Fundamentals of Systems Thinking
A fairly influential discipline in the early 60s, generally used as introduction to
System Modeling or
Systems Analysis when the first extenisive computer
database structures were being slapped together - the theoretical approach was to observe systems and processes (anything from how the infrastructure of a bridge worked to how people move through a grocery store) from a level of
abstraction that allowed for the flow-charting or linear modeling of the various operations, inputs, outputs and by-products moving through each step. This pen and paper approach, however, gave way to more rigid automated
simulations as computing power came to the fore of organizational structuring. Which is too bad, since
flow charts are fun.
The Problematic Reduction of Complexity : "We know that there are thousands of celestial bodies in our solar system...any
analysis of planetary motions, however, begins by ignoring most of these bodies...although this seems a natural step - so natural that normal textbooks on
mechanics do not ordinarily mention it - it happens to work only in special circumstances. Any other circumstances are not considered proper systems for
mechanistic thinking...the
DNA in a living
cell in a miniscule amount of the cell material, but understanding cellular
biology would be impossible without it considering its role. The
queen bee in a
hive is only one of 1000s, but no
ethnologist would dare ignore here." (4-5)
The Analytical Power of Separation : "A separation of a
system into non-interacting
subsystems is an extremely important technique known to all developed sciences - to understand the power of such separation, we need only recall the
Square Law of Computation. If solving a system of N equations takes N
2 units of computation, N separate single equations, taken one at a time, will take only the same units." (11)
ex. one 6-equation system = 6² (36) complexity vs. two 3-equation systems = 3² + 3² (18) complexity vs. six 1-equation systems = 1²+1²+1²+1²+1²+1² (6) complexity
The Principle of Purpose : "The appearance of
absolute meaning in certain statements comes because there is an almost universal agreement on the meanings it contains...with '
man-made' systems we talk about 'purpose', whereas such language is forbidden with '
natural' systems. Yet much of the
dissatisfaction with our man-made systems stems precise from disagreement about what the purpose of a system is : that is, what the system REALLY is. The answer, of course, is that
the system has no purpose, for Purpose is a relation, not a thing to have." (57)
The Danger of Simplification : "How can we avoid the fallacies of absolute thought?...remember the human origin of our models, words, instruments and techniques. Absolute though is a simplification that serves us well a certain times, on a certain scale of
observation, and for certain purposes...usually following conventional patterns that will work, IF the situation remains conventional." (61)
The Axiom of Experience : "
The Future Will Be Like the Past, because, in the past, The Future Was Like The Past." (141)
Source :
Introduction to General Systems Thinking. Weinberg, Gerald M. (NY : Wiley, 1975)