Systems: The New Science

[systemist]

Analysis - the process of separating something into its constituent parts, has been the basis of modern science. Reductionism, as it became known, has been leading breakthroughs in science up-to this day. In 1922, a group of leading philosophers and scientists met at a cafe in Vienna, to discuss the scientific conception of the world. The Vienna Circle, as it became known, proposed the unification of science; these were the stepping stones of Systems Science as we know it today. Analysis was the past, synthesis and holism were the new buzz words.

 

System science, today, is an interdisciplinary field of science that looks at things in a holistic perspective. Still relatively unheard of outside intellectual circles, it has managed to sneak into fields from pure mathematics, sociology and psychology to social sciences, organisational theory and political science. Systems have dominated all fronts, however, it is still a young science.

 

Surprisingly, as we move forward, systems’ principles are proving true in more and more fields. Einstein’s theory of relativity, Bohr’s atomic theory, Cantor’s incompleteness theorem, and countless other discoveries of science in the 21st century have complemented systems. Mathematical logic, the basic concept on which all computer systems are based used system theories for understanding.

 

So, what are systems actually?

 

 

According to Ervin László, for something to pass as a system it should possess the following characteristics:

 

• Wholeness and Order: Ordered Wholeness, is being more than the sum of its parts. If the parts combine and produce no new characteristics then it is not a system but a heap. Order signifies the importance of structure and relationships between the constituent parts.

• Adaptive Self-Stabilisation: systems contain negative feedback. Any fluctuation in the environment of the system will have impact on the system itself. However, the self-stabilisation mechanism will balance the variables. For example, a rise in temperature and then the subsequent release of sweat from the skin is what is described as adaptive self-stabilisation. Dynamic Equilibrium in any system is maintained by self-stabilisation or negative feedback.

• Adaptive Self-Organisation: Systems have the quality of restructuring, reorganising, positive feedback or learning. This characteristic claims that evolution is a part of every system. Every time a system’s environment changes it adapts accordingly, just like Darwin’s theory of evolution, where mammals evolve - natural selection, and those who did not became extinct.

• Hierarchies: Systems have hierarchies. The more higher a constituent part is in the hierarchy the more power it has. And, constituents lower in hierarchy are greater in number but possess less power or control.

 

Thus, this is a science that can be applied in all areas of life; professional or personal, organisational or individual. The discovery of a pending global warming are also attributed to systemic thinking. Known as World Systems Theory, it has become a separate branch in itself. James Lovelock, proposed for the first time the Gaia hypothesis - named after the Greek goddess of earth, Gaia. His book ‘The Revenge of Gaia’ is an interesting read. I would also recommend Fritjof Capra’s ‘A Web Of Life: A New Synthesis Of Mind And Matter’ for history of how system thinking came into being. He also introduces concepts on which systems science is based that can be understood by laymen.

 

A mix of Buddhism and Quantum Physics, spiritual yet scientific, a harmonisation that humanity yearned since the renaissance, it seems the coming age will be the rise of systems on all intellectual platforms.

Visit my blog at www.thesystemsblog.com

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Please note SFN rule 7:

 

Advertising and spam is prohibited. We don't mind if you put a link to your noncommercial site (e.g. a blog) in your signature and/or profile, but don't go around making threads to advertise it. Links in posts should be relevant to the discussion. Users advertising commercial sites will be banned.

 

If you'd like to hang around and discuss systems science, that's fine, but please don't blatantly advertise your own site.

[DrRocket]

Modern Systems Theory, which has little to do with your New Age mumbo jumbo, arguably began with the work of Rudolph Kalman and the introduction of the state space approach to control systems during his early work in the 1958-1962 framework. That philosophy was itself based somewhat loosely on Lagrangian mechanics.

 

Kalman at that time had an understanding of linear algebra that was atypical of the engineering community, and he exploited that understanding and an understanding of functional analysis to formulate and solve the linear quadratic Gaussian problem, which remains the benchmark for both optimal control and stochastic control. Along the way he introduced the fundamental notions of controllability and observability for linear systems and introduced the Lyapunov approach to stability of non-linear differential equations to the engineering community.

 

Kalman's approach fostered the development of a broader discipline, known as systems theory, that was applied t a broad spectrum of issues. The IEEE Journal of Systems. Man and Cybernetics was founded and continues to this day, though with little fanfare and no notable successes.

 

Some classic texts arose from this study, notably Linear System Theory by Zadeh and Desoer and Topics in Mathematical System Theory by Kalman, Falb and Arbib.

 

In the 1970's Kalman felt that he had exploited what he called "continuous mathematics" about as much as he could, and turned to algebra, particularly the theory of Noetherian rings, to attempt to develop an algebraic theory of realization for systems. Little came of this.

 

The impact of the systems perspective was profound in control theory, computer science and automata theory, communication and information theory, economics, and mathematical biology among other disciplines. But it is most certainly NOT a "new science' or any sort of a surrogate for basic physics.

 

The term "systems" has morphed and is used by different groups to describe wildly different things, from simple logistics to abstract applications of functional analysis to abstract problems of interest to mathematicians. It has been used, misused and abused to the point where one must now look closely at the specifics to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff. You appear to have isolated and retained the chaff.

[systemist]

Modern Systems Theory, which has little to do with your New Age mumbo jumbo, arguably began with the work of Rudolph Kalman and the introduction of the state space approach to control systems during his early work in the 1958-1962 framework. That philosophy was itself based somewhat loosely on Lagrangian mechanics.

 

Lisen to yourself, you say Rudolph Kalman introduced control systems in 1958, thats 53 years ago. If thats not new then you must be a dinosaur. My article may have major inconsistencies but synthesis across disciplines is recent.

 

Please note SFN rule 7:

 

 

 

If you'd like to hang around and discuss systems science, that's fine, but please don't blatantly advertise your own site.

 

Sorry, won't happen again.

[DrRocket]

Lisen to yourself, you say Rudolph Kalman introduced control systems in 1958, thats 53 years ago. If thats not new then you must be a dinosaur. My article may have major inconsistencies but synthesis across disciplines is recent.

 

 

Wrong on all counts.

 

You obviously know as little about the history of systems theory as you know of the actual content.

 

Kalman introduced state space methods and solved the linear quadratic Gaussian problem in the 1958-1962 time frame. Control theory is much older and arguably dates from the centrifugal governor for steam engines that was introduced in 1788 by James Watt. The theory of negative feedback systems goes back to Black's work in extending the bandwidth of amplifiers in 1927, and was used by Weiner in the development of classical frequency domain methods for sevomechanims and control of anti-aircraft guns.

 

Synthesis across disciplines is as old as the subject itself. Synthesis across disciplines is the heart of not only general systems theory but even control theory, for the definition of that which is to be controlled is quite open. The general notion of a state space goes back at least to LaPlace and Lagrange, and perhaps even to my academic ancestor Isaac Newton with the invention of differential equations.

 

See Jay Forester's work from the 1950's for an example of extreme multidisciplinarity.

 

Yep. Your article has major inconsistencies and inaccuracies. Perhaps you should take the time, as I did, to study the subject for a few years in depth and refrain from writing about that which you do not understand until you have learned a bit more.

Edited August 29, 2011 by DrRocket

[systemist]

Yes. Those individual concepts developed way back. As a holistic subject in itself has been recent. Most spiritual teachings such as Kabbalah and zen reflect concepts of the holistic paradigm (these teaching are 1000+ years old). By new, I mean at a grander level. Systems thinking has never been part of a curriculum but now there are a 50+ departments in major universities not only on mathematical systems, but also in biology, psychology, sociology, political science, chemistry, ecology, businesses etc.

 

The greater focus from the renaissance up-till 1950s was on analysis - more emphasis on detail. I believe that is changing.

 

Your focus seems purely on mathematical side of systems. Mathematics is itself a meta-science - in a sense close to philosophy. Thus, mathematics is as abstract and general systems theory.

 

> A new science at an institutional level.

 

Regardless, if systems is an old science there must be a reason why all the BIG NAMES were from less than 100 years ago. Starting with Wiener.

 

By new, i mean in a relative sense. How old would you say chemistry is; well, alchemy....

 

 

 

 

 

 

P.S. : I did not draw this diagram.