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 diamond¨WV Theme ...              #13             ...individual <---> knowledge 

 DANCING WITH SYSTEMS

I value solving problems using computer-aided modeling and systems thinking. Modeling complex systems involving living things can begin with reductionistic analysis, but our goal is a wholistic synthesis, which will require understanding properties that emerge in passing from lower to higher levels of organization. Modeling social systems should involve “dancing”: humbly gathering data and learning, being mentally flexible, valuing information, being alert to how the system creates its behavior, and to feedback. Do all this--not to arrogantly control or predict the future--but to design a system that creates a desired future that we envision. Design mechanisms / policies that change with the state of the system. Factor in values, respect what’s important, not just quantifiable. Expand time and thought horizons, and the boundary of caring. Go for the good of the whole.

Related Words, Beliefs, Background -- 36 entries

More to Explore -- Worldview Theme #13: Dancing With Systems

Systems Thinking (from online encyclopedia)
Systems Theory  (from online encyclopedia)
Systems Ecology (from online encyclopedia)
Complexity Theory (from online encyclopedia)
"Dancing With Systems", article by Donella Meadows
The Five Disciplines of Organizational Learning (from The Dance of Change, by Peter Senge, etal)
Systems Thinking -- An Operational Perspective of the Universe
The Systems Thinker Newsletter
Systems Thinking (from Thinking.net)
The MIT Integrated Global System Model
System Dynamics Example (illustrating a six step approach)
Links to Systems-Oriented Thinking Websites
A Primer on Systems Thinking and Organizational Learning
Applied Systems Thinking (a look at thinking tools from a systems view)
System Dynamics: A Learning & Problem Solving Approach to Development Policy, by Khalid Saeed
Feedback, by Piotr Golec ( from Economics Web Institute)
Dynamical Systems  (from online encyclopedia)
Emergence / Emergent Properties  (from online encyclopedia)
Environmental Impact Assessment (from online encyclopedia)
12 Leverage Points to Intervene in a System (from online encyclopedia, reports on Donella Meadows' work) 
The Fifth Discipline (from online encyclopedia about Peter Senge's work)
A Summary of the Principles of Hierarchy Theory (hierarchy theory is "a dialect of general systems theory")
Ackoff Center for the Advancement of Systems Approaches
International Society for the Systems Sciences
Global Vision: Communicating Sustainability  (about cybernetics pioneer Gregory Bateson and cybernetic wisdom) 
"The Art of Simplexity," by Jeffrey Kluger (excerpt from his Simplexity book, in Time June 23, 2008)
Bowen Family Systems Theory (applies systems thinking to describe and understand family interactions)
Deep Ethology: Levels of Organization ("Deep Ethology begins with a behavioral pattern and seeks insight as to its causes and consequences")
The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently--And Why, by Richard Nisbett
quotes from systems thinkers
 

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