GST Isomorphies of SPT, Represented Or Not, in Odum's
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Emergy Synthesis 10, Proceedings of the 10th Biennial Emergy Conference (2019) 34 GST Isomorphies of SPT, Represented or Not, in Odum’s General Systems Ecology and Models Len Troncale ABSTRACT The Systems Processes Theory (SPT) is a prototype or candidate systems science (SS) and general theory of systems (GTS). In 1991, Odum was elected President of the International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) at the invitation of this author. The ISSS was the historical base for attempts at research on a general systems theory. Odum was a regular contributor to, and supporter of general theory approaches for decades. This paper presents the work of Odum on emergy, transformity, and ecology as a Lifework worthy of classification as both a prototype SS and GTS. Presence or absence of isomorphies is presented as an historical sine qua non criterium for both SS & GTS. The aforementioned SPT presents a high-resolution listing of 110 candidate isomorphies, a moderate-resolution index of 80, and a constrained or minimal list of 55, which are many more than previous and current GTS workers present, analyze, or include. An index analysis of four of Odum’s books indicates that he elucidates 20 of the 80 moderate-resolution isomorphies to some degree. The paper also argues that some of these 20, represented in the Odum Opus, do not include all of the key attributes that SPT contains in its 35 Information Categories on each Isomorph. This paper shows which key isomorphs that Odum leaves out and indicates that some of Odum’s work shows that SPT could profitably adopt some of his isomorphic insights as new candidate isomorphs to improve and widen its coverage. Ultimately, the paper indicates that both Lifeworks might be able to contribute to each other. HOWARD ODUM AND GENERAL THEORIES OF SYSTEMS Note: throughout this paper we use the acronym GTS for “General Theories of Systems” rather than the more traditional GST. We do this to respond to two long-term criticisms of GST. First, that there is no such thing as a general system (most real systems are instantiations in the natural world; we create the general by comparing and abstracting from them). Second, the adjective “general” could apply equally to the theory rather than the system in the original German. Thus the formulation GTS avoids some of these criticisms and reflects our intent more clearly. Our Mindset is: General Theories Can & Should Contribute to Models in Ecology, Economics, & Energy Systems as well as vice versa How can we know that Howard T. Odum was interested in advancing general theories of systems (GTS) among his many other contributions? Perhaps the most convincing indication is that he retitled his original text on Systems Ecology (1983) as a revised edition, Ecological and General Systems in 1994 (underlined emphasis mine). But this paper shows, that in addition, (and if one associates general 183 theories of systems with the presence of isomorphies) he also included in some of his models, isomorphic processes as soon as they appeared in the literature. In fact, if you look at the trend of use of isomorphies in his modeling, we will show their use increases significantly over time (section 3.5). The purpose of this paper is to show that, consistent with Howard’s preferences, we can now propose further increase in the use of isomorphic systems processes in his models in the future. Perhaps more importantly, we will try to show that GS modeling itself, as practiced by Odum and his lineage, and particularly SPT, are useful tools for making isomorphies more practical/functional in all kinds of models of natural and human systems. Odum, President ISSS, 1991 Another indicator of Odum’s interest in GTS is his activities in professional societies. Howard was elected and consented to become the 30th President of the International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS). He had already been a member for years when it was named the Society for General Systems Research (SGSR). We in the ISSS were proud to have Howard as President. He was a Crafoord Prize winner shared with his brother, Eugene, in 1987. The Crafoord is often considered the Nobel in Ecology. He followed Ilya Prigogine, another Nobel Prize winner, as President of ISSS a mere three years before. Past ISSS Presidents Margaret Mead and Ken Boulding were presidents of their disciplinary professional societies (Anthropology & Economics, respectively) as well as the prestigious AAAS. Both Prigogine and Odum were focused on flows of energy in systems and thermodynamics as lifelong pursuits; and both made significant contributions to those fields as well as to GTS. Relation of GTS to ISAER The International Society for the Advancement of Emergy Research (ISAER), although more neutrally named, is essentially an organization devoted to carrying on and commemorating the groundbreaking work of Howard T. Odum. It is also a most welcoming and broad-minded group. This author was reluctant to work in ISAER given the highly theoretical nature of his work. But when I proposed to current ISAER leaders to link Odum’s work with that of the most general-theory-based work, I was encouraged by such Past ISAER members and administrators as Dr.’s Daniel Campbell, Mark Brown, and Tom Abel. Many of them were also active participants in the early SGSR. They also felt that beyond theory, our new work on Systems Pathology (Troncale, 2011 & ISSS Power Points since 2001) and Systems Mimicry (Troncale, 2014a, 2016) might be of significance to join with Howard’s past writings and efforts. As a policy, ISAER tries to encourage advances at all levels of the Odum Opus whether that level is theory, tools/techniques, or modeling of ecosystems. This paper is, therefore, a very personal memorial to and reminiscence of H.T. Odum (section 5.9), as much as pursuit of a key research opportunity and a professional contribution. Odum and General Systems Theory Products HT was a very productive and serious ISSS President and proponent of a more scientific and rigorous GTS. He took it upon himself to personally edit one of the last bound volumes of the traditional and annual General Systems: Yearbook of the International Society for the Systems Sciences (#32, 437 pages)(Odum, 1989). He included in it, not only his selections of 34 best papers for the year (the conventional contents), but also two additional, unconventional contents; namely, a special section of 42 selected systems diagrams, and a very comprehensive listing of the contents of ALL of the ISSS Proceeding from 1975 to 1993 (paper titles only). He used this collection to demonstrate how varied and diverse were the contributions to theory and application that ISSS members had accomplished. It ended with a 26-page Author Index (of 1,449 authors) and a 5-page Subject Index. Today, both the ISSS 184 Business Office and the ISSP (Int’l Society for Systems Pathology, International Business Office) have digital copies of many of these works. But for decades the Odum collection was the most comprehensive and researchable resource on ISSS approaches to general theories of systems and their application. FOCUS ON ISOMORPHIES This paper proposes the integration of Odum’s work with that of the Systems Processes Theory (SPT)(Troncale, from 1978a to present; especially Frienshuh & Troncale, 2012 ). SPT consists primarily of two major components, ISPs and LPs. The first component, Isomorphic Systems Processes (ISP’s) follows the tradition established in GST from its Founders, which is a focus on isomorphies. Founders included biologist Ludwig von Bertalanfy; neuroscientist Ralph Gerard; economist Ken Boulding; and mathematician, Anatol Rapoport; I often include also Norbert Wiener, math & electrical engineering; James G. Miller, a behavioral scientist; and Margaret Mead, an anthropologist as Founders. There are a great many alternative, candidate GTS’s and illustrious contributors by now (Bertalanffy, 1968; Miller, 1978; Haken, 1983; Odum, 1994; Auyang, 1998; Francois, 2004; Mesarovic, 1964, Prigogine, Gerard, Beer, Ackoff, 1971, Churchman, and many more,). In fact, the Systems Science Working Group (SSWG) of INCOSE (Int’l Council of Systems Engineers) has long had, as an ongoing project the integration of these many competing theories using isomorphies from the SPT. Notice that the Founders were a very interdisciplinary group long before interdisciplinary topics were acceptable. One difference SPT adds to the GST Founders emphasis on isomorphies is that it presents the isomorphies as “Processes.” SPT has strict criteria that restricts this listing to only those processes that serve as the “mechanics” that describe how many real systems work. Scientists study natural phenomena and often this comes down to study of processes by which phenomena change. So SPT raising simple isomorphies to the level of processes enables tight coupling of work on general theories to the vast literature on empirical results of the classical sciences But it uses them differently by comparing ACROSS the sciences. Scientists conduct research to produce models of how natural systems work that are supported by experimental evidence (see Troncale, 1982a & 2012) and those models usually involve specification of the natural processes by which they express their dynamics. So a science of systems (systems science) (Troncale, 2001, 2006, 2014b) should also consist of emphasis on evidence for Isomorphic Systems-Level Processes (ISPs). Another unique new quality of SPT is the sheer number of isomorphies it studies. While even the main Founder, Bertalanffy, boasted after a decade that no new isomorphies were added to his original list of 10 or so, SPT includes at least 80. When this author long ago showed another Founder, Boulding, his list of 25 (the limited list of that time) at a AAAS conference, he exclaimed, “I didn’t know there were so many!” Well now we study more than double that number.