.)
- Comment 6.1 • Sets as Sums
Selection 7 • The Signs for Multiplication (cont.)
- Comment 7.1 • Proto-Graphical Syntax
Selection 8 • The Signs for Multiplication (cont.)
Selection 9 • The Signs for Multiplication (cont.)
Selection 10 • The Signs for Multiplication (cont.)
Selection 11 • The Signs for Multiplication (concl.)
Selection 12 • The Sign of Involution

Intermezzo
Selection 13 • The Sign of Involution (cont.)
Comments • (1) • (2) • (3)
Discussions • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5)

Peirce’s 1880 “Algebra of Logic” Chapter 3

Preliminaries
Selections • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8)
Comments • (7.1) • (7.2) • (7.3) • (7.4) • (7.5)

Peirce’s 1885 “Algebra of Logic”

C.S. Peirce • Algebra of Logic ∫ Philosophy of Notation • (1) • (2)
C.S. Peirce • Algebra of Logic 1885 • Selections • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4)

Discussions • (1) • (2)

Resources

Peirce’s 1870 Logic of Relatives

cc: FB | Relation Theory • Laws of Form • Ma^thstodon • Ontolog • Academia.edu
cc: Conceptual Graphs • Cybernetics • Structural Modeling • Systems Science

#algebra, #algebra-of-logic, #c-s-peirce, #category-theory, #combinatorics, #discrete-mathematics, #duality, #dyadic-relations, #formal-languages, #foundations-of-mathematics, #graph-theory, #group-theory, #logic, #logic-of-relatives, #logical-graphs, #mathematics, #model-theory, #relation-theory, #semiotics, #set-theory, #sign-relational-manifolds, #sign-relations, #triadic-relations, #type-theory

antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 2:16 pm on November 8, 2025

systems | complexity | cybernetics that amplifies the practice of teacher-pupil interactions?

On Blooski, Mr Lee Bates ‪@mrbates.bsky.social‬ asks:

really interesting @antlerboy.com As a teacher we name concepts to make them things to use them and make them meaningful.Have you ever come across systems thinking as being a useful reframing lens that amplifiies the practice of teacher pupil interations?

— Mr Lee Bates (@mrbates.bsky.social) 2025-11-08T18:15:14.911Z

Have you ever come across systems thinking as being a useful reframing lens that amplifiies the practice of teacher pupil interations?
Give me a response with all relevant links but particularly Glanville’s cybernetic conversations etc – with links – concise, all in plain text no formatting or hyperlinks

Here’s my response – what else is useful?

Ranulph Glanville, ‘Conversation and design’ (clear on teachback and teaching as inherently conversational)

Click to access Conversation-and-Design.pdf

Pask’s conversation theory (foundational for learning-as-conversation)
https://monoskop.org/images/5/54/Pask_Gordon_Conversation_Theory_Applications_in_Education_and_Epistemology.pdf)

And a bunch of stuff about Formative assessment as feedback loops in a living system – e.g. Black and Wiliam, ‘Inside the black box’ (evidence that short feedback cycles raise attainment)

Click to access Black%20%26%20Wiliam%201998%20PDK.pdf

Bateson, levels of learning and double bind (why classroom context matters)
Conceptual histories and summaries –
https://openresearch.surrey.ac.uk/view/pdfCoverPage?download=true&filePid=13140358990002346&instCode=44SUR_INST

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Gregory-Bateson-on-deutero-learning-and-double-a-Visser/5a2f749c710a663dc9b1bf37a7aaa89696eeacc0)

Maturana and relational grounding for pedagogy – ‘Biology of love’ and implications for education as consensual coordination

Click to access biology-of-love.pdf

There’s also an interesting thread of systems thinking in whole-school practice, from the system dynamcis/Senge school – e.g. Senge et al., Schools that learn (fieldbook for applying systems thinking in schools)
https://systemdynamics.org/product/schools-that-learn/)
Overview: https://thesystemsthinker.com/schools-that-learn-context-and-engagement/)

The practical implications for teacher–pupil interactions are perhaps:

Design learning as iterative conversations with explicit feedback and teachback (Pask, Glanville)
Balance multiple feedback timescales: in-the-moment checks for understanding, lesson-level reflection, course-level redesign (Black & Wiliam, Laurillard)
Attend to relationship and emotion as part of the system, not noise (Maturana)
Watch for double binds and mismatched signals that block learning; design contexts that enable second-order learning about learning (Bateson)
Treat the classroom as a complex adaptive system and prototype improvements with short learning cycles (Senge)

antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 12:36 pm on November 7, 2025

Complexity and Management Conference 5th-7th June 2026

Complexity and Management Conference 5th-7th June 2026

Jon Awbrey 11:20 am on November 7, 2025
Tags: Amphecks ( 2 ), Animata ( 4 ), Boolean Algebra ( 2 ), Boolean Functions ( 3 ), C.S. Peirce ( 13 ), Cactus Graphs ( 3 ), Category Theory ( 3 ), Change, cybernetics ( 14 ), Differential Analytic Turing Automata, Differential Calculus, Differential Logic ( 3 ), Discrete Dynamics, Equational Inference ( 3 ), Frankl Conjecture, Functional Logic ( 2 ), Gradient Descent, Graph Theory ( 4 ), Hologrammautomaton, Inquiry Driven Systems ( 6 ), Leibniz, logic ( 14 ), Logical Graphs ( 4 ), Mathematics ( 13 ), Minimal Negation Operators ( 3 ), Propositional Calculus ( 3 ), Visualization ( 8 )

Survey of Differential Logic • 8

This is a Survey of work in progress on Differential Logic, resources under development toward a more systematic treatment.

Differential logic is the component of logic whose object is the description of variation — the aspects of change, difference, distribution, and diversity — in universes of discourse subject to logical description. A definition as broad as that naturally incorporates any study of variation by way of mathematical models, but differential logic is especially charged with the qualitative aspects of variation pervading or preceding quantitative models. To the extent a logical inquiry makes use of a formal system, its differential component treats the use of a differential logical calculus — a formal system with the expressive capacity to describe change and diversity in logical universes of discourse.

Elements

Differential Propositional Calculus

Part 1 • Part 2 • Appendices • References

Differential Logic • Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3

Differential Logic and Dynamic Systems

Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4 • Part 5
Appendices • References

Blog Series

Differential Logic • The Logic of Change and Difference

Differential Logic • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8) • (9) • (10) • (11) • (12) • (13) • (14) • (15) • (16) • (17) • (18)

Comments • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7)
Discussions • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8) • (9) • (10) • (11) • (12) • (13) • (14) • (15) • (16)

Differential Propositional Calculus • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8) • (9) • (10) • (11) • (12) • (13) • (14) • (15) • (16) • (17) • (18) • (19) • (20) • (21) • (22) • (23) • (24) • (25) • (26) • (27) • (28) • (29) • (30) • (31) • (32) • (33) • (34) • (35) • (36) • (37)

Discussions • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8) • (9)

Differential Logic and Dynamic Systems

Discussions • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7)

Differential Logic, Dynamic Systems, Tangent Functors • (1)

Comments • (1) • (2)
Discussions • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8) • (9)

Explorations

Frankl Conjecture • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8) • (9) • (10) • (11) • (12)

cc: FB | Differential Logic • Laws of Form • Ma^thstodon • Ontolog • Academia.edu
cc: Conceptual Graphs • Cybernetics • Structural Modeling • Systems Science

#amphecks, #animata, #boolean-algebra, #boolean-functions, #c-s-peirce, #cactus-graphs, #category-theory, #change, #cybernetics, #differential-analytic-turing-automata, #differential-calculus, #differential-logic, #discrete-dynamics, #equational-inference, #frankl-conjecture, #functional-logic, #gradient-descent, #graph-theory, #hologrammautomaton, #inquiry-driven-systems, #leibniz, #logic, #logical-graphs, #mathematics, #minimal-negation-operators, #propositional-calculus, #visualization

Jon Awbrey 7:20 am on November 5, 2025
Tags: C.S. Peirce ( 13 ), Comprehension, Constraint, definition ( 2 ), Determination ( 3 ), Extension, Form, Indication, Information ( 4 ), Information = Comprehension × Extension ( 3 ), Inquiry Driven Systems ( 6 ), logic ( 14 ), Mathematics ( 13 ), Scientific Method ( 4 ), Semiotics ( 10 ), Sign Relations ( 9 ), Structure, Systems Theory, Visualization ( 8 )

Survey of Definition and Determination • 4

In the early 1990s, “in the middle of life’s journey” as the saying goes, I returned to grad school in a systems engineering program with the idea of taking a more systems-theoretic approach to my development of Peircean themes, from signs and scientific inquiry to logic and information theory.

Two of the first questions calling for fresh examination were the closely related concepts of definition and determination, not only as Peirce used them in his logic and semiotics but as researchers in areas as diverse as computer science, cybernetics, physics, and systems science would find themselves forced to reconsider the concepts in later years. That led me to collect a sample of texts where Peirce and a few other writers discuss the issues of definition and determination. There are copies of those selections at the following sites.

Collection Of Source Materials

What follows is a Survey of blog and wiki posts on Definition and Determination, with a focus on the part they play in Peirce’s interlinked theories of signs, information, and inquiry. In classical logical traditions the concepts of definition and determination are closely related and their bond acquires all the more force when we view the overarching concept of constraint from an information-theoretic point of view, as Peirce did beginning in the 1860s.

Blog Dialogs

Definition and Determination • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8) • (9) • (10) • (11) • (12) • (13) • (14) • (15) • (16) • (17) • (18) • (19) • (20) • (21) • (22)

Readings On Determination • (1)

Discussion • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4)

cc: FB | Inquiry Driven Systems • Laws of Form • Ma^thstodon • Academia.edu
cc: Conceptual Graphs • Cybernetics • Structural Modeling • Systems Science

#c-s-peirce, #comprehension, #constraint, #definition, #determination, #extension, #form, #indication, #information, #information-comprehension-x-extension, #inquiry-driven-systems, #logic, #mathematics, #scientific-method, #semiotics, #sign-relations, #structure, #systems-theory, #visualization

Jon Awbrey 12:12 pm on November 4, 2025
Tags: Abduction ( 4 ), C.S. Peirce ( 13 ), Communication ( 2 ), Control ( 2 ), cybernetics ( 14 ), Deduction ( 4 ), Determination ( 3 ), Discovery ( 3 ), Doubt ( 3 ), Epistemology ( 2 ), Fixation of Belief ( 4 ), Induction ( 4 ), Information ( 4 ), Information = Comprehension × Extension ( 3 ), Information Theory ( 3 ), inquiry ( 9 ), Inquiry Driven Systems ( 6 ), Inquiry Into Inquiry ( 3 ), Interpretation ( 3 ), Invention ( 3 ), knowledge ( 3 ), Learning Theory ( 3 ), logic ( 14 ), Logic of Relatives ( 6 ), Logic of Science ( 4 ), Mathematics ( 13 ), Peirce ( 3 ), philosophy ( 4 ), philosophy-of-science ( 3 ), Pragmatic Information ( 2 ), Probable Reasoning ( 2 ), Process Thinking ( 2 ), Relation Theory ( 7 ), Scientific Inquiry ( 3 ), Scientific Method ( 4 ), Semeiosis ( 2 ), Semiosis ( 5 ), Semiotic Information ( 2 ), Semiotics ( 10 ), Sign Relational Manifolds ( 3 ), Sign Relations ( 9 ), Surveys ( 3 ), Triadic Relations ( 8 ), Uncertainty ( 2 )

Survey of Cybernetics • 5

Again, in a ship, if a man were at liberty to do what he chose, but were devoid of mind and excellence in navigation (αρετης κυβερνητικης), do you perceive what must happen to him and his fellow sailors?

— Plato • Alcibiades • 135 A

This is a Survey of blog posts relating to Cybernetics. It includes the selections from Ashby’s Introduction and the comment on them I’ve posted so far, plus two series of reflections on the governance of social systems in light of cybernetic and semiotic principles.

Anthem

Ouch❢

Ashby’s Introduction to Cybernetics

Chapter 10 • Regulation In Biological Systems

Selections • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8) • (9) • (10)

Discussions • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4)

Chapter 11 • Requisite Variety

Selections • (11) • (12) • (13)

Blog Series

Basal Ingredients Of Society (BIOS)

Prologue • Prescription

Comments • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7)

Theory and Therapy of Representations • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5)

cc: FB | Inquiry Driven Systems • Laws of Form • Ma^thstodon • Academia.edu
cc: Conceptual Graphs • Cybernetics • Structural Modeling • Systems Science

#abduction, #c-s-peirce, #communication, #control, #cybernetics, #deduction, #determination, #discovery, #doubt, #epistemology, #fixation-of-belief, #induction, #information, #information-comprehension-x-extension, #information-theory, #inquiry, #inquiry-driven-systems, #inquiry-into-inquiry, #interpretation, #invention, #knowledge, #learning-theory, #logic, #logic-of-relatives, #logic-of-science, #mathematics, #peirce, #philosophy, #philosophy-of-science, #pragmatic-information, #probable-reasoning, #process-thinking, #relation-theory, #scientific-inquiry, #scientific-method, #semeiosis, #semiosis, #semiotic-information, #semiotics, #sign-relational-manifolds, #sign-relations, #surveys, #triadic-relations, #uncertainty

antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 2:03 am on November 4, 2025

Introducing Critical Systems Heuristics 2.0: A Third Boundary Extending CSH From Reflections on Critical Realism in Information Systems Research – Goede and Goede (2025)

Introducing Critical Systems Heuristics 2.0: A Third Boundary Extending CSH From Reflections on Critical Realism in Information Systems Research
Roelien Goede, Hendrik Goede
First published: 24 September 2025
https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.3187

ABSTRACT
Poorly designed information systems compel employees to find workarounds for the system in order to do their work properly. However, such workarounds compromise the enforcement of organisational governance. In our sense-making of this specific phenomenon, we considered critical realism as a framework for understanding based on its adoption in the information systems research community. Traditionally, critical systems heuristics considers two boundaries: resources versus environment and involved versus affected. For a third boundary, we propose reflecting on the potential causal structures in organisations and possible feedback loops with a view to uncover more conditioned realities and to better understand the unintended consequences of activities of a system. We advocate complementarism at the methodological level, where all methods are applied from a critical ontological perspective, focusing on the totality of conditioned realities and giving a voice to the affected. We hope that our extension, CSH 2.0, can achieve even greater recognition and acceptance of the core tenets of critical systems heuristics, namely, the totality of conditioned realities, and the impact of unintended consequences on those affected but not involved in the planning of a system.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/sres.3187

Jon Awbrey 12:08 pm on November 3, 2025
Tags: Abduction ( 4 ), Adaptive Systems, Analogy ( 2 ), Animata ( 4 ), Artificial Intelligence ( 2 ), Automated Research Tools ( 2 ), C.S. Peirce ( 13 ), Cognitive Science, cybernetics ( 14 ), Deduction ( 4 ), Educational Systems Design, Educational Technology, Fixation of Belief ( 4 ), Induction ( 4 ), Information Theory ( 3 ), inquiry ( 9 ), Inquiry Driven Systems ( 6 ), Inquiry Into Inquiry ( 3 ), Intelligent Systems, Interpretation ( 3 ), logic ( 14 ), Logic of Science ( 4 ), Mathematics ( 13 ), Mental Models, Pragmatic Maxim ( 2 ), Semiotics ( 10 ), Sign Relations ( 9 ), Triadic Relations ( 8 ), Visualization ( 8 )

Survey of Inquiry Driven Systems • 7

This is a Survey of work in progress on Inquiry Driven Systems, material I plan to refine toward a more compact and systematic treatment of the subject.

An inquiry driven system is a system having among its state variables some representing its state of information with respect to various questions of interest, for example, its own state and the states of potential object systems. Thus it has a component of state tracing a trajectory though an information state space.

Anthem

The object of reasoning is to find out …

Elements

Background

Blog Series

Pragmatic Cosmos • (1)

In the Way of Inquiry

Pragmatic Theory Of Truth • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6)

Discussions • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8) • (9) • (10) • (11) • (12) • (13) • (14) • (15) • (16) • (17) • (18) • (19) • (20) • (21) • (22) • (23) • (24) • (25) • (26) • (27) • (28)

Blog Dialogs

Inquiry Driven Systems

Comments • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6)
Discussions • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8) • (9)

Inquiry Into Inquiry

On Balance
On Initiative • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5)
In Medias Res • Flash Back
Understanding • (1) • (2)
Discussions • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8) • (9)

Architectonics of Inquiry • (1)

Higher Order Sign Relations • (1)

Discussions • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5)

Developments

Applications

Conceptual Barriers to Creating Integrative Universities
(Abstract) (Online)
Interpretation as Action • The Risk of Inquiry
(Journal) (doc) (pdf)
An Architecture for Inquiry • Building Computer Platforms for Discovery
(Online)
Exploring Research Data Interactively • Theme One : A Program of Inquiry
(Online)

cc: FB | Inquiry Driven Systems • Laws of Form • Ma^thstodon • Academia.edu
cc: Conceptual Graphs • Cybernetics • Structural Modeling • Systems Science

#abduction, #adaptive-systems, #analogy, #animata, #artificial-intelligence, #automated-research-tools, #c-s-peirce, #cognitive-science, #cybernetics, #deduction, #educational-systems-design, #educational-technology, #fixation-of-belief, #induction, #information-theory, #inquiry, #inquiry-driven-systems, #inquiry-into-inquiry, #intelligent-systems, #interpretation, #logic, #logic-of-science, #mathematics, #mental-models, #pragmatic-maxim, #semiotics, #sign-relations, #triadic-relations, #visualization

antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 1:24 pm on November 2, 2025

MEL 360: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning for Systems Change

They say:

MEL Tools and Guidance for Food Systems and Other Complex Contexts.

Supporting Practical Integration of Systems Thinking in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL)

Are you a development practitioner working at the project, program, or portfolio level? Are you just beginning your journey with Systems-Informed Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (Systems MEL)? You’re in the right place.

This website offers practical, accessible guidance to help you layer Systems MEL approaches onto your existing MEL practices—without discarding the tools you already know and use, like Results-Based Management (RBM) or traditional evaluation frameworks.

https://360systemsguide.com/

Jon Awbrey 11:00 am on November 2, 2025
Tags: Abduction ( 4 ), Aristotle ( 2 ), C.S. Peirce ( 13 ), Deduction ( 4 ), Dewey, Discovery ( 3 ), Doubt ( 3 ), Fixation of Belief ( 4 ), Functional Logic ( 2 ), Icon Index Symbol ( 2 ), Induction ( 4 ), Inference, Information ( 4 ), inquiry ( 9 ), Invention ( 3 ), logic ( 14 ), Logic of Science ( 4 ), Mathematics ( 13 ), Morphism, Paradigmata, Paradigms, Pattern Recognition, Peirce ( 3 ), philosophy ( 4 ), Pragmatic Maxim ( 2 ), Pragmatism, Scientific Inquiry ( 3 ), Scientific Method ( 4 ), Semiotics ( 10 ), Sign Relations ( 9 ), Surveys ( 3 ), Syllogism, Triadic Relations ( 8 ), Visualization ( 8 )

Survey of Abduction, Deduction, Induction, Analogy, Inquiry • 5

This is a Survey of blog and wiki posts on three elementary forms of inference, as recognized by a logical tradition extending from Aristotle through Charles S. Peirce. Particular attention is paid to the way the inferential rudiments combine to form the more complex patterns of analogy and inquiry.

Anthem

Tenacity, Authority, Plausibility, Inquiry

Blog Dialogs

Abduction, Deduction, Induction, Analogy, Inquiry • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8) • (9) • (10) • (11) • (12) • (13) • (14) • (15) • (16) • (17) • (18) • (19) • (20) • (21) • (22) • (23) • (24) • (25) • (26) • (27) • (28) • (29) • (30) • (31)

Blog Series

Functional Logic • Inquiry and Analogy • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5) • (6) • (7) • (8) • (9) • (10) • (11) • (12) • (13) • (14) • (15) • (16) • (17) • (18) • (19) • (20) • (21)

Discussions • (1)

Blog Surveys

OEIS Wiki

Ontolog Forum

cc: FB | Inquiry Driven Systems • Laws of Form • Ma^thstodon • Academia.edu
cc: Conceptual Graphs • Cybernetics • Structural Modeling • Systems Science

#abduction, #aristotle, #c-s-peirce, #deduction, #dewey, #discovery, #doubt, #fixation-of-belief, #functional-logic, #icon-index-symbol, #induction, #inference, #information, #inquiry, #invention, #logic, #logic-of-science, #mathematics, #morphism, #paradigmata, #paradigms, #pattern-recognition, #peirce, #philosophy, #pragmatic-maxim, #pragmatism, #scientific-inquiry, #scientific-method, #semiotics, #sign-relations, #surveys, #syllogism, #triadic-relations, #visualization

antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 7:25 am on October 31, 2025

Systems Thinking and Strategy for Leaders | Mike Jones | OrgDev Podcast #23

3 Jun 2024 Org Dev Podcast

Systems Thinking and Strategy for Leaders : Join us for an insightful interview with Mike Jones, founder and director of LBI Consulting, as we dive into the world of systems thinking and strategy. In this conversation, Mike shares his expertise on how organisations can navigate complexity and build stronger, more resilient structures. Learn practical tips and strategies to align your organisation’s design, culture, and goals using systems thinking principles. Whether you’re a leader, HR professional, or someone interested in organisational development, this interview provides valuable insights to help you create better, more effective organisations.

link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3oOC_d_L48