Coventry, UK; Stratford upon Avon, UK; Toronto, Ontario; Las Vegas, NV.
Lady Godiva statue at Broadgate Coventry . 1949 work by Sir William Reid Dick at central Coventry in early evening. Few pedestrians, nice weather, but few attractions other than bars with karaoke (Coventry) 20140601Fountains at U. Warwick. Visiting @ireneclng at Intl Institute for Product and Service Innovation, students on bus unlikely to know building, so asked for math department next door. 30 minutes from Coventry (U Warwick) 20140602Stratford upon Avon canal basin on Flickr. Tour boats moored on a late Monday afternoon, as Stratford upon Avon visitors reorient towards the RSC theatre just beyond. Scenic route towards Heathrow for flight home tomorrow. (Stratford upon Avon) 20140602Stone Distillery equipment from 1863. Historic alcohol production facility, Badger Distillation Control Panel beside a Distilling Column now with stairs wrapped around it. Factory converted to offices. (Distillery District, Toronto) 20140606Cardboard Beach, David Pecault Square. nstallation by Los Carpinteros for Luminato Festival has visitors reclining on the shade. Corrugated cardboard is a good material for an event that runs one week. (Toronto) 20140609TTC track construction. Lining up streetcar rails on Queen Street just west of Leslie Street. Cause of traffic rerouting, but there isn’t much pavement right now. (Toronto) 20140612Underpass from Don River bike path. New tunnel from the Don River bike path westbound into Corktown Commons. A new way to get downtown without climbing a bridge over the river (Toronto) 20140614Watershed map of Toronto on Flickr. Sheet metal installation orienting five Toronto rivers, by Ferrucio Sardella. At the Evergreen Brick Works, on the banks of Mud Creek, off the Lower Don River. (Toronto) 20140614Stone bench at The Waterfront School. Quiet late afternoon by Harbourfront, classes will still be on for a few weeks. CN Tower and Canada Malting silos in background (Toronto) 20140617OCADU Great Hall ceiling lights. On summer, the second floor common space at 100 McCaul St. is dark and empty, but the style of the design school shows through in the non-rectilinear arrangement of ceiling lights (Toronto) 20140619Elephant Rock turnout, Valley of Fire State Park. Red sandstone formations in 100+ degree F heat. Entered state park from east side, honour payment in envelope, but then checked at west gate exit (Nevada) 20140627Opera at St. Marks Square. Inside the Venetian Hotel, singing after dish, but outside, sun doesn’t set for another 2.5 hours. American tourists prefer canals that don’t stink, in Las Vegas 20140628
Viva Vision, Fremont Street. Light show with music by Heart. Son and nephew didn’t know primal artist only Guitar Hero version. We have better sound in our basement. (Fremont Street, Las Vegas)
The International Society for General Systems Research formed circa 1956 became the International Society for the Systems Sciences in 1988. In 1985, Bela H. Banathy organized the annual meeting on the theme of “Systems Inquiring”. Proceedings normally are published in the year following. In 1987, John A. Dillon summarized Banathy’s perspective in the yearbook, General […]
For five immersive days, a team of six researchers had the opporunity to collaborate on ideas on rhythmic shifts (mostly based on Systems Changes Learning) and anticipatory systems (in the legacy of Robert Rosen). The 2024 Banathy Conversation was organized by the Creative Systemic Research Platform Institute, facilitated by Susu Nousala, Gary S. Metcalf, and […]
Systems Processes Theory has been under development for many decades, led by Len Troncale, a past president of the International Society for the Ssytems Sciences. Many have found getting a grip on the science to be a demanding task, both in scope and in depth. Over many decades, Lynn Rasmussen was a collaborator, refining and […]
The Socio-Technical Systems (STS) perspective, dating back to the studies of Eric L. Trist and Fred E. Emery, was on the reading list of organizational behaviour classes in my undergraduate and master’s degree programs. It wasn’t until 15 years later, when I got involved with the systems sciences and David L. Hawk, that the Socio-Ecological […]
Civic Tech can be described as projects using technology “for the public good“. Civic Tech may be related to, but different from Gov Tech. For the May 2024 Systems Thinking Onrtario, we had two knowledgeable guests in conversation. Dorothy Eng, executive director of Code for Canada since 2021, related her professional journey from engineering to […]
On my May trip through the UK, I accepted an offer to lead an Expert-Led Session at the University of Hull. I had previously been a Research Fellow of the Centre for Systems Studies, but haven’t travelled to the Hull for some years. As we worked out the arrangements, I found out that the seminar […]
David L. Hawk (American management theorist, architect, and systems scientist) has been hosting a weekly television show broadcast on Bold Brave Tv from the New York area on Wednesdays 6pm ET, remotely from his home in Iowa. Live, callers can join…Read more ›
Following the first day lecture on Philosophy of Chinese Medicine 1 for the Global University for Sustainability, Keekok Lee continued on a second day on some topics: * Anatomy as structure; physiology as function (and process); * Process ontology, and thing ontology; * Qi ju as qi-in-concentrating mode, and qi san as qi-in-dissipsating mode; and […]
The philosophy of science underlying Classical Chinese Medicine, in this lecture by Keekok Lee, provides insights into ways in which systems change may be approached, in a process ontology in contrast to the thing ontology underlying Western BioMedicine. Read more ›
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 ›
The appreciation of change is different in Western philosophy than in classical Chinese philosophy. JeeLoo Lin published a concise contrast on differences. Let me parse the Introduction to the journal article, that is so clearly written. The Chinese theory of time is built into a language that is tenseless. The Yijing (Book of Changes) there […]
In trying to place the World Hypotheses work of Stephen C. Pepper (with multiple root metaphors), Nicholas Rescher provides a helpful positioning. — begin paste — Philosophical perspectivism maintains that substantive philosophical positions can be maintained only from a “perspective” of some sort. But what sort? Clearly different sorts of perspectives can be conceived of, […]
Finding proper words to express system(s) change(s) can be a challenge. One alternative could be diachrony. The Oxford English dictionary provides two definitions for diachronic, the first one most generally related to time. (The second is linguistic method) diachronic ADJECTIVE Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “diachronic (adj.), sense 1,” July 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/3691792233. For completeness, prochronic relates “to […]
The selection of readings in the “Introduction” to Systems Thinking: Selected Readings, volume 2, Penguin (1981), edited by Fred E. Emery, reflects a turn from 1969 when a general systems theory was more fully entertained, towards an urgency towards changes in the world that were present in 1981. Systems thinking was again emphasized in contrast […]
In reviewing the original introduction for Systems Thinking: Selected Readings in the 1969 Penguin paperback, there’s a few threads that I only recognize, many years later. The tables of contents (disambiguating various editions) were previously listed as 1969, 1981 Emery, System Thinking: Selected Readings. — begin paste — Introduction In the selection of papers for this […]
