Toronto, Ontario; Tokyo, Japan; Shanghai, China; Wuhan, China; Alexandria, Virginia; Washington, DC
Chinese Visa Application Service Centre: Submitted invitation letter from Wuhan U. Tech at prebooked appointment. Clerk corrected category as non-business, and said not multiple entry, but double entry same price as single entry. Tuesday drop-off, Friday pick-up as normal service. Receptionist noted I had forgotten to copy face page on passport, so photocopier in corner is $0.40. (Chinese Visa Application Service Center, University Avenue, Toronto) 20160301School of the Environment: Martin Bunch from York U. guest lecture at U. Toronto on Ecosystems Approaches originating from James Kay, evolved into EcoHealth approach with community health in coupled social-ecological systems. Presented on three cases, in Kathmandu Nepal; Chennai India; and Credit Valley Conservation Authority in Southern Ontario. I’ve lectured in Martin’s systems thinking class, sometimes it’s better to hear a formal talk to appreciate the work of a researcher. (University of Toronto School of the Environment) 20160302The Real Jerk: Family lunch relaxed on a weekday, with sister-in-law visiting with baby. She requested some food not Middle Eastern, as she’s been living in Israel. Curried goat was popular amongst us, jerk pork was extra spicy, and the beef roti was more substantial than an appetizer to be shared by all of us. (The Real Jerk, Gerrard Street East at Carlaw Avenue, Toronto) 20160303AC005 YYZ-HND: Flight delay of 2 hours to 3:45pm had me falling asleep in Maple Leaf Lounge, as I stayed awake and worked through last night. Mechanical problems means will arrive in Tokyo after sunset, so body schedule will probably be confused. New release movies haven’t changed since last flight, so I’m spending too much time on long hauls. (Air Canada 005, Toronto Pearson to Tokyo Haneda) 20160309Aeon Market Granpark: End-of-day clearance take-out sushi in Tokyo supermarket is better than some restaurant food on other side of ocean. Large display of Florida navel oranges is twice the price of local varieties. Full service supermarket is in basement of complex across the street from usual hotel in Shibaura district. Flight to Haneda was delayed by 2 hours, so friends went for dinner without me. (Aeon Market Granpark, Shibaura, Minato, Tokyo) 20160310Duo Music Exchange: Piano-driven instrument rock by Schroeder Headz had audience bouncing in time, and waving right hands. Pianist Shunsuke Watanabe had extended pattern between songs, entertaining audience with humour. Japanese audience was more subdued with opening act ADAM At. Venue had excellent sound, no seats. We didn’t stay for third band on bill, Sono Sukimakara. (Duo Music Exchange, Dogenzaka, Shibuya, Tokyo) 20160311
TiTech Ookayama: Kyoichi Jim Kijima delivers final lecture on Systems Theory, Thinking and Sciences, in Japanese. Formal retirement is at end of month. Lecture auditorium is full of colleagues, former students and friends, both locally to Japan, and internationally. (Tokyo Institute of Technology, Ookayama, Japan) 20160312
Without Records – MOT ver. 2015: :
OTOMO Yoshihi + AOYAMA Yasutomo + ITO Takayuki “Without Records – MOT ver. 2015”.
Records are absent on the record player, which turn on and off under computer control. The sound is recomposed every time, with a concept of noise / improvisation / emsembled. Installation in the atrium, viewed from the second floor. (Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Japan) 20160312
ANA Lounge, Haneda International Terminal: Curry rice, chicken karage, fried noodles quite standard. Hot and sour soup a funny Japanese thin variety. Haven’t tried udon noodle bar. Buffet low on food with fibre, no fruit. Late night flying westbound into Asia. I will be back in 6 days, on connection eastbound home. (ANA Lounge. Haneda Airport International Terminal, Tokyo, Japan) 20160313The Me, Tongji U College of Design and Innovation: At Tongji University, working to improve Internet access over the hotel like we have in the West. Configuring VPNs on Linux laptops and Android phones. (The Me, College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, Shanghai, China) 20160314Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station: Queued at gate 13 for high-speed train to Wuhan. SN showed electronic image of ticket on WeChat and our passports, while most people had paper tickets for the inspector. Smooth ride initially crossed flat land, gradually rising into mountainous region. Train reported speeds up to 210 km/hour. Lady with cart going up aisle sold grapes, mangoes, longan and cucumber, not junk food. (China Railway train D3094-3095, Shanghai Hongqiao station to Hankou station) 20160315Luoshi Road north to Luoyu Road, Wuhan: Foggy early morning from 25th floor of hotel near university district in the Wuchang district, on the southeastern bank of the Yangtze River in Wuhan. Traffic noise and honking comes through the apartment windows. Wuchang has a population of 1.2 million, within the 10 million in the provincial capital of Wuhan. (Future City Hotel, Wuchang, Wuhan, China) 20150316Noodle shop near Future City, Wuchang: Simple lunch of wheat noodles, chilis and mock duck at local kitchen specializing in only that. Recommended by SN as a place she frequents, weekday midday not as busy as later, when there are lineups. I had a slight coughing fit as the chilis hit the back of my throat. (Noodle shop, Future City, Wuchang, Wuhan, China) 20150316Wanlin Art Museum: Modern “flying stone” building in sharp contrast to more traditional architecture on university campus. Large boulder nearby inscribed with recognition of donor of initial art collection, leading to opening of the new museum. Our stroll around the scenic university campus didn’t leave enough time to view the much-cited gardens. Terrain is hilly, so retreated to hotel for a short rest after walking for 2 hours. (Wanlin Art Museum, Wuhan University, Wuchang, Wuhan, China) 20160316Wuhan U of Technology, School of Art and Design: Long preamble to lecture, explaining career and why an ethnic Chinese professional doesn’t speak Mandarin. Graduate students now have a limited knowledge of the history of computing, and don’t know what a punch card ever was. Speaking on the shift from an industrial economy to a service economy, the issues in China seem similar to other leading industrial nations. Hosted by Susu Nousala, now in her second year of appointment. (Wuhan University of Technology, School of Art and Design, Hubei, China) 20160317Calligraphy studio, Wuhan U Tech: Informal tea led to exercise of writing my Chinese name in a variety of styles. In central China, Mandarin speakers seem more comfortable formally addressing me as Wu, rather than the anglicization of Ing derived from the Cantonese Ng. For future visits, I’ll need reactivate spoken Mandarin that i last studied in 1980. (Calligraphy studio, Wuhan University of Technology, Hubei, China) 20160317Calligraphy studio, Wuhan U Tech: Stylistic interpretation in Wuhan, of a sinicized name given by professor in Shanghai. The studio is a quiet oasis at the university, in a city where the disorder and noise of China can be exhausting. Susu has been developing Chinese brush painting technique, and plans to practice over the month that she’s resident. (Calligraphy studio, Wuhan University of Technology, Hubei, China) 20160317Hankou Railway Station: Ground travel day Wuchang to PVG. Student guided me to train station. Chose subway over taxi in rush hour, won’t next time as had to wait multiple full trains. Good to have translator to pick up rail tickets. Glad for reserved window seat, some rode standing room. At Hongqiao, ticket line short, annoyed that machine switched to coins only. Missed Line 2 change at Guanglan Road on first try, so backtracked. Da Zhong hotel at PVG said reservation cancelled at 6 pm, relented when I showed hold to 10 pm. (Hankou Railway Station, Wuhan, China) 20160318Air China First Class Lounge, PVG: Recliner sleeping pods at Pudong airport in Shanghai, in a secluded corner of the Air China Lounge. Checking in at 6:20 a.m. for an 8;20 a.m. flight after a full night’s sleep means the affordance unfortunately wasn’t useful this morning. Would have liked this feature later in the day in Tokyo. (Air China First Class Lounge, Pudong International Airport PVG, Shanghai, China) 20160319Sake bar: Samples of alcohol in Japan not an attraction. Six hour layover have opportunity to clear up email unavailable when in China. (ANA Lounge, International, Haneda Airport) 20160319YYZ International Arrivals: : Landed in Eastern Time in Saturday daylight, having started on subway 22 hours ago in China time. Expect to be back in this airport terminal in 14 hours, for short hop in the same time zone. Cooler here than my Asian destinations, still feels like spring. (Toronto Pearson Airport Terminal 1 international arrivals) 20160319Torpedo Factory Art Center: Mobiles of wooden geese flying in chaos, viewed from third floor hanging in stairwell down into second floor. The complex of working artists studios in a former munitions factory had great variety, for a cold rainy day on the west bank of the Potomac River. (Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, Virginia) 20160320National Academy of Sciences: Robert Berks (1979) Albert Einstein Memorial commemorates a prior member of the National Academy of Sciences. Popular landmark now made more visible on social media with encouragement of hashtag. Visitors to this city complaining about cold snap, unfriendly to the cherry blossoms which had started in preceding days of warmth. (Albert Einstein Memorial, National Academy of Sciences, Constitution Avenue, Washington, DC) 20160321National Academy of Sciences: Winding down #tsummit2016 on second day. Auditorium has diamond-shaped projections arranged asking cyclic-shaped curves, for great acoustics. Full program had attendees running between breakout rooms on a rigourously enforced schedule. (National Academy of Sciences Auditorium, Washington, DC) 20160323Ben’s Chili Bowl DCA: Strolled back from Terminal A check-in to B to try out local smoked sausage with chili. Tried to improve health of selection by ordering rice bowl with sausage, but server wouldn’t accept the order. Will have to compensate with extra veggies later at dinner. Enjoying counter service.(Ben’s Chili Bowl, Reagan National Airport Terminal B, Washington DC) 20160323St. Lawrence Market South: Dried pussy willows and root vegetables authentic for late winter farmer’s market; fresh produce could only be greenhouse or imported. Saturday market features artisanal butchers, local baked goods, specialty pickles. South building temporary as north building is still under renovation. Mid-afternoon in main building considerably busier, with many visitors eating al fresco rather than taking ingredients home. (St. Lawrence Market, South Building, Toronto, Ontario) 20160326Ashbridges Bay: Sailboats still covered for winter, as spring tries to emerge on cool Easter Sunday. Lots of pedestrians and bicyclists in the park, winter fences on the beaches still up. Eastbound pedalling into headwind, warmed up on way back, peeled off winter gear. (Ashbridges Bay, Toronto, Ontario) 20160527
BrightLane: Daylight @DrupalTO meetup seems to have not been the pattern for this venue. Getting an update on D8, haven’t attended since the days of D6. Architectural changes mean front end frameworks like Angular, Ember and React are now at play. (BrightLane, King Street West, Toronto. Ontario) 20160328
Two years after submitting an academic manuscript and responding to double-blind reviews, “Rethinking work, with the pandemic disruption” has now been published in the International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior (IJOTB) as earlycite. The article has a DOI (Document Object Identifier), and should be streamed with an official volume and issue number soon. The […]
The 128th meeting of Systems Thinking Ontario was convened in person. The classroom was filled with current students, alumni, our regular participants, and a few curious newcomers. Moderated by Zaid Khan, the conversation was sparked by Stephen Davies and myself (David Ing) on the evolving styles in learning systems thinking. Stephen has been leading SFIN-6011 […]
The “Understanding Systems” SFIN-6011 course is a requirement in the master’s program in Strategic Foresight and Innovation at OCADU. For winter 2025, the class is now led by Stephen Davies, breaking the incremental evolving of content since 2008. While still on faculty at OCADU, the original course designer Peter H. Jones is now a Distinguished […]
In the 1970s, five ways of knowing were established by C. West Churchman in The Design of Inquiring Systtems. In the 1990s, his student Ian Mitroff carried on the tradition and extended that work in The Unbounded Mind. Now in the 2020s, the technology of Generative AI opens up opportunties to query or request responses […]
For readers with an interest deeper than the 15-minute presentation given in August, the Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Socio-Technical Perspectives in Information Systems (STPIS 2024) have now been formally publishied. The invited paper on “Reifying Socio-Technical and Socio-Ecological Perspectives for Systems Changes: From rearranging objects to repacing rhythms” was reviewed by the […]
The 125th meeting of Systems Thinking Ontario coincided with the closing day for the RSD13-RSDX online program. As a regular systems convening group, we’ve had monthly meetings since January 2013. Zaid Khan moderated a discussion including me (David Ing), Tim Lloyd, Allenna Leonard, and Kelly Okamura. We recollected starting as a spinoff from Design with […]
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 ›
In 2024, WordPress Studio was released, making installation on a local computer simpler. The instructions were modified from MacOS to Ubuntu Linux, by Daniel Kossmann, “How to install WordPress Studio in Ubuntu Linux” | Jun 15, 2024 at https://www.danielkossmann.com/how-to-install-wordpress-studio-ubuntu-linux/ I already had NVM installed, but in Terminal, with the result “command not found”. In the […]
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 […]
