p.3-4 Systems thinking... practitioners... are at work creating a New World, brave or otherwise...
It has been called the Second Industrial Revolution
p.4 A Canadian Premier ([Ernest Charles] Manning, 1967)
writes the systems approach into his political platform saying that
an interrelationship exists between all elements
and constituents of society. The essential factors in public problems, issues, policies, and programs must always
be considered and evaluated as interdependent components of a total system.
p.5 In one way or another, we are forced to deal
with complexities, with "wholes" or "systems," in all fields of knowledge. This implies a basic re-orientation
in scientific thinking.
p.37 These considerations lead to the postulate
of a new scientific discipline which we call general system theory. It's subject matter is formulation of principles that
are valid for "systems" in general, whatever the nature of the component elements and the relations or "forces" between
them
p.44 a great variety of systems in technology and in living
nature follow the feedback scheme, and it is well-known that a new discipline, called Cybernetics, was introduced
by Norbert Wiener to deal with these phenomena. The theory tries to show that mechanisms of a feedback nature are
the base of teleological or purposeful behavior in man-made machines as well as in living organisms,
and in social systems.
p.46 Ashby's model for adaptiveness... [the system]
tries different ways and means, and eventually settles down in a field where it no longer comes into conflict with critical
values of the environment. Such a system adapting itself by trial and error was actually constructed by Ashby...
it is a form of behavior which can well be defined in scientific terms
p.83-84 Yet there is a third reason for the isomorphism
of laws in different realms which is important for the present purpose. In our consideration we started with a general
definition of "system" defined as "a set of elements in interaction" and expresses by the system of equation. No
special hypothesis or statements were made about the nature of the system, of its elements or the relations between them.
Nevertheless from this purely formal definition of "system," many properties follow... The parallelism of general conceptions
or even special laws in different fields therefore is a consequence of the fact that these are concerned with "systems," and
that certain general principles apply to systems irrespective of their nature... The isomorphism found in different realms
is based on the existence of general system principles, of more or less well-developed "general system theory."
p.84-85 homologies [JLJ - Homology means correspondence
or sameness of relation] are of considerable importance as conceptual models in science. They are frequently applied in physics.
Examples are the consideration of heat flow as a flow of a heat substance, the comparison of electrical flow with the flow
of a fluid... potentials. We know exactly, of course, that there is no "heat substance" but heat is to be interpreted in the
sense of kinetic theory; yet the model enables the stipulation of laws which are formally correct.
p.86 The analysis of general system principles shows that
many concepts which have often been considered as anthropomorphic, metaphysical, or vitalistic are accessible to exact
formulation. They are consequences of the definition of systems or of certain system conditions.
p.88 The only goal of science appeared to be analytical,
i.e., the splitting up of reality into ever smaller units and the isolation of individual causal trains...We may state
as characteristic of modern science that this scheme of isolable units acting in one-way causality has proven to be insufficient.
Hence the appearance, in all fields of science, of notions like wholeness, holistic, organismic, gestalt, etc., which
all signify that, in the last resort, we must think in terms of systems of elements in mutual interaction.
p.88 We believe that the future elaboration of general system
theory will prove to be a major step towards unification of science. It may be destined in the science of the future, to play
a role similar to that of Aristotelian logic in the science of antiquity. The Greek conception of the world was static,
things being considered to be a mirroring of eternal archetypes or ideas. Therefore classification was the central
problem in science, the fundamental organ of which is the definition of subordination and superordination of concepts. In
modern science, dynamic interaction appears to be the central problem in all fields of Reality. Its general principles are
to be defined by system theory.
p.105-106 the system concept is abstract and general enough to permit application to entities of whatever
denomination. The notions of "equilibrium", "homeostasis," "feedback," "stress," etc., are no less technologic or physiological
phenomena. System theorists agree that the concept of "system" is not limited to material entities but can be applied
to any "whole" consisting of interacting "components."
p.117 in the words of Rapoport and Horvath (1959): There is some sense in considering a real organization
as an organism... Quasi-biological functions are demonstrable in organization. They maintain themselves; they sometimes...
metastasize; they respond to stresses; they age, and they die.
p.125 Continuous working capacity is, therefore, not possible in a closed system which tends to attain equilibrium
as soon as possible, but only in an open system.
p.192 Stress is not only a danger to life to be controlled and neutralized by adaptive mechanisms; it also
creates higher life.
p.192 Selye wrote: "The secret of health and happiness lies in successful adaptation to the ever-changing
conditions of the globe; the penalties for failure in this great process of adaptation are disease and unhappiness"
(1956, p. VII).
p.197 Animals are surrounded by a physical universe with which they have to cope: physical environment,
prey to catch, predators to avoid, and so forth. Man, in contrast, is surrounded by a universe of symbols... human
behavior... is governed by symbolic entities.
p.215-216 "Except for the immediate satisfaction of biological needs, man lives in a world not of
things but of symbols" (von Bertalanffy, 1956a)... It can be justly questioned whether man is a rational animal;
but he certainly is a symbol-creating and symbol-dominated being throughout... probably all notions used
to characterize human behavior are consequences or different aspects of symbolic activity.
p.228 Take, e.g., a unicellular organism like the paramecium. Its almost only way of response is
the flight reaction... by which it reacts to the most diverse, chemical, tactile, thermal, photic, etc., stimuli.
This simple reaction, however, suffices safely to guide that animal which possesses no specific sense organs, into
the region of optimal conditions. The many things in the environment of the paramecium, algae, other infusoria, little
crustaceans, mechanical obstacles and the like, are nonexistent for it. Only one stimulus is received which leads to the flight
reaction.
As this example shows, the organizational and functional plan of a living being determines
what can become "stimulus" and "characteristic" to which the organism responds with a certain reaction... any
organism, so to speak, cuts out from the multiplicity of surrounding objects a small number of characteristics
to which it reacts and whose ensemble forms its "ambient"... All the rest is non-existent for that particular organism.
p.240-241 Any stimulus is experienced not as it is but as the organism reacts to it, and
thus the world-picture is determined by psychophysical organization.
p.241 experience must correspond "in a certain way" to "reality whatever this means."...
a rather small selection of stimuli is used as guiding signals... it is sufficient that a certain degree of isomorphism
[JLJ - similarity or identity of form or shape or structure] exists between the experienced world and the "real" world, so
that the experience can guide the organism in such a way as to preserve existence... perception and experience categories
need not mirror the "real" world; they must however, be isomorphic to it to such a degree as to allow orientation and thus
survival.
