International Society for the Systems Sciences: Journals ISSS
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Feminist Systems Thinking: The effectiveness of practicing the principles
No full textBringing together both systems theory and ecofeminism has produced an original set of principles that contain implications for community development and social research. The ‘systems’ theory contribution the principles enriches our repertoires of methods and tools with an emphasis on systems thinking, characterised by the use of boundary analysis, and ideally situated to enhance systemic intervention practice (an application of action research and participatory research practices). The ecofeminist contribution brings to the fore the importance of valuing and considering the voices of people at the margins of social research and community development projects and is an effort towards a new ontology and language of person and nature to adequately address environmental marginalization. This workshop will briefly describe the principles and their origin, but provide practitioners to use the principles in an evaluation exercise to assess the value of the principles to community development projects. A case study will be presented to demonstrate recent findings, which will serve to scaffold practitioners own thinking as they explore the principles in the context of their own work
STUDY ON AN AUTONOMOUS INTELLIGENT CONTROL SYSTEM FOR AN ARM ROBOT WITH SPEECH RECOGNITION/SYNTHESIS THAT DOES NOT REQUIRE TEACHING
No full textThis paper describes research conducted on an advanced, autonomous intelligent-type arm robot that does not require teaching, and that can execute spoken work commands and work reports through speech synthesis. This intelligent arm robot has been developed with the ability to recognize and determine the shape, color, and position of an object, and subsequently grasp the object
Manifesto for Ideas into Print: Systemic Practice and Action Research SPAR
No full textThe Journal Systemic Practice and Action Research aims to encourage authors and practitioners into print. This article describes both the publishing world into which SPAR has emerged and the systemic and inclusive thinking behind the journals policy. The paper sets out a manifesto for a fair and open system of academic publishing
HANDLING THE VARIABILITY OF INFORMATION PROCESSING IN COMPLEX SYSTEMS: AN INFORMATION SYSTEMS DESIGN PERSPECTIVE
No full textThe variability of the dynamics of a system introduces variability in the way in which information needs to be processed. Complex adaptive systems such as modern organizations usually include computer-based processes as part of the information processing aspect of their dynamics. According to an adaptability-programmability tradeoff (Conrad, 1985), however, despite the tremendous speed, capacity, accuracy, and communication capabilities of digital computers digital computing faces important challenges, especially when it comes to the support of unstructured processes or of processes where the variability of information processing is high. In this paper we discuss an approach to handling the variability of information processing in a system as goal of the design of computer-based information systems. We use the view of information processing as an aspect of the dynamics of systems as a means of identifying the requirements that the dynamics imposes on the way in which information needs to be processed. Our approach considers the analysis of the degree of structure of the processes that participate in the dynamics, the uncertainty of the changes occurring in these processes, and the computational and adaptability properties of the processors available in the system. Central to our approach is finding a combination of digital computing, human intelligence, and other forms of information processing on whose basis a computer-based information system that effective supports the functions of the system and contributes to its adaptability can be designed. A function support principle of design and the adaptability-programmability tradeoff provide the necessary guidance
KNOWLEDGE AND TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT IN A SYSTEM APPROACH, FOR A NEW SATELLITE SYSTEM PLANNING
No full textAfter four decades of a continuous development in services, applications and technology, now a satellite is considered as one of the most important communication systems. In spite of having many different options for telecommunication services, the satellite service is competitive and is increasing with high rate of traffic. As the satellite system is not perennial, sooner or later has to be replaced. The satellite replacement task is complex because there are many technical, economic and political factors and to be considered. From the national point of view there are also development criteria to achieve goals in term of the support to the whole economic system and to the specific economic activities related to industry, education, government and business. From the systemic point of view, it is necessary to consider several disciplines. In that multidisciplinary problem we propose to include Knowledge Management, Technology Management, Communication Engineering, Economics, Physics and Information Systems besides of System Engineering and System Science. A satellite communication system has to be planned several years before the date when it should be launched into space. Due to this situation, a system approach is needed to achieve the whole purpose and the partial objectives. The first activity is to define the system frontier, the supra system and the subsystems, the second activity is to classify them in a hierarchical order to identify the main relationships among them. When a great scale system is designed there is an interest to achieve all the possible improvements of the previous system, incorporate the advantages of new knowledge, new technology, new public policies, reinforce the regulatory frame and satisfy the new needs through the new services. Knowledge Management, Technology Management and Systems Science help us in this purpose. In the Mexican case it is also desirable correct the main mistakes that were made in past experiences. For this reason it is necessary to apply the concepts, schemes and methodologies of the Knowledge Management.  
Conscious Purpose in 2010: Bateson's Prescient Warning
No full text<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:none; mso-hyphenate:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family:Cambria; mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:AR-SA;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> In 1968 Gregory Bateson hosted a conference on “the effects of conscious purpose on human adaptation.” In his conference paper he warned that human conscious purpose distorts perception in a way which obscures the systemic (“cybernetic”) nature of both self and environment. The ensuing years have paid little attention to his analysis of both observer and environment as cybernetic systems whose systemic natures are dangerously opaque to human purposive thought. But his analysis is sounder than ever on the basis of scientific developments of the last forty years. Recent adaptive systems formulations in ecological theory have underscored how ecological systems, because of their systems nature, can be vulnerable to the unintended consequences of human actions. Modern neuroscience has also delineated many of the limitations of conscious thinking Bateson warned us against. In fact, new work on the cerebral hemispheres has pointed to epistemological biases, characteristic of the left hemisphere in particular, which fit Bateson’s portrait of the biases of conscious purpose. It seems that Bateson’s forty-two year old warning was prescient and relevant to our predicament today
Information and Living Things
No full textWhat is the origin of everything we see around us? What is that which is called life or the fact that there is complex matter “organized” in an improbable physical state and that it perceives its environment in non-physical manner. Rocks can grasp their environment in a physical way and transfer energy from themselves to their environment. This complex organized matter grasps another “world”, as it grasps the environment in an “informational” way, and acquires an awareness of its environment, neither physical nor material, that aids the management of its improbable physical state. This awareness is called information.
Is this informational ability, which allows the complex organized matter to “process” and adapt to its surroundings, what we call life? Many examples in nature support the idea that the ability to “process” and adapt to surroundings is exclusive to those beings called “living.”
Let’s affirm life exists. Let’s also affirm that organized matter, with its informational ability, perceives something non-physical: information. This holds that apart from the physical world, for living beings, there exists a world of information. This world is not matter and exists differently for each one of these living beings. This way (informational ability) of each living thing, creates a compilation of perceptions, particular truth, which is unique to and only exists in the mind of each living being.
The material world, which is comprised of everything that exists, is called general truth, or universe. This general truth limits our informational world and reminds us that to maintain the improbable physical state, optimal use of information is necessary. So matter is universal, its interpretations: multiple. There is at least one for each particular truth.
A particular truth is formed by unique perceptions, which for exposure to other living beings require a specific process: communication. Perceptions of the general truth are complex and humans have generated important concepts (amount, time, color, shape) or tools (language) that allow us to share these perceptions in seemingly universal ways. Communication facilitates the formation of the conventional truth, the truth of groups of living beings that shared and validated their particular truths. Therefore, the world of information has a conventional truth too, made up of perceptions shared through groups of living beings
Each perception in a particular truth contains multiple elements. Each element is a datum (Word, red, round, few, day) which is represented or substituted in the particular truth and communicated, using codes and matter. To form the idea of what we perceive, information, we collect this data and obtain a perception within the conventional truth.
This information, particular truth, unites with other information (if allowed) in the living being, usually biological (directing the behavior of the being), to determine a way to continue this complex matter’s (living being) existence in the material world, the general truth. The ability of this being to combine external and internal information to continue its improbable physical (and/or organized and/or chaotic) state called life, or to end it if so chosen, is the ultimate decision. The decision making process can be peripheral or remote. The peripheral is tactical. It deals with decisions concerning concrete topics, which happened or are likely to occur. The remote is strategic. It deals with decisions concerning abstract ideas, which have not happened and whose occurrence is uncertain.
So, the origin of everything we see around us is our informational ability, a characteristic of living beings (from the informational standpoint, as another question involves the origin of matter itself.) And we can say that what we call life is the ability of complex matter to process information with its informational ability
THE A H1N1 INFLUENZA PANDEMIC. A SYSTEMIC ANALYSIS OF ITS GENESIS, EVOLUTION AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC, CULTURAL AND HEALTH CONSEQUENCES IN MEXICO
No full text<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:ES-MX; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 3.0cm 70.85pt 3.0cm; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> In April 2009 a health emergency was declared in Mexico City, as a new influenza virus (AH1N1) began to spread. This new virus was similar to the Spanish Influenza virus which caused the death of more than 40 million persons in 1918-1919. The 2009 health emergency declaration in Mexico imposed the suspension of activities in crowded areas such as schools, restaurants, sports and recreational areas, during several days, causing important economic loses and deep seated fears in many persons. This paper presents a systemic analysis of the genesis and evolution of this pandemic and proposes some preliminary conclusions and recommendations. This pandemic situation was not as grave as expected, but the alert flags continue to be raised, at the world level, because the spread a very dangerous influenza epidemic is feared by the World Health Organization specialists
Knowledge Inheritance in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
No full textTraditional Chinese Medicine has his old history and accumulated a lot of rich experiences and thoughts, but how can we inherit them is a difficult problems, since some of them are tacit knowledge. From 2006 we had participated into a large project sponsored by Ministry of Science and Technology. The purpose of this large project was designed for collecting and maintaining the idea, experiences, knowledge and wisdom from selected 100 veteran TCM masters. We wish use the advanced IT technology and systems science to mine the main ideas and experiences from each of them and also to find their collective experiences and thoughts. We also wish to improve the old traditional master-disciple education method in TCM to learn the phronesis from the veteran TCM doctors
Enacting Wholeness-Infinity Theory to Foster Wholeness Praxis of Social Enterprise for Global Sustainability
No full textI. Background-Malfunction of global governing systems Each century could be described as "The best of times, and the worst of times." Such contrast is unexceedingly great in the twenty first century. Because it might be a far better times, and an even darker times. The tension between the unsustainability driving forces and the awakening sustainability consciousness has caught much attention all over the world. Since the great shift on earth was admonished by scholars, such as Capra and Laszlo, and the "2012 Global Collapse" prophecized by the Mayans was cast on the public's eyes, resolving the imminent human crisis and unexpected global disasters become the urgent tasks to all human beings. Indeed, the unsustainability crisis encountered by us nowadays has much to do with the malfunction of the global governing systems. The global governing network composed of governmental, business and non-profit organizations has become so complicated that any single sector could hardly cope with the increasing problems of the unsustainability crisis. Such malfunction, at worst, might cause a great number of losers in the dawn of new millennium, be they overwhelmed by the sudden loss of homes, jobs, family members or a safe environment. Therefore, it is obligatory that we expend more efforts to reframe the problem structures come from the three sectors and clarify the rooted causes of such unsustainability in order to create a new opportunity structure within the social enterprise (the sets of the three sectors) for global sustainability. II. Research Questions and Methodology 2.1 Nurturing a Co-living Art for Global Sustainability Since the 15th century, western science has become a dominant discipine, and many humanity sciences, such as aesthetics, ethics and religions disciplines, were gradually marginalized and regarded as dissipated and archaic. This phenomenon aggravated in the following centuries, and went extreme in the 1950s. Therefore, calls for emancipation from scientific knowledge were echoed from various disciplines. The most distinguishable are Habermas' reflection on modernity, Derrida's deconstruction of modernity, and Giroux' postmodern discourse on unleashing the technological hegemony revealed in the western education, all of which represent emerging forces chanllenging the authority of scientific knowledge. Some scholars (Giddens, Griffin) even advocate the third path to search for order from the postmodern chaos. Moreover, attempts to resolve the disputes between modernism and postmodernism yield to more converging efforts on integrating knowledge and wisdom from the West and East. Meanwhile, the core idea and ultimate goal of integrating the western science and eastern humanity is also heatedly discussed with the economic uprising of China. 2.2 Undertaking the wholeness-infinity holistic approach to resolving global unsustainability The literature reviewed in this paper covers four themes. The first is the major problems and challenges of technological civilization which human beings have been encountering and have to confront in the 21th century. The second is the paradigm shift of systems sciences, and the evolution of wholeness movement. The third is exploration of human collective wisdom and evolution of wholeness consciousness. The last one is devoted to the Tao of sustainability for enacting global wholeness praxis and global governance within the social enterprise (the sets of the three sectors). In this paper, the authors apply the Wholeness-Infinity Theory (WIT) they developed in 2010 to resolve the cultural disparities of the west and east, and to integrate the unique characteristics of the western and eastern cultures. The literature reviewed in this paper serves as theoretical background for the wholeness- infinity theory. It is expected that delicate integration and convergence of the western systemic knowledge and eastern wholeness wisdom will enact a new wholeness praxis organization, hence presence the various forms of social enterprise to maximize the possibilities of global sustainability. In this paper, the wholeness-infinity theory the authors apply includes four metaphoric patterns, each bringing forth different types of social enterprise. Furthermore, the authors use the four types of social enterprise to illustrate how to promote the global dialogues and cultivate collective wisdom among governments, profit organizations and non-profit organizations to resolve the predicaments of global unsustainability and to create wholeness praxis organizations for global sustainability. The four research questions to be inquired in depth are listed as follows. 1. How might Wholeness-Infinity Theory (WIT) develop a co-living art? 2. How might WIT enact the possibilities of wholeness praxis organizations? 3. How could the essence of wholeness praxis organization presence various forms of social enterprise? 4. How could the various forms of social enterprise enhance the transformation of global unsustainability into sustainability? III. Research Results and Findings We are encountering a critical turning point in the 21 century. Laszlo confirms that human beings will leap finally in this point and create a human new era in his book "2010." De Chardin pioneered the next evolutions from the humanity to deity in the middle period of 20 century. We believe that wise integration of contemporary knowledge and wisdom tradition will open up new possibilities for well-balanced global governance systems. Human's collective wisdom for creating new forms of global social enterprise with transcendental knowledge and wholeness praxis would undoubtedly contribute to global sustainability. In brief, the primary findings of this study include: 1. Application and exploration of wholeness infinity Theory (WIT). 2. Cultivation and development of wholeness praxis organization through WIT. 3. Critical roles of wholeness praxis organizations in building new forms of social enterprise for resolving the predicaments of global unsustainability