Toronto, Ontario; Montreal, Quebec; Jacksonville, Florida.
YTZ ferry. Landside terminal view of ferry to Billy Bishop Airport on Toronto Island. Runs every 15 minutes. This is my first time outbound from YTZ, as Air Canada only flies to Montreal from here. Porter Airlines dominates the terminal as its hubs. Free cafe in terminal is not Maple Leaf Lounge, but it’s more democratic. (Toronto) 20120103 1324Montreal Chinatown Gate Mural. Snowy January morning on Rene Levesque Blvd. Chinatown Gate with mural across the street, at St. Laurent entry (Montreal) 20120105 0845Rooftop pool in Montreal winter. Steaming indoor-outdoor pool at Hilton Bonaventure, in an early Montreal morning with temperature well below freezing. I probably haven’t been in this pool since the early 1990s, and then not with snow around it. No time on this trip for swimming. (Montreal, Quebec) 20120116 0928Jacksonville Landing on St. John’s River. Late afternoon January in northern Florida, with blue skies. Rock music playing, just a few tourists walking by with children. Welcome relief from winter, great weather offsets rebooked flight and leaving home early in the dark. Expect most of weekend indoors in meetings (Jacksonville, FL) 20120120 1650Florida Theatre, Gordon Lightfoot. In Jacksonville, FL, Gordon Lightfoot on tour for 13 days of 15. I was coincidentally in town for a conference, and snagged row 5 tickets with JMW 2 hours before show. Last time I saw Lightfoot was in Massey Hall in Toronto in the mid-1970s. Songs familiar, performance now performance of a 73-year old is different. Hard to find anyone in audience under age 40. (Jacksonville, FL) 20120122 2041JAX Art by Joe Segal. Sculptures of wood and aluminum mounted on wall of Jacksonville Airport art gallery, created by northern Florida artist Joe Segal. Displayed together as a collection, but actually tagged as independent pieces for sale. Gallery is located landside in airport, so non-travelers can view, but would have viewed longer with flight delay if venue was airside. (Jacksonville, FL) 20120123 1540Guaranteed Pure Milk bottle, Montreal. Rooftop art deco 1930s installation restored in 2009, 10 metres high, 6 tonnes of steel. Viewed from 11th floor window of the Cite du Commerce Electronique to the north. Preservation of whimsy demonstrates that Montreal doesn’t always take itself seriously (Montreal, Quebec) 20120125 0853Yael Bensoussan duo, Segal Centre. Vocals in French, plus guitar. Said she learned songs sung by her mother washing dishes. Introduced with alternate career as a second year medical student at U. of Montreal. Part of the Women of the World series at the Segal Centre, opening for Coral Egan (Montreal) 20120126 2007
Coral Egan, Segal Centre. Preview of “The Year He Drove Me Crazy” album for spring release, 3 years in making. New band, intimate venue with audience of about 150. Coral Egan performing as part of the Women of the World series at the Segal Centre (Montreal) 20120126 2052
For espoused systems thinkers who are predisposed towards towards finding an equilibrium (or maybe one amongst multiple equilibria), a discussion about entropy can raise discomfort. In the systems sciences, the second law of thermodynamics — as an entropic process — is often cited by the learned as a universal law applicable across physics, chemistry, biology […]
In the 4th year of an espoused 10-year journey, the Systems Changes Learning Circle reached a major milestone. With Code for Canada, the team conducted its first educational workshop based on the contextural action learning approach currently under review for publication. The client was the Canadian Digital Service . The presentation outlining the basic ideas and […]
Many might sequence systems thinking as (i) systems theory preceding (ii) systems practice. This is not always the case. There are situations where (i) systems practice has preceded (ii) systems theory, or the two advance in a tight learning loop. Jack Ring once pointed out that applied science (engineering) precedes science, because human beings often […]
System thinking, coming from roots in mainstream Western philosophy, tends to orient towards (i) thinking in space, before (ii) thinking in time. Structure is an arrangement in space. Process is an arrangement in time. A critical systems perspective leads us to think about inclusion within boundaries. Does this lead us to overlook boundaries in time? […]
The Systems Changes Learning Circle, formed in January 1999, has since been meeting at least once every 3 weeks. In many respects, the core group has exhibited great patience in our mutual learning towards an agenda of Rethinking Systems Thinking, from talks given in 2012, and published in 2013. In anticipation of a journal article […]
In the 1980s, ecological economics seemed to be mostly economists extending their work towards environmental and resource concerns. In the 2020s, ecological economics is seeing a new generation first schooled in other disciplines such as environmental studies or one of the social sciences, then coming into economics. Programs that encourage the new perspective include the […]
In conversation, @zeynep with @ezraklein reveal authentic #SystemsThinking in (i) appreciating that “science” is constructed by human collectives, (ii) the west orients towards individual outcomes rather than population levels; and (iii) there’s an over-emphasis on problems of the moment, and…Read more ›
In the question-answer period after the lecture, #TimIngold proposes art as a discipline of inquiry, rather than ethnography. This refers to his thinking On Human Correspondence. — begin paste — [75m26s question] I am curious to know what art, or…Read more ›
How might our society show value for the long term, over the short term? Could we think about taxation over time, asks @carlotaprzperez in an interview: 92% for 1 day; 80% within 1 month; 50%-60% tax for 1 year; zero tax for 10 years.Read more ›
For the @ArchFoundation, #TimIngold distinguishes outcome-oriented making from process-oriented growing, revisiting #MartinHeidegger “Building Dwelling Thinking”. Organisms are made; artefacts grow. The distinction seems obvious, until you stop to ask what assumptions it contains, about the inside and outside of things…Read more ›
In web conference, #HermanDaly says #EcologicalEconomics used to get attacked from the right, now it's from the left. Panel @revkin @jon_d_erickson @ktkish @sophiesanniti #TimCrowshaw #KatieHorner livestreamed #sustainwhat .Read more ›
Complementing the idea of a @longnow , @nfergus provokes the challenge of a #shortthen as the online social media platforms distract the larger perspectives on history.Read more ›
In this review of a philosophical work written in Chinese, a comparison is made between Chinese philosophy centering on the body, in comparison to Western philosopy centered on the mind. (I found a reference to this book, tracing back from Keekok Lee (2017) Chapter 9, footnote 8.
The translation from English "systems thinking" to French "la pensée systémique" misses meaning. "Approche systémique" has lineage to "Conférences Macy", "General System Theory (Bertalanffy)" and "Gregory Bateson"
When one chooses a guiding philosophy of life -- and the modern world has chosen humanism -- one becomes responsible for all the consequences that flow from that choice. (David W. Ehrenfeld, 1981)
“Rethinking Systems Thinking” (2013) is cited by #DaniloBrozović (U. Skövde), #MarcoTregua (U. Napoli Federico II): The level of complexity in current service ecosystems is rising, not least due to technology (Barile et al., 2020), with the effect of such increased complexity of service ecosystems being perceived as ‘simple’. On the other hand, some systems researchers […]
Jullien views propensity in Chinese philosophy, as a counterpart to causality in Western philosophy. Some unpacking of his writing in digests may be helpful. Jullien, François. 1995. The Propensity of Things: Toward a History of Efficacy in China. Translated by Janet Lloyd. Zone Books. Introduction How can we conceive of the dynamic in terms of the static, in […]
In his system of system concepts, Russell Ackoff made the distinction between reformation and transformation in many of his lectures. Here are two written sources. From Redesigining Society (2003) … Systemic Transformation A system is transformed, as contrasted with reformed, when its structure or functions are changed fundamentally. Such changes are discontinuous and qualitative, quantum […]
