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{{Short description|Examining complex systems as a whole}}
{{Short description|Examining complex systems as a whole}}
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[[Image:Systems thinking about the society.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|Depiction of systems thinking about society]]
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[[Image:Systems thinking about the society.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|Impression of systems thinking about society]]
{{Complex systems}}
{{Complex systems}}
'''Systems thinking''' is a way of making sense of the complexity of the world by looking at it in terms of wholes and relationships rather than by splitting it down into its parts.<ref>Magnus Ramage and Karen Shipp. 2009. Systems Thinkers. Springer.</ref> It has been used as a way of exploring and developing effective action in complex contexts,<ref>[https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/285442/12-1043-introduction-to-systems-thinking-gse-seminar.pdf Introduction to Systems thinking]. Report of GSE and GORS seminar. Civil Service Live. 3 July 2012. Government Office for Science.</ref> enabling [[systems change]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=School of System Change: Why Systems Change? |url=https://schoolofsystemchange.org/systems-change/why-systems-change |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=School of System Change: Learning to lead change in a complex world |language=en}}</ref> Systems thinking draws on and contributes to [[systems theory]] and the [[Systems science|system sciences]].
'''Systems thinking''' is a way of making sense of the complexity of the world by looking at it [[holism|in terms of wholes]] and relationships rather than by splitting it down into its parts.<ref name="andersonJohnson1997">Anderson, Virginia, & Johnson, Lauren (1997). ''Systems Thinking Basics: From Concepts to Causal Loops''. Waltham, Mass: Pegasus Comm., Inc.</ref><ref>Magnus Ramage and Karen Shipp. 2009. Systems Thinkers. Springer.</ref> It has been used as a way of exploring and developing effective action in complex contexts,<ref>[https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/285442/12-1043-introduction-to-systems-thinking-gse-seminar.pdf Introduction to Systems thinking]. Report of GSE and GORS seminar. Civil Service Live. 3 July 2012. Government Office for Science.</ref> enabling [[#Applications|systems change]].<ref name="stem">Sarah York, Rea Lavi, Yehudit Judy Dori, and MaryKay Orgill [https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00261 Applications of Systems Thinking in STEM Education] ''J. Chem. Educ.'' 2019, '''96''', 12, 2742–2751 Publication Date:May 14, 2019 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00261</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=School of System Change: Why Systems Change? |url=https://schoolofsystemchange.org/systems-change/why-systems-change |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=School of System Change: Learning to lead change in a complex world |language=en}}</ref> Systems thinking draws on and contributes to [[systems theory]] and the [[Systems science|system sciences]].<ref name="ackoff">Systemic Thinking 101 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGN5DBpW93g Russell L Ackoff From Mechanistic to Systemic thinking], also awal street journal [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbLh7rZ3rhU (2016) Systems Thinking Speech by Dr. Russell Ackoff] 1:10:57</ref>


==History==
==History==
{{Main|Systems theory#History}}
{{Main|Systems theory#History}}

===Ptolemaic system versus the Copernican system===
The term ''[[#System|system]]'' is [[polysemy|polysemic]]: [[Robert Hooke]] (1674) used it in multiple senses, in his System of the World,<ref name="hooke1674" />{{rp|p.24}} but also in the sense of the [[Ptolemaic system]] versus the [[Copernican heliocentrism|Copernican system]]<ref name="marchal" />{{rp|450}} of the relation of the planets to the fixed stars<ref name="voisey">Jon Voisey ''Universe Today'' [https://www.universetoday.com/159885/the-historic-discussion-of-ptolemys-star-catalog/ (14 Oct 2022) Scholarly History of Ptolemy’s Star Catalog Index]</ref> which are cataloged in [[Hipparchus star catalog|Hipparchus]]' and [[Almagest|Ptolemy's Star catalog]].<ref>Jessica Lightfoot ''Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies'' '''57''' (2017) 935–9672017 [https://www.scribd.com/document/397984078/Hipparchus-Commentary-on-Aratus-and-Eudoxus-Introduction-pdf Hipparchus Commentary On Aratus and Eudoxus ]</ref> Hooke's claim was answered in magisterial detail by Newton's (1687) ''[[Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica]]'', Book three, ''The System of the World''<ref name="systemateMundi">Newton, Isaac (1687) ''[[Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica]]''</ref>{{rp|Book three}} (that is, ''the system of the world'' is a [[physical system]]).<ref name="hooke1674">Hooke, Robert [https://echo.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/ECHOdocuView?url=/mpiwg/online/permanent/library/XXTBUC3U/pageimg&pn=25&mode=imagepath (1674) An attempt to prove the motion of the earth from observations ]</ref>

Newton's approach, using [[dynamical system]]s continues to this day.<ref name="marchal">{{cite journal | last=Marchal | first=J. H. | title=On the Concept of a System | journal=Philosophy of Science | publisher=[Cambridge University Press, The University of Chicago Press, Philosophy of Science Association] | volume=42 | issue=4 | year=1975 | issn=00318248 | jstor=187223 | pages=448–468 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/187223 | access-date=2024-05-31}} as reprinted in Gerald Midgely (ed.) (2002) ''Systems thinking'' vol '''One'''</ref> In brief, Newton's equations (a [[system of equations]]) have methods for [[equation solving|their solution]].

===Feedback control systems===
[[File:Ideal feedback model.svg|thumb|left|upright=1.5|System output can be controlled with [[feedback]].]]
By 1824 the [[Carnot cycle]] presented an engineering challenge, which was how to maintain the operating temperatures of the hot and cold working fluids of the [[physical plant]].<ref name="carnot1824">Sadi Carnot (1824) [[Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire]]</ref> In 1868 [[James Clerk Maxwell]] presented a framework for, and a limited solution to the problem of controlling the rotational speed of a physical plant.<ref name="jcmaxwell1868">James Clerk Maxwell [[:File:On Governors.pdf| (1868) On Governors]] 12 pages</ref> Maxwell's solution echoed [[James Watt]]'s [[:File:SteamEngine_Boulton&Watt_1784.png| (1784) centrifugal moderator (denoted as element '''Q''')]] for maintaining (but not enforcing) the constant speed of a physical plant (that is, ''Q'' represents a moderator, but not a governor, by Maxwell's definition).<ref name="mayr1971">Otto Mayr
[https://www.jstor.org/stable/229816 (1971) Maxwell and the Origins of Cybernetics] ''Isis'', Vol. '''62''', No. 4 (Winter, 1971), pp. 424-444 (21 pages)</ref>{{efn|name=stabilityOfSolution|1=A solution to the equations for a dynamical system can be afflicted by instability or oscillation.<ref name="sepulchre">The Royal Society of Edinburgh [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8MFOoa61k4&t=150s (2016) Celebrating Maxwell's Genius and Legacy: Prof Rodolphe Sepulchre]</ref>{{rp|7:33}} The Governor: A corrective action against error can solve the dynamical equation by integrating the error.<ref name="sepulchre" />{{rp|29:44}}<ref name="ÅströmMurray">Karl Johan Åström and Richard M. Murray (2021) [https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691193984/feedback-systems Feedback Systems: An Introduction for Scientists and Engineers, Second Edition]</ref> }}

Maxwell's approach, which linearized the equations of motion of the system, produced a tractable method of solution.<ref name="mayr1971" />{{rp|428–429}} [[Norbert Wiener]] identified this approach as an influence on his studies of [[cybernetics]]{{efn|name=seeSystemScience |1="cybernetics: ''see system science.''";<ref name="ieee1972" />{{rp|135}} "system science: —the systematized knowledge of [[#System|system]]s"<ref name="ieee1972" />{{rp|583}} }} during [[World War II]]<ref name="mayr1971" /> and Wiener even proposed treating some [[#subsystem|subsystem]]s under investigation as [[#black box|black box]]es.<ref name="ontologyOfTheEnemy">Peter Galison [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1343893 (1994) The Ontology of the Enemy: Norbert Wiener and the Cybernetic Vision] ''Critical Inquiry'', Vol. '''21''', No. 1 (Autumn, 1994), pp. 228–266 (39 pages) ''JSTOR''</ref>{{rp|242}} Methods for solutions of the systems of equations then become the subject of study, as in [[feedback control system]]s, in [[stability theory]], in [[constraint satisfaction problem]]s, the [[unification algorithm]], [[Hindley–Milner type system|type inference]], and so forth.

===Applications===
:"So, how do we change the [[system dynamics|structure of systems]] to produce more of what we want and less of that which is undesirable? ... MIT’s [[Jay Forrester]] likes to say that the average manager can ... guess with great accuracy where to look for leverage points—places in the system where a small change could lead to a large shift in behavior".<ref name="meadows2008">[[Donella Meadows]], (2008) ''[[Thinking In Systems: A Primer]]''</ref>{{rp|146}}— [[Donella Meadows]], (2008) ''[[Thinking In Systems: A Primer]]'' p.145 {{efn|name=overview|1= Donella Meadows, ''Thinking In Systems: A Primer''<ref name="meadows2008"/><ref name="meadows1977">Donella H. Meadows [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL_lOoomRTA (1977) A Philosophical Look at System Dynamics] 53:18</ref> Overview, in video clips: Chapter 1<ref name="ah1">Ashley Hodgson [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBFpasY2Gd8 Thinking in Systems, Key Ideas (Ch. 1)]</ref> Chapter 2, part 1<ref name="ah2a">Ashley Hodgson [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJLm5uq_QV8&t=37s Thinking in Systems, Ch. 2: Types of System Dynamics 2a]</ref> Chapter 2, part 2<ref name="ah2b">Ashley Hodgson [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwUC7LlqAjI Thinking in Systems, Ch. 2, Part 2: Limiting Factors in Systems 2b]</ref> Chapter 3<ref name="ah3">Ashley Hodgson [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qOc_0DMqaA Thinking in Systems, Ch. 3: Resilience, Self-Organization and Hierarchy 3]</ref> Chapter 4<ref name="ah4">Ashley Hodgson [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHvtERyYvJU Thinking in Systems, Ch. 4: Why Systems Surprise Us 4]</ref> Chapter 5<ref name="ah5">Ashley Hodgson [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYSFvq8sr7A Thinking in Systems, Ch. 5: System Traps 5]</ref> Chapter 6<ref name="ah6">Ashley Hodgson [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qL4KxqbrFM Thinking in Systems, Ch. 6: Leverage Points in Systems 6]</ref> Chapter 7<ref name="ah7">Ashley Hodgson [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8QYU2JL8no Thinking in Systems, Ch. 7: Living with Systems 7]</ref> <!--ref name= > [ ]</ref-->}}

==Characteristics==
[[File:System_boundary2.svg|thumb|upright=0.8|System boundary in context]]
[[File:OpenSystemRepresentation.svg|thumb|upright=0.8|System input and output allows exchange of energy and information across boundary.]]
{{anchor|System}}{{quote|...What is a system? A system is a set of things ... interconnected in such a way that they produce their own pattern of behavior over time. ... But the system’s response to these forces is characteristic of itself, and that response is seldom simple in the real world|Donella Meadows<ref name="meadows2008" />{{rp|2}}}}
{{quote|[a system] is "an integrated whole even though composed of diverse, interacting, specialized structures and subjunctions"|IEEE (1972)<ref name="ieee1972">[[IEEE]] (1972) Standard Dictionary of Electrical and Electronics Terms</ref>{{rp|582}}}}
*{{anchor|subsystem}}[[system#Subsystems|Subsystem]]s serve as part of a larger system, but each comprises a system in its own right. Each frequently can be described reductively, with properties obeying its own laws, such as Newton's System of the World, in which entire [[planet]]s, [[star]]s, and their satellites can be treated, sometimes in a scientific way as dynamical systems, entirely mathematically, as demonstrated by [[Johannes Kepler]]'s equation (1619) for the orbit of Mars before Newton's ''Principia'' appeared in 1687.
*{{anchor|black box}}[[Black box]]es are subsystems whose operation can be characterized by their inputs and outputs, [[Viable system model#Regulatory aphorisms|without regard to further detail]].<ref name="meadows2008" />{{rp|87–88}}<ref name="bbw">Wiener, Norbert; ''[[Cybernetics: Or the Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine]]'', MIT Press, 1961, ISBN 0-262-73009-X, page xi</ref>

===Particular systems===
*[[Political system]]s were recognized as early as the millennia before the common era.<ref name="aristotlePolitics">Aristotle, ''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politics]]''</ref><ref>JS Maloy (2009) [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40208102 The Aristotelianism of Locke's Politics] ''Journal of the History of Ideas'', Vol. '''70''', No. 2 (April 2009), pp. 235–257 (23 pages)</ref>
*[[Biological system]]s were recognized in [[Kalloni#Bay and lagoon|Aristotle's lagoon]] ca. 350 BCE.<ref>Aristotle, [[History of Animals]]</ref><ref name="Lennox">{{cite web |last1=Lennox |first1=James |title=Aristotle's Biology |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-biology/ |website=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Stanford University |access-date=28 November 2014 |date=27 July 2011}}</ref>
*[[Economic system]]s were recognized by 1776.<ref name="smith76">[[Adam Smith]] [https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/adam-smith/the-wealth-of-nations/text (1776) ''The Wealth of Nations''] Book IV refers to commercial, and mercantile systems, as well as to systems of political enonomy</ref>
*[[Social system]]s were recognized by the 19th and 20th centuries of the common era.<ref>[[Max Weber]], [[The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism]]</ref><ref>[[Talcott Parsons]], [[The Structure of Social Action]]</ref>
**[[Radar system]]s were developed in [[MIT Radiation Laboratory#Formation|World War II]] in subsystem fashion; they were made up of [[transmitter]], [[Radar warning receiver|receiver]], [[power supply]], and [[signal processing]] subsystems, to defend against airborne attacks.<ref>[[MIT Radiation Laboratory]], MIT Radiation Laboratory Series, 28 volumes</ref>
*[[Dynamical systems]] of [[ordinary differential equation]]s were shown to exhibit [[stability theory|stable behavior]] given a [[Control-Lyapunov function|suitable]] [[Lyapunov function#Example|Lyapunov control function]] by [[Aleksandr Lyapunov]] in 1892.<ref name="pates">Richard Pates [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXAx_641FPM (2021) What is a Lyapunov function]</ref>
*[[Thermodynamic systems]] were treated as early as the eighteenth century, in which it was discovered that [[heat]] could be created without limit, but that for [[closed system]]s, [[laws of thermodynamics]] could be formulated.<ref name="beingatoBecoming">{{cite book | authorlink=Ilya Prigogine|last=Prigogine | first=Ilya | year=1980 | title=From Being To Becoming | publisher=Freeman | isbn=0-7167-1107-9 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/frombeingtobecom00ipri }} 272 pages.</ref> [[Ilya Prigogine]] (1980) has identified situations in which systems far from equilibrium can exhibit stable behavior;<ref name="G&P1971">Glansdorff, P., Prigogine, I. (1971). [https://books.google.com/books?id=vf9QAAAAMAAJ ''Thermodynamic Theory of Structure, Stability and Fluctuations''], London: Wiley-Interscience {{ISBN|0-471-30280-5}}</ref> once a Lyapunov function has been identified, future and past can be distinguished, and scientific activity can begin.<ref name="beingatoBecoming" />{{rp|212–213}}

===Systems far from equilibrium===
{{anchor|Resilience}} Living systems are [[Ecological resilience|resilient]],<ref name="ah3" /> and are [[Non-equilibrium thermodynamics|far from equilibrium]].<ref name="meadows2008"/>{{rp|Ch.3}}<ref name="G&P1971" /> [[Homeostasis]] is the analog to equilibrium, for a living system; the concept was described in 1849, and the term was coined in 1926.<ref name="wotb">{{cite book |first=W.B. |last=Cannon |author-link=Walter Bradford Cannon |title=The Wisdom of the Body |pages=177–201 |year=1932 |publisher=W. W. Norton |location=New York}}</ref><ref name="cannon">{{cite book |language=fr |first=W. B. |last=Cannon |author-link=Walter Bradford Cannon |chapter=Physiological regulation of normal states: some tentative postulates concerning biological homeostatics |editor=A. Pettit|title=A Charles Riches amis, ses collègues, ses élèves |page=91 |publisher=Paris: Les Éditions Médicales |year=1926}}</ref>

{{anchor|Self-organization}} Resilient systems are [[Self-organization|self-organizing]];<ref name="ah3" />{{efn|name=klirSystemScience |1=Abstract: [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4899-0718-9_1 "An inevitable prerequisite for this book, as implied by its title, is a presupposition that systems science is a legitimate field of scientific inquiry. It is self-evident that I, as the author of this book, consider this presupposition valid. Otherwise, clearly, I would not conceive of writing the book in the first place"]. —George J. Klir, "What Is Systems Science?" from ''Facets of Systems Science'' (1991) }}<ref name="meadows2008" />{{rp|Ch.3}} <ref>H T Odum [https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.242.4882.1132 (25 Nov 1988) Self-Organization, Transformity and Information] ''Science'' Vol '''242''', Issue 4882 pp. 1132–1139 as reprinted by Gerald Midgley ed. (2002), ''Systems Thinking'' vol ''2''</ref>

{{anchor|Hierarchy}} The scope of functional controls is [[Hierarchy|hierarchical]], in a resilient system.<ref name="ah3" /><ref name="meadows2008" />{{rp|Ch.3}}


==Frameworks and methodologies==
==Frameworks and methodologies==
Frameworks and methodologies for systems thinking include:
Frameworks and methodologies for systems thinking include:
* Critical systems heuristics:<ref name="ulrich" >{{cite web|author=Werner Ulrich|url=https://projects.kmi.open.ac.uk/ecosensus/publications/ulrich_csh_intro.pdf|date=1987|title=A Brief Introduction to Critical Systems Heuristics (CSH)}}</ref> in particular, there can be twelve boundary categories for the systems when organizing one's thinking and actions.
* Critical systems heuristics
* [[Critical systems thinking]]
* [[Critical systems thinking]], including the [[Critical systems thinking#Recent developments|E P I C]] approach.
* [[Ontology engineering]] of representation, formal naming and definition of categories, and the properties and the relations between concepts, data, and entities.
* [[Soft systems methodology]]
* [[Soft systems methodology]], including the [[Soft systems methodology#CATWOE|CATWOE]] approach and [[rich pictures]].
* [[Systemic design]]
* [[Systemic design]], for example using the [[Double Diamond (design process model)|double diamond]] approach.
* [[System dynamics]]
* [[System dynamics]] of stocks, flows, and internal [[#Feedback control systems|feedback loop]]s.
* [[Viable system model]]
* [[Viable system model]]: uses 5 subsystems.


==See also==
==See also==
{{Portal|Systems science}}
⚫
* [[Management cybernetics]]
* {{annotated link|Conceptual systems}}
* [[Operations research|Operational research]]
⚫
* {{annotated link|Management cybernetics}}
* {{annotated link|Operations research}}
* {{annotated link|Systems engineering}}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
* [[Russell L. Ackoff]] (1968) "General Systems Theory and Systems Research Contrasting Conceptions of Systems Science." in: ''Views on a General Systems Theory: Proceedings from the Second System Symposium'', Mihajlo D. Mesarovic (ed.).
* A.C. Ehresmann, J.-P. Vanbremeersch (1987) [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S009282408780033 Hierarchical evolutive systems: A mathematical model for complex systems]" ''Bulletin of Mathematical Biology'' Volume '''49''', Issue 1, Pages 13–50
* NJTA Kramer & J de Smit (1977) ''Systems thinking: Concepts and Notions'', Springer. 148 pages
* A. H. Louie (November 1983) "[https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02458830 Categorical system theory]" ''Bulletin of Mathematical Biology'' volume '''45''', pages 1047–1072
* DonellaMeadows.org [https://donellameadows.org/systems-thinking-resources/ Systems Thinking Resources]
* Gerald Midgley (ed.) (2002) ''Systems Thinking'', SAGE Publications. 4 volume set: 1,492 pages [https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/systems-thinking/book225004#contents List of chapter titles]
<!--* Ross D. Arnold, Jon P. Wade ''[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050915002860?via%3Dihub A Definition of Systems Thinking: A Systems Approach]''-->
* Robert Rosen. (1958) “[http://www.few.vu.nl/~rplanque/Onderwijs/MathBio/PapersForProject/Rosen.pdf The Representation of Biological Systems from the Standpoint of the Theory of Categories]". ''Bull. math. Biophys.'' '''20''', 317–342.
* Peter Senge, (1990) ''[[The Fifth Discipline]]''


{{Systems}}
{{Systems}}
{{Authority control}}


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{{Systemstheory-stub}}

Latest revision as of 16:52, 31 May 2024

Depiction of systems thinking about society
Complex systems
Topics
Self-organization
Emergence
Collective behavior
Social dynamics

Collective intelligence
Collective action
Self-organized criticality
Herd mentality
Phase transition
Agent-based modelling
Synchronization
Ant colony optimization
Particle swarm optimization
Swarm behaviour

Collective consciousness
Networks
Scale-free networks

Social network analysis
Small-world networks
Centrality
Motifs
Graph theory
Scaling
Robustness
Systems biology
Dynamic networks

Adaptive networks
Evolution and adaptation
Artificial neural network

Evolutionary computation
Genetic algorithms
Genetic programming
Artificial life
Machine learning
Evolutionary developmental biology
Artificial intelligence
Evolutionary robotics

Evolvability
Pattern formation
Fractals

Reaction–diffusion systems
Partial differential equations
Dissipative structures
Percolation
Cellular automata
Spatial ecology
Self-replication

Geomorphology
Systems theory and cybernetics
Autopoiesis

Conversation theory
Entropy
Feedback
Goal-oriented
Homeostasis
Information theory
Operationalization
Second-order cybernetics
Self-reference
System dynamics
Systems science
Systems thinking
Sensemaking
Variety

Theory of computation
Nonlinear dynamics
Time series analysis

Ordinary differential equations
Phase space
Attractors
Population dynamics
Chaos
Multistability
Bifurcation

Coupled map lattices
Game theory
Prisoner's dilemma

Rational choice theory
Bounded rationality

Evolutionary game theory

Systems thinking is a way of making sense of the complexity of the world by looking at it in terms of wholes and relationships rather than by splitting it down into its parts.[1][2] It has been used as a way of exploring and developing effective action in complex contexts,[3] enabling systems change.[4][5] Systems thinking draws on and contributes to systems theory and the system sciences.[6]

History

[edit]
Main article: Systems theory § History

Ptolemaic system versus the Copernican system

[edit]

The term system is polysemic: Robert Hooke (1674) used it in multiple senses, in his System of the World,[7]: p.24  but also in the sense of the Ptolemaic system versus the Copernican system[8]: 450  of the relation of the planets to the fixed stars[9] which are cataloged in Hipparchus' and Ptolemy's Star catalog.[10] Hooke's claim was answered in magisterial detail by Newton's (1687) Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Book three, The System of the World[11]: Book three  (that is, the system of the world is a physical system).[7]

Newton's approach, using dynamical systems continues to this day.[8] In brief, Newton's equations (a system of equations) have methods for their solution.

Feedback control systems

[edit]
System output can be controlled with feedback.

By 1824 the Carnot cycle presented an engineering challenge, which was how to maintain the operating temperatures of the hot and cold working fluids of the physical plant.[12] In 1868 James Clerk Maxwell presented a framework for, and a limited solution to the problem of controlling the rotational speed of a physical plant.[13] Maxwell's solution echoed James Watt's (1784) centrifugal moderator (denoted as element Q) for maintaining (but not enforcing) the constant speed of a physical plant (that is, Q represents a moderator, but not a governor, by Maxwell's definition).[14][a]

Maxwell's approach, which linearized the equations of motion of the system, produced a tractable method of solution.[14]: 428–429  Norbert Wiener identified this approach as an influence on his studies of cybernetics[b] during World War II[14] and Wiener even proposed treating some subsystems under investigation as black boxes.[18]: 242  Methods for solutions of the systems of equations then become the subject of study, as in feedback control systems, in stability theory, in constraint satisfaction problems, the unification algorithm, type inference, and so forth.

Applications

[edit]
"So, how do we change the structure of systems to produce more of what we want and less of that which is undesirable? ... MIT’s Jay Forrester likes to say that the average manager can ... guess with great accuracy where to look for leverage points—places in the system where a small change could lead to a large shift in behavior".[19]: 146 — Donella Meadows, (2008) Thinking In Systems: A Primer p.145 [c]

Characteristics

[edit]
System boundary in context
System input and output allows exchange of energy and information across boundary.

...What is a system? A system is a set of things ... interconnected in such a way that they produce their own pattern of behavior over time. ... But the system’s response to these forces is characteristic of itself, and that response is seldom simple in the real world

— Donella Meadows[19]: 2 

[a system] is "an integrated whole even though composed of diverse, interacting, specialized structures and subjunctions"

— IEEE (1972)[17]: 582 
  • Subsystems serve as part of a larger system, but each comprises a system in its own right. Each frequently can be described reductively, with properties obeying its own laws, such as Newton's System of the World, in which entire planets, stars, and their satellites can be treated, sometimes in a scientific way as dynamical systems, entirely mathematically, as demonstrated by Johannes Kepler's equation (1619) for the orbit of Mars before Newton's Principia appeared in 1687.
  • Black boxes are subsystems whose operation can be characterized by their inputs and outputs, without regard to further detail.[19]: 87–88 [29]

Particular systems

[edit]

Systems far from equilibrium

[edit]

Living systems are resilient,[24] and are far from equilibrium.[19]: Ch.3 [40] Homeostasis is the analog to equilibrium, for a living system; the concept was described in 1849, and the term was coined in 1926.[41][42]

Resilient systems are self-organizing;[24][d][19]: Ch.3  [43]

The scope of functional controls is hierarchical, in a resilient system.[24][19]: Ch.3 

Frameworks and methodologies

[edit]

Frameworks and methodologies for systems thinking include:

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ A solution to the equations for a dynamical system can be afflicted by instability or oscillation.[15]: 7:33  The Governor: A corrective action against error can solve the dynamical equation by integrating the error.[15]: 29:44 [16]
  2. ^ "cybernetics: see system science.";[17]: 135  "system science: —the systematized knowledge of systems"[17]: 583 
  3. ^ Donella Meadows, Thinking In Systems: A Primer[19][20] Overview, in video clips: Chapter 1[21] Chapter 2, part 1[22] Chapter 2, part 2[23] Chapter 3[24] Chapter 4[25] Chapter 5[26] Chapter 6[27] Chapter 7[28]
  4. ^ Abstract: "An inevitable prerequisite for this book, as implied by its title, is a presupposition that systems science is a legitimate field of scientific inquiry. It is self-evident that I, as the author of this book, consider this presupposition valid. Otherwise, clearly, I would not conceive of writing the book in the first place". —George J. Klir, "What Is Systems Science?" from Facets of Systems Science (1991)

References

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  1. ^ Anderson, Virginia, & Johnson, Lauren (1997). Systems Thinking Basics: From Concepts to Causal Loops. Waltham, Mass: Pegasus Comm., Inc.
  2. ^ Magnus Ramage and Karen Shipp. 2009. Systems Thinkers. Springer.
  3. ^ Introduction to Systems thinking. Report of GSE and GORS seminar. Civil Service Live. 3 July 2012. Government Office for Science.
  4. ^ Sarah York, Rea Lavi, Yehudit Judy Dori, and MaryKay Orgill Applications of Systems Thinking in STEM Education J. Chem. Educ. 2019, 96, 12, 2742–2751 Publication Date:May 14, 2019 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00261
  5. ^ "School of System Change: Why Systems Change?". School of System Change: Learning to lead change in a complex world. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  6. ^ Systemic Thinking 101 Russell L Ackoff From Mechanistic to Systemic thinking, also awal street journal (2016) Systems Thinking Speech by Dr. Russell Ackoff 1:10:57
  7. ^ a b Hooke, Robert (1674) An attempt to prove the motion of the earth from observations
  8. ^ a b Marchal, J. H. (1975). "On the Concept of a System". Philosophy of Science. 42 (4). [Cambridge University Press, The University of Chicago Press, Philosophy of Science Association]: 448–468. ISSN 0031-8248. JSTOR 187223. Retrieved 2024-05-31. as reprinted in Gerald Midgely (ed.) (2002) Systems thinking vol One
  9. ^ Jon Voisey Universe Today (14 Oct 2022) Scholarly History of Ptolemy’s Star Catalog Index
  10. ^ Jessica Lightfoot Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 57 (2017) 935–9672017 Hipparchus Commentary On Aratus and Eudoxus
  11. ^ Newton, Isaac (1687) Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica
  12. ^ Sadi Carnot (1824) Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire
  13. ^ James Clerk Maxwell (1868) On Governors 12 pages
  14. ^ a b c Otto Mayr (1971) Maxwell and the Origins of Cybernetics Isis, Vol. 62, No. 4 (Winter, 1971), pp. 424-444 (21 pages)
  15. ^ a b The Royal Society of Edinburgh (2016) Celebrating Maxwell's Genius and Legacy: Prof Rodolphe Sepulchre
  16. ^ Karl Johan Åström and Richard M. Murray (2021) Feedback Systems: An Introduction for Scientists and Engineers, Second Edition
  17. ^ a b c IEEE (1972) Standard Dictionary of Electrical and Electronics Terms
  18. ^ Peter Galison (1994) The Ontology of the Enemy: Norbert Wiener and the Cybernetic Vision Critical Inquiry, Vol. 21, No. 1 (Autumn, 1994), pp. 228–266 (39 pages) JSTOR
  19. ^ a b c d e f g Donella Meadows, (2008) Thinking In Systems: A Primer
  20. ^ Donella H. Meadows (1977) A Philosophical Look at System Dynamics 53:18
  21. ^ Ashley Hodgson Thinking in Systems, Key Ideas (Ch. 1)
  22. ^ Ashley Hodgson Thinking in Systems, Ch. 2: Types of System Dynamics 2a
  23. ^ Ashley Hodgson Thinking in Systems, Ch. 2, Part 2: Limiting Factors in Systems 2b
  24. ^ a b c d Ashley Hodgson Thinking in Systems, Ch. 3: Resilience, Self-Organization and Hierarchy 3
  25. ^ Ashley Hodgson Thinking in Systems, Ch. 4: Why Systems Surprise Us 4
  26. ^ Ashley Hodgson Thinking in Systems, Ch. 5: System Traps 5
  27. ^ Ashley Hodgson Thinking in Systems, Ch. 6: Leverage Points in Systems 6
  28. ^ Ashley Hodgson Thinking in Systems, Ch. 7: Living with Systems 7
  29. ^ Wiener, Norbert; Cybernetics: Or the Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine, MIT Press, 1961, ISBN 0-262-73009-X, page xi
  30. ^ Aristotle, Politics
  31. ^ JS Maloy (2009) The Aristotelianism of Locke's Politics Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 70, No. 2 (April 2009), pp. 235–257 (23 pages)
  32. ^ Aristotle, History of Animals
  33. ^ Lennox, James (27 July 2011). "Aristotle's Biology". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford University. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  34. ^ Adam Smith (1776) The Wealth of Nations Book IV refers to commercial, and mercantile systems, as well as to systems of political enonomy
  35. ^ Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
  36. ^ Talcott Parsons, The Structure of Social Action
  37. ^ MIT Radiation Laboratory, MIT Radiation Laboratory Series, 28 volumes
  38. ^ Richard Pates (2021) What is a Lyapunov function
  39. ^ a b Prigogine, Ilya (1980). From Being To Becoming. Freeman. ISBN 0-7167-1107-9. 272 pages.
  40. ^ a b Glansdorff, P., Prigogine, I. (1971). Thermodynamic Theory of Structure, Stability and Fluctuations, London: Wiley-Interscience ISBN 0-471-30280-5
  41. ^ Cannon, W.B. (1932). The Wisdom of the Body. New York: W. W. Norton. pp. 177–201.
  42. ^ Cannon, W. B. (1926). "Physiological regulation of normal states: some tentative postulates concerning biological homeostatics". In A. Pettit (ed.). A Charles Riches amis, ses collègues, ses élèves (in French). Paris: Les Éditions Médicales. p. 91.
  43. ^ H T Odum (25 Nov 1988) Self-Organization, Transformity and Information Science Vol 242, Issue 4882 pp. 1132–1139 as reprinted by Gerald Midgley ed. (2002), Systems Thinking vol 2
  44. ^ Werner Ulrich (1987). "A Brief Introduction to Critical Systems Heuristics (CSH)" (PDF).

Sources

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