ICEAM - 3
Systems Perspective
Drivers, Components, and Processes Systems Perspective…
Situations characterized by rapid change, multiple interests, limited resources, and high complexity are good candidates for a "systems approach"
Adapting a systems approach means putting the emphasis on "the big picture" or the whole and considering the functions of a system's parts based on their relations with one another and within the system's larger context Systems Perspective…
Definitions…
System - a set of entities comprising a whole where each component interacts with or is related to at least one other component and they all serve a common objective.
Systems Science - the interdisciplinary field of science, which studies the nature of complex systems in nature, society, and science.
Systems with living and nonliving parts are called ecosystems (which is short for ecological systems). Systems Perspective…
Definitions…
Component - an artifact that is one of the individual parts of which a composite entity is made up; a constituent element of a system
Driver - a parameter that controls the behavior of a system. Drivers can be either external or internal to a system.
Process - a naturally occurring or designed sequence of changes of properties or attributes of an object or system. Systems Approach…
The systems approach integrates the analytic and the synthetic methods, encompassing both holism and reductionism.
It was first proposed under the name of "General System Theory" by the biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy.
Analytic - to analyze…to take apart, break into component pieces Synthetic - the put together…to consider as a whole Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1901--1972)
one of the most important theoretical biologists of the first half of this century; researched on comparative physiology, on biophysics, on cancer, on psychology, on philosophy of science ... developed a kinetic theory of stationary open systems and the General System Theory, was one of the founding fathers and vice-president of the Society for General System Theory, and one of the first who applied the system methodology to psychology and the social sciences ...
"The whole is more that the sum of its parts" is simply that the basic or fundamental characteristics of systems are not explainable from the characteristics of the isolated parts. The characteristics of the complex, therefore, appear as "new" or "emergent"... - Ludwig von Bertalanffy Systems Approach…
As a biologist von Bertalanffy knew… the physicist’s assumption of CLOSED SYSTEMS was simply impossible for most practical phenomena.
§ Organisms are OPEN SYSTEMS ..Separate a living organism from its surroundings and it will die
§ Open systems interact with other systems outside of themselves… they INPUT and OUTPUT
§ System and environment are in general separated by a boundary
§ Output is in general a direct or indirect result from the input…but different in form and function
§ Systems are not just passive tubes, but active processors
Systems Approach…
von Bertalanffy’s concept of a system and its environment
1968, General System theory: Foundations, Development, Applications, New York: George Braziller, Systems Approach…
von Bertalanffy continued…
§ the environment of a system, consists of systems interacting with their environments.
§ a collection of such interacting systems can be seen as a system
§ interaction of components results in “the whole being greater than the sum of its parts”
Systems Approach…
von Bertalanffy continued…
§ The top down or black box approach might be called Systemic (or Synthetic) Approach (holistic), while
§ The bottom up or white box approach might be called the Analytic Approach (reductionist) Systems Approach…
Comparison between the Reductionist and Systems Methods:
Reductionist Approach Systems Approach Focuses on parts Focuses on wholes Linear causality: A causes B Circular causality: A causes B causes C causes A Observer status objective Observer status subjective Context not very relevant Context highly relevant One 'truth' or best answer Multiple truths and answers Externalities not important Externalities important Systems Approach…
According to reductionism, the laws governing the parts determine or cause the behavior of the whole. ie UPWARD CAUSATION
Classical Medicine is based on a reductionist view
§ know the state of all the organs and cells in your body and you should be able to understand how the body works, yet
§ the state of your mind affects the state of your stomach, which in turn affects your mind.
§ In fact, these interactions are complex networks of interdependencies resulting in EMERGENT SYSTEMS. Systems Approach…
Systemic Approach views systems in a holistic manner. It has emergent properties not possible to detect by analysis. ie DOWNWARD CAUSALITY
• a "system" is a dynamic and complex whole, interacting as a structured functional unit; • energy, material and information flow between the different elements that compose the system; • a system is a community situated within an environment; • energy, material and information flow from and to the surrounding environment via semi-permeable membranes or boundaries Systems Approach…
The relationship between spatial scale and temporal scale. As the spatial scale of a system increases, the temporal scale over which processes occur increases. Each level in the hierarchy is affected more by larger scale processes (downward causality) than by smaller scale processes (upward causality). Systems Theory…
Systems Theory: the transdisciplinary study of the organization of phenomena, independent of their substance, type, or spatial or temporal scale of existence. It investigates both the principles common to all complex entities, and the models which can be used to describe them. Systems Theory…
Rather than reducing an entity to the properties of its parts or elements, systems theory focuses on the arrangement of and relations between the parts which connect them into a whole (cf. holism).
The same concepts and principles of organization underlie the different disciplines (physics, biology, technology, sociology, etc.), providing a basis for their unification.
Systems concepts include: system-environment boundary, input, output, process, state, hierarchy, goal-directedness, and information Systems Theory…
Related ideas are used in the emerging "sciences of complexity", studying self-organization, resilience, far-from-equilibrium thermodynamics, chaotic dynamics, artificial life, artificial intelligence, neural networks, and computer modeling and simulation.
Questions?