Toronto, Ontario (all images within bicycling distance of home)
Craigleigh Gardens: West gate into city park donated by benefactor in 1926 A.D. Bicycling around residential streets of Rosedale is a good way to see huge houses at a reasonable speed. Many curved roads and ravines of Park Drive and Rosedale Valley confused me on the way to the Evergreen Brickworks. (Craigleith Gardens, South Drive, Rosedale, Toronto, Ontario) 20160903Art Gallery of Ontario: The reality of the north @AGOToronto is Lawren Harris is part of The Group of Seven collection, so lining up for The Idea of North special exhibition repatriated from California has some irony. Outside the roped-off area, some of the larger canvases include Mount Robson from the South-East (1929); Mountain Sketch LXV (1929); Mount Lefroy (1929); and Brazeau Snowfield, Jasper Park (1924). (Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario) 20160907
Art Gallery of Ontario:
Visitors freely participating @AGOToronto “How to Build a House Museum” installation. Large screen video of “House Heads Liberation Training”, with disco-ball-like “Houseberg” inside the “Progress Palace”. Immersive work by American artist Theaster Gates fills the 5th floor of the building. (Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario) 20160907
Prairie Drive Park: Music @LidoPimienta @bike_music_fest #artsintheparksTO, free voice with beats and minimal sequences. Electronics powered by team of cyclists on mobile generators under the next tent. (Prairie Drive Park, Oakridge neighbourhood, Toronto, Ontario) 20160919
Prairie Drive Park: Singing a capella into the wind @LidoPimienta @bike_music_fest #artsintheparksTO. Bicyclists scattered on inclined lawn, most having ridden the PanAm Trail north from the Evergreen Brickworks. City streets were more direct for me. (Prairie Drive Park)
Prairie Drive Park: Crew generating electricity @bike_music_fest #artsintheparksTO to power amplifiers and electric instruments. Casual afternoon entertainment for a Saturday afternoon. (Prairie Drive Park, Oakridge neighbourhood, Toronto, Ontario) 20160919
Prairie Drive Park: B-boys @bike_music_fest #artsintheparksTO breaking tie of 6 points each. Surprised to see a head spin on the concrete surface. Deejay music powered by a single cyclist putting energy into a portable battery (Prairie Drive Park, Oakridge neighbourhood, Toronto, Ontario) 20160919
Sky Dragon Resto: Invited friends for Harvest Moon Festival dinner with the family at the Lowkong Society. Bigger turnout than last year, people understanding English now outnumber the people speaking Toisanese. (Sky Dragon Chinese Restaurant, Chinatown, Dundas Street East at Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20160911
Keating Channel: Barge with crane berthed along the manmade waterway connecting the Don River to the Toronto Harbour, in the Portlands. Elevated Gardiner Expressway just across the short expanse. Quiet at PortsToronto office in early evening. (62 Villiers Street, Portlands, Toronto, Ontario) 20160912
Keating Channel: The Iron Guppy, custom built single screw ice-breaking tugboat built in 2016, berthed in the Keating Channel. PortsToronto office is quiet in early evening, sun is setting earlier with fall coming. (62 Villiers Street, Portlands, Toronto, Ontario) 20160912
Lower Don Trail: Bike path afternoon rush hour eastbound beside Lakeshore Blvd. E. and ramp up to East Gardiner Extension. Remarkable for stream of cyclists moving at a quick pace, in packs after crossing the traffic lights at Don Roadway. Paved path the result of demolished elevation in 2001. (Lower Don Trail, Lakeshore Boulevard East, Riverside neighbourhood, Toronto. Ontario) 20160913St. Andrew’s Club: 16th floor view southwest from King Street West and University Avenue, skyscraper at 315 Front Street West obscures CN Tower. Reflection of indoor light in window explains white spot in sky, it’s not a UFO. (St. Andrew’s Club, 150 King Street East, Financial District, Toronto, Ontario) 20160915Mountain Equipment Co-op: Discovered most bike lights @Mec_Toronto now changed to USB internal recharging. Selected MEC Quattro white LED light. Replacing old Planet Bike unit with dead bulbs, could have been at least 5 years old. Have to prepare for shorter days. (Mountain Equipment Co-op, King Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20160919Rainbow Cinema Market Square: Foyer mural by Fred Harrison inside cinema depicts the hustle of the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood. Enjoyed Snowden movie, an appreciation of the character in the intelligence community. Venue now officially called Imagine Cinema, facades outside yet unchanged. (Imagine Cinema Market Square, St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood, Toronto, Ontario) 20160920Riverside Bridge: Southbound rush hour traffic on Don Valley Parkway diverted for police investigation. Across the street, yellow tape and cop cars suggest someone went over the side of one of the lower bridges over a major thoroughfare. On that side, northbound vehicles practically stopped on three lanes. (Riverside Bridge, Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20160922Victoria College: Has the newel post at the foot of the stairs at Old Vic always been that color? “St. Lawrence Foundry Co. Toronto” cast into post, dates maker 1856 to 1900 on Front Street, when the firm became acquired by Canadian General Electric. Victoria College building architected by W.G. Storm was completed in 1895. Visited building today for annual college used book sale. (Victoria College, University of Toronto, Ontario) 20160924L’Amoureaux Park: Dusk on bike path entrance southwest of McNicoll Ave. and Kennedy Road, along hydro tower right-of-ways. Scarborough has large parks. Biking to TTC Line 2 to Line 3, then biking to my father’s apartment took a lot longer than I recalled, and the fast traffic encourages riding on sidewalks devoid of pedestrians. Driving may be a better alternative. (L’Amoureaux Park, Scarborough, Ontario) 20160927
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 […]
