Toronto, Ontario; Shanghai, PR China; Kalamazoo, Michigan
Pearson Airport T1: Between Gates E77 and E78, colorful glass cylinders enclosing light bulbs, suspended from overhead arches. Design by Norr Architects for OTG, a company operating high-end restaurants at the airport, including Hemant Bhagwani’s Marathi Indian. (Terminal 1, Pearson International Airport, Toronto, Ontario) 20170401Shanghai Pudong Airport: Whimsical rooster themed installation on middle of airport, lightens the spirit on the long walk from the airplane, through immigration, to the Maglev train. Impressed on short ride hitting 430 km/h peak, before slowing down at western terminus. (Pudong International Airport, Shanghai, PR China) 20170402Zhangwu Sichuan: Dinner for Qingming Tomb-Sweeping Day, since public holiday on a Monday still has most people off work. Chose Sichuan resto near Tongji University, left half of dishes filled with red peppers too spicy to eat. (Zhangwu Sichuan, Shanghai, PR China) 20170403People’s Park Pond: Father with small net skimming somethings from top of pond, and placing into small bucket for son. Game players involved in own activities in the background. Tuesday is still an extended Qingming weekend holiday, the park was popular with families. (People’s Park, Shanghai, P R China) 20170404Shanghai Gallery of Art: Yin Xiuzhen 2005 TVT-Rocket installation of three cloth towers, extends from third floor in light well up to 6th. Gallery is open to public, and closer to the Bund, but maybe the Whampoa Club upstairs enjoys less traffic. (Shanghai Gallery of Art, Three.on the Bund, Shanghai, P R China) 20170404Rockbund Art Museum: Song Dong 2017 Back Image, screen plus 50 benches. Extensive show covering long career over 6 floors. Well curated contemporary art venue, building walls show a sense of humour with dimensions marked everywhere. (Rockbund Art Museum, Huangpu Qu, Shanghai, P R China) 20170404
College of Design and Innovation, Tongji U.: Ph.D. seminar @snousala on Quantitative Methods. What is the difference between data, information, and knowledge? Describing the context before diving into big data tools. (College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, Shanghai, P R China) 20170405Tongji U: One of many bikeshare clusters on the sidewalk boulevards in Shanghai. Mobike orange, Ofo yellow and Xiaoming blue services don’t have dockng stations, it’s easy for a subscriber to scan a barcode with a mobile phone to unlock the clamp, ride away, and drop off near destination. High volume cheap bikes everywhere are a sharp contrast to the North American style of higher quality infrastructure spread further apart. (Tongji University, Shanghai, P R China) 20170406Jz Club: Thomas Stabenow presents Li Xiaochuan, world touring famous bassist lending legitimacy to local trumpeter. Went to wrong venue in the Former French Concession, had to take taxi to meet SN late. Jazz Club is truly underground, maze of tunnels opens up unexpectedly into courtyard. (Jz Club, Julu Road, Shanghai, P R China) 20170406Baker & Spice: Convenient intercept meeting in Former French Concession, with scholars coming from Canada/Finland, China/Finland and Netherlands/Canada. Multi-hour discussion in the relaxed corner of a bakery cafe, with a toddler racing circles on a tricycle. Will consult calendars for next face-to-face with extended colleagues. (Baker & Spice, Former French Concession, Shanghai, P R China) 20170407Buynow Xujiahui: Shopped for Lenovo Yoga Pad Android, tired of hoisting powerful ThinkPad X230T around. Lightweight pen-based device matches OS on mobile phone, screen larger and can sketch notes. New alternative to netbook, without Windows or Mac OS. Full experience of registering purchase with tax authorities. (Buynow, Xujiahui, Shanghai, P R China) 20170407Yangdian Taoist Temple: Upper and lower level rooms each house one or more deities representing a variety of qualities, ringing two large buildings in the courtyard centre. Gate fee gave me a bundle of joss sticks, I followed the cue of others to light them, bow four directions, and then stand the sticks up in an urn of ashes. Musicians playing, priests chanting, echoing through the large compound. (Royal Qinci Yangdian Taoist Temple, Pudong, Shanghai, P R China) 20170408
Royal Qinci Yangdian Taoist Temple:
Woman bowing 3 times in 4 directions with joss sticks that are then left to smoke in the brazier. Couple taking paper foil joss paper from a bag, for deposit into a cylindrical brazier. From a distance within the temple, wind and string musicians can be heard, while priests’ voices are unamplified. (Royal Qinci Yangdian Taoist Temple, Pudong, Shanghai, P R China) 20170408
Chinese herb pot: Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner prescribed extra large quantity of herbs, with diagnosis of bronchitis and fatigue from travel to Asia. Three bags, each to be decocted for 45 minutes for a first serving, and then with added water on a second day. Electric clay pot was originally bought by son #2, as a better alternative to simpler steel pot on stove. (Riverside district, Toronto, Ontario) 20170409Sugar Loaf Bakery: Pastries made on-premise available mid-morning, but breakfast sandwiches out, so friend had the last croissant warmed with ham and cheese. Good conversation in a quiet corner at the back, catching up on news missed over the last month. It seems as though I visit venues that are more distant, than the places just down the street. (Sugar Loaf Bakery, Queen Street East, Riverside district, Toronto, Ontario) 20170412Hua Sheng: Busy day in Spadina Chinatown, where Good Friday isn’t an observed holiday. Since local stores on the east side are mostly closed, biked cross town on a sunny day to pick up Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa cough syrup. Looking for some symptomatic relief at home. (Hua Sheng, Chinatown, Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20170414Distillery Loop: TTC driver enjoying clear weather, pausing streetcar before scheduled northbound departure. Southern terminus of the Cherry Street line is a flat wide open, usually unoccupied yet unavailable for other purposes. The 514 line started running along King Street in June 2016, complementing the 504 line that runs farther east, and then north. (Distillery Loop, Cherry Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20170415
Queen Street Dental Centre:
Watched 3-D printing of a dental crown made in 9 minutes in the neighbourhood office. Had chipped crown last installed in 2005. Dentist built up to original shape, and then use computer copy function. Onsite production saves cost of impression for temporary, and setting up room for second visit. Manufactory still expensive, maybe 5 to 7 year payback. (Queen Street Dental Centre, Queen Street East, Riverside district, Toronto, Ontario) 20170418
OCADU Richmond Campus: Full house at Systems Thinking Ontario, @DaveMallery explaining thermodynamics as a foundation for ecological economics. More of a challenge than I would inflict on a grad school class, this session was organized on request by the group while I was away. As I was skimming the prereadings, I came to appreciate how much systems theory I have internalized over 20 years. (OCADU, 205 Richmond Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20170419OCADU Richmond Campus: MuSIASEM briefing @uomo_macchina channelling @MarioGiampietro Kozo Mayumi method of accounting for analyzing socio-ecosystems, to simulate possible patterns of development. Presenting at Systems Thinking Ontario, guest visit from McGill University. Characterizing metabolic patterns of Socio-Ecological Systems. (OCADU, 205 Richmond Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20170419Sky Dragon Resto: Lowkong Society Spring Festival dinner, second course of BBQ meats being served. More casual than the fall festival, maybe a signal that winter is over. (Sky Dragon Restaurant, Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20170423Woodbine Beach: Mounds of earth signal that lagoon is man-made, and the beach is renewed each spring for warm weather recreation. Public park opened in the late 1970s was originally a marsh, with major dredging in the 1920s. (Woodbine Beach, Ashbridges Bay, Toronto, Ontario) 20170427
Shwarma King : Slight diversion for Middle Eastern buffet, surprised at homemade dishes in large variety. Oriental cuisine a welcomed change from Asian cooking, fits our family demands for dairy-frer, gluten-free lunch. Resto seems family-operated, shows that food fast didn’t have to be fast food. (Shwarma King Buffet, Kalamazoo, Michigan) 20170430
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 […]
