“Being Whole Stephen Nachmanovitch “I begin by thinking of my friend and mentor Gregory Bateson, but the questions here are broad and relate to the experience of many people, and many kinds of people. Gregory was known as a great polymath. But that is not quite right. In truth, he was a holomath, if we can coin that word. A polymath is a person who turns to, and sometimes excels in, multiple fields of endeavor. A holomath is a person who sees multiple fields as being really the same enterprise, circling a central pattern from different angles and points of view.”
This thesis by publication examines the application of systems thinking to health promotion in Healthy Together Victoria (HTV). HTV was a large-scale, multi-site initiative that adopted a complex systems approach to reduce obesity in Victoria, Australia from 2012 to 2016. Data were collected through 31 semi-structured in-depth interviews with HTV participants. The findings are described with respect to implications for systems practice, theories, tools and capacity for health promotion professionals. This thesis includes four peer reviewed journal articles and two practice reports.
Publication year
2022
The application of systems thinking to health promotion: complexity-informed community-based prevention in Healthy Together VictoriaAuthorBensberg, MonicaAvailable versionsMonica Bensberg ThesisAbstractThis thesis by publication examines the application of systems thinking to health promotion in Healthy Together Victoria (HTV). HTV was a large-scale, multi-site initiative that adopted a complex systems approach to reduce obesity in Victoria, Australia from 2012 to 2016. Data were collected through 31 semi-structured in-depth interviews with HTV participants. The findings are described with respect to implications for systems practice, theories, tools and capacity for health promotion professionals. This thesis includes four peer reviewed journal articles and two practice reports.Publication year2022
The VSM Canvas allows a quick start with diagnosing the structures, the decision making and the information systems of an organization. For a workshop, you may want to download the template and print it in a large format, e.g. A0.
The VSM CanvasThe VSM Canvas allows a quick start with diagnosing the structures, the decision making and the information systems of an organization. For a workshop, you may want to download the template and print it in a large format, e.g. A0
Publication date (Electronic, pub): 12 December 2023
On facebook, Gerald says:
Here is a new paper of mine on the systemic intervention approach. It is open access, so downloadable for free. The download button is just below my name, the journal title and the paper’s keywords.
Midgley G (2023). The Systemic Intervention Approach. Journal of Systems Thinking, 3, 1-24. DOI:10.54120/jost.000050
ABSTRACT
This paper presents a systemic intervention methodology that starts with boundary critique: exploring different boundaries and values that might matter to stakeholders when framing the purposes of an intervention. Boundary critique helps people develop an enhanced understanding of the situation being addressed, and it focuses attention on dealing with conflict and marginalization. Systemic intervention also offers a theory and practice of methodological pluralism: creatively mixing methods from a diverse range of methodological sources in response to the initial boundary critique, so systemic improvements can be designed. This creative mixing of methods yields a much more flexible and responsive approach than might be possible with a narrower range of methods. The value of a systemic intervention approach is illustrated through several practical examples.
This dissertation examines a design practice that is intended to help solve complexity challenges in urban design. To this end, the historical foundations of computer-aided architecture and urban design are examined from an ecological perspective. Understanding computer-aided design process as a branch of architectural ecology is identified as a fundamental research problem. The work uses cybernetics as a methodological tool for observation, analysis and evaluation of systemic complex networked spatial organizations. The result of the research is a proposal for a design framework for urbanism that is designed and generated by embedding information and epistemology. The approach links to the idea of a human-machine interface. It considers the emergence of a new architectural culture characterized by code and self-organization. Furthermore, the dissertation suggests that the changes in our relationship to architecture and to our built physically and digitally constructed virtual environments, is characterized by interacting communicating elements, architectural production, and dynamic organization. This initiates a shift in the focus of architectural consciousness from delineated discrete objects to networked subsystems. It is divided into 4 parts. Part 1 establishes a theoretical framework, Part 2 a conceptual framework of historical foundations. These first two parts refer to linear analog systems and the beginnings of digital production of architecture, as a phenomenon of interaction and learning. They apply an integrative research method with descriptive literature and project research. Part 3 presents design research of progressive design strategies, including algorithmic, parametric, and bio-inspired approaches. It thus illustrates the development of a new architectural ecology. It applies experimental design research as research method. Part 4 demonstrates a new systemic methodology for conducting a structured design operation as research result. It is a pervasive digitization that fuses data and knowledge embedded in the physical environment in a structured way. A prerequisite for an Untailing Ecology, a Framework for an informed Urbanism.
AbstractThe explicit, above-the-water-line paradigm of information science is well known and widely discussed. Every disciplinary paradigm, however, contains elements that are less conscious and explicit in the thinking of its practitioners. The purpose of this article is to elucidate key elements of the below-the-water-line portion of the information science paradigm.Particular emphasis is given to information science’s role as a meta-science–conducting research and developing theory around the documentary products of other disciplines and activities. The mental activities of the professional practice of the field are seen to center around representation and organization of informationrather than knowing information. It is argued that such representation engages fundamentally different talents and skills from those required in other professions and intellectual disciplines. Methodological approaches and values of information science are also considered.
Where do memories live in the brain? If you’ve ever taken a neuroscience class, you probably learned that they’ re stored in our synapses, in the connections between our neurons. The basic idea is that, whenever we have an experience, the neurons involved fire together in time, and the synaptic connections between them get stronger. In this way, our memories for those experiences become minutely etched into our brains. This is what might be called the synaptic view of memory—it’s the story you’ll find in textbooks, and it’s often treated as settled fact. But some reject this account entirely. The real storehouses of memory, they argue, lie elsewhere.
My guest today is Dr. Sam Gershman. Sam is Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, and the director of the the Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Lab there. In a recent paper, he marshals a wide-ranging critique of the synaptic view. He makes a compelling case that synapses can’t be the whole story—that we also have to look inside the neurons themselves.
Here, Sam and I first discuss the synaptic view and the evidence that seems to support it. We then talk about some of the problems with this classic picture. We consider, for example, cases where memories survive the radical destruction of synapses; and, more provocatively, cases where memories are formed in single-celled organisms that lack synapses altogether. We talk about the dissenting view, long lurking in the margins, that intracellular molecules like RNA could be the real storage sites of memory. Finally, we talk about Sam’s new account—a synthesis that posits a role for both synapses and molecules. Along the way we touch on planaria and paramecia; spike-timing dependent plasticity; the patient HM; metamorphosis, hibernation, and memory transfer; the pioneering work of Beatrice Gelber; unfairly maligned ideas; and much, much more.
Before we get to it, one important announcement: Applications are now open for the 2024 Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (or DISI)! The event will be held in beautiful, seaside St Andrews Scotland, from June 30 to July 20. If you like this show—if you like the conversations we have and the questions we ask—it’s a safe bet that you’d like DISI. You can find more info at disi.org—that’s disi.org. Review of applications will begin on Mar 1, so don’t delay.
Alright friends, on to my conversation about the biological basis of memory with Dr. Sam Gershman. Enjoy!
A transcript of this episode will be available soon.
Notes and links
4:00 – A general audience article on planarian memory transfer experiments and the scientist who conducted them, James V. McConnell.
8:00 – For more on Dr. Gershman’s research and general approach, see his recent book and the publications on his lab website.
9:30 – A brief video explaining long-term potentiation. An overview of “Hebbian Learning.” The phrase “neurons that fire together wire together” was, contrary to widespread misattribution, coined by Dr. Carl Shatz here.
12:30 – The webpage of Dr. Jeremy Gunawardena, Associate Professor of Systems Biology at Harvard University. A recent paper from Dr. Gunawardena’s lab on the avoidance behaviors exhibited by the single-celled organism Stentor (which vindicates some disputed, century-old findings).
14:00 – A recent paper by C. R. Gallistel describing some of his views on the biological basis of memory.
19:00 – The term “engram” refers to the physical trace of a memory. See recent reviews about the so-called search for the engram here, here, and here.
20:00 – An article on the importance of H.M. in neuroscience.
28:00 – A review about the phenomenon of spike-timing dependent plasticity.
33:00 – An article, co-authored by former guest Dr. Michael Levin, the evidence for memory persistent despite radical remodeling of brain structures. See our episode with Dr. Levin here.
35:00 – A study reporting the persistence of memories in decapitated planarians. A popular article about these findings.
36:30 – An article reviewing one chapter in the memory transfer history. Another article reviewing evidence for “vertical” memory transfer (between generations).
39:00 – For more recent demonstrations of memory transfer, see here and here.
40:00 – A paper by Dr. Gershman, Dr. Jeremy Gunawardena, and colleagues reconsidering the evidence for learning in single cells and describing the contributions of Dr. Beatrice Gelber. A general audience article about Gelber following the publication of the paper by Dr. Gershman and colleagues.
45:00 – A recent article arguing for the importance of understanding computation in single-celled organisms for understanding how computation evolved more generally.
46:30 – Another study of classical conditioning in paramecia, led by Todd Hennessey.
49:00 – For more on plant signaling, see our recent episode with Dr. Paco Calvo and Dr. Natalie Lawrence.
56:00 – A recent article on “serial reversal learning” and its neuroscientific basis.
1:07:00 – A 2010 paper demonstrating a role for methylation in memory.
Many Minds is a project of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, which is made possible by a generous grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation to UCLA. It is hosted and produced by Kensy Cooperrider, with help from Assistant Producer Urte Laukaityte and with creative support from DISI Directors Erica Cartmill and Jacob Foster. Our artwork is by Ben Oldroyd. Our transcripts are created by Sarah Dopierala.
Subscribe to Many Minds on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also now subscribe to the Many Minds newsletter here!
We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email us at: manymindspodcast@gmail.com.
Many MindsOf molecules and memoriesAll Episodes Of molecules and memoriesOf molecules and memoriesFeb 8, 2024Where do memories live in the brain? If you’ve ever taken a neuroscience class, you probably learned that they’ re stored in our synapses, in the connections between our neurons. The basic idea is that, whenever we have an experience, the neurons involved fire together in time, and the synaptic connections between them get stronger. In this way, our memories for those experiences become minutely etched into our brains. This is what might be called the synaptic view of memory—it’s the story you’ll find in textbooks, and it’s often treated as settled fact. But some reject this account entirely. The real storehouses of memory, they argue, lie elsewhere. My guest today is Dr. Sam Gershman. Sam is Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, and the director of the the Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Lab there. In a recent paper, he marshals a wide-ranging critique of the synaptic view. He makes a compelling case that synapses can’t be the whole story—that we also have to look inside the neurons themselves. Here, Sam and I first discuss the synaptic view and the evidence that seems to support it. We then talk about some of the problems with this classic picture. We consider, for example, cases where memories survive the radical destruction of synapses; and, more provocatively, cases where memories are formed in single-celled organisms that lack synapses altogether. We talk about the dissenting view, long lurking in the margins, that intracellular molecules like RNA could be the real storage sites of memory. Finally, we talk about Sam’s new account—a synthesis that posits a role for both synapses and molecules. Along the way we touch on planaria and paramecia; spike-timing dependent plasticity; the patient HM; metamorphosis, hibernation, and memory transfer; the pioneering work of Beatrice Gelber; unfairly maligned ideas; and much, much more.Before we get to it, one important announcement: Applications are now open for the 2024 Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (or DISI)! The event will be held in beautiful, seaside St Andrews Scotland, from June 30 to July 20. If you like this show—if you like the conversations we have and the questions we ask—it’s a safe bet that you’d like DISI. You can find more info at disi.org—that’s disi.org. Review of applications will begin on Mar 1, so don’t delay. Alright friends, on to my conversation about the biological basis of memory with Dr. Sam Gershman. Enjoy! A transcript of this episode will be available soon. Notes and links4:00 – A general audience article on planarian memory transfer experiments and the scientist who conducted them, James V. McConnell. 8:00 – For more on Dr. Gershman’s research and general approach, see his recent book and the publications on his lab website. 9:30 – A brief video explaining long-term potentiation. An overview of “Hebbian Learning.” The phrase “neurons that fire together wire together” was, contrary to widespread misattribution, coined by Dr. Carl Shatz here.12:30 – The webpage of Dr. Jeremy Gunawardena, Associate Professor of Systems Biology at Harvard University. A recent paper from Dr. Gunawardena’s lab on the avoidance behaviors exhibited by the single-celled organism Stentor (which vindicates some disputed, century-old findings). 14:00 – A recent paper by C. R. Gallistel describing some of his views on the biological basis of memory. 19:00 – The term “engram” refers to the physical trace of a memory. See recent reviews about the so-called search for the engram here, here, and here. 20:00 – An article on the importance of H.M. in neuroscience. 28:00 – A review about the phenomenon of spike-timing dependent plasticity.33:00 – An article, co-authored by former guest Dr. Michael Levin, the evidence for memory persistent despite radical remodeling of brain structures. See our episode with Dr. Levin here.35:00 – A study reporting the persistence of memories in decapitated planarians. A popular article about these findings. 36:30 – An article reviewing one chapter in the memory transfer history. Another article reviewing evidence for “vertical” memory transfer (between generations).39:00 – For more recent demonstrations of memory transfer, see here and here.40:00 – A paper by Dr. Gershman, Dr. Jeremy Gunawardena, and colleagues reconsidering the evidence for learning in single cells and describing the contributions of Dr. Beatrice Gelber. A general audience article about Gelber following the publication of the paper by Dr. Gershman and colleagues.45:00 – A recent article arguing for the importance of understanding computation in single-celled organisms for understanding how computation evolved more generally. 46:30 – Another study of classical conditioning in paramecia, led by Todd Hennessey.49:00 – For more on plant signaling, see our recent episode with Dr. Paco Calvo and Dr. Natalie Lawrence. 56:00 – A recent article on “serial reversal learning” and its neuroscientific basis. 1:07:00 – A 2010 paper demonstrating a role for methylation in memory. RecommendationsThe Behavior of the Lower Organisms, by Herbert Spencer JenningsMemory and the Computational Brain, by C. R. Gallistel and Adam Philip KingWetware, by Dennis Bray Many Minds is a project of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, which is made possible by a generous grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation to UCLA. It is hosted and produced by Kensy Cooperrider, with help from Assistant Producer Urte Laukaityte and with creative support from DISI Directors Erica Cartmill and Jacob Foster. Our artwork is by Ben Oldroyd. Our transcripts are created by Sarah Dopierala.Subscribe to Many Minds on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also now subscribe to the Many Minds newsletter here!We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email us at: manymindspodcast@gmail.com. For updates about the show, visit our website or follow us on Twitter: @ManyMindsPod.
2024-02-11
Systems Community of Inquiry 
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