Summer in the city with temperate weather, without the usual crowd scenes for summer festivals.
Toronto, Ontario
Queen’s Park: If Queen Victoria (reign 1837-1901) looked over her shoulder, she would see J. Sandfield Macdonald (first premier of Ontario, 1867-1864). Government offices are closed on the public holiday, visitors can enjoy the green space on bright summer day. City has started to open up from pandemic shutdown, optimistic for more social time. (Queen’s Park, Wellesley Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20210701Leslie Grove Park: Tai chi group would seem to convene at 10 a.m. in this east end green space. Those presuming the Chinese commmunity centered on the west side around Spadina Avenue may not have appreciated residential property was more affordable on the east side, even in the 1970s and 1980s. Outdoor ping pong table was in use, slightly to the south. (Leslie Grove Park, Queen Street East at Jones Avenue, Leslieville, Toronto, Ontario) 20210702FedEx Ship Centre: In the Port Lands district, dropping off laptop computer return, with job change. Original Thinkpad carton fits exactly in the large shipping box, must be more than a coincidence. Distribution centre has tall grasses indigenous to the Toronto Harbour marshes, better than a lawn. (FedEx Ship Centre, Commissioners Street, Port Lands, Torotno, Ontario) 20200706Toronto-Dominion Centre: During the heat warning, the shadow on #JoFafard (1985) The Pasture cools the seven bronze cows on the lawn. The installation was originally south of Wellingston Street, when I worked in that tower in the late 1980s. Looking between the TD North Tower and E&Y Tower in the Mies style, in the distance, are the Commerce Court South Tower by I.M. Pei and Scotia Plaza modern tower with parallelogram floorplan by WZMH Architects. (Toronto-Dominion Centre, Wellington Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20210706The Bentway: Roller skaters on southern branch of loop, through cross-court installation #EsmaaMohamoud (2021) Double Dribble, past basketball nets oversized and undersized, at impossibly high and child heights. Without rules to guide participants, play is negotiated interactively at this underpass under the Gardiner Expressway West. Varying levels of proficiency on wheels suggests that most have rented equipment from the pop-up store, rather than bringing their own. (The Bentway, Fort York Boulevard, Toronto, Ontario) 20210710Charles Sauriol Parkette: Modest green space with benches facing west, with only dense forestry as the scenic view. Just beyond the trees is the sharp drop to Pottery Road. History says the old Pottery Road roadbed used to end here, but the south end was moved a few hundred meters south (by the Dairy Queen) in the 1960s, to reduce the gradient for automobiles. New landscaping and seating area renewed this patch of land in 2015. (Charles Sauriol Parkette, Hillside Drive at Broadview Avenue, Toronto, Onrtario) 20210715Craven Road at Gerrard Street East: Travelling eastbound through Little India, bright splash of colour reveals itself down the side street. With Leslieville School of Dance and Music now occupying the space, the solid beige was boring, and a potential target for tagging. Along the main street, restaurants and cafes have extended over the sidewalk onto the curbside lane. (Craven Road at Gerrard Street East, Little india, Toronto, Ontario) 20210717Bellair Street: Public space has been reallocated into curbside patio, with the restaurants taking over the whole street. The brick lane only runs two short blocks, and can easily be circumnavigated by cars on a slow one-way loop. Businesses were active with customers, but not like the usual summer festival seasons for the city. (Bellair Street, Yorkville, Toronto, Ontario) 20210718Hong Shing: Family dinner at restaurant in Toronto Old Chinatown, updated by a second generation owner. Cantonese cuisine with northern options featuring numbing Sichuan peppers, background house music might be better appreciated by late night crowd. Guests visting in city swap with son #3, they’re in Vancouver liviing in Eastern Time. (Hong Shing, Dundas Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20210721Crothers Woods: Long stroll with @redesign from Broadview Avenue down through Todmorden MIlls, around Cottonwood Flats. Is this an old CP Rail line towards Belleville? We encountered two acquaintances and said hello, dispersed social interactions still under pandemic distancing. (Crothers Woods, Broadview North, Toronto, Ontario) 20210722
Lisgar Park: Sculptural playground climber of logs may be better than artificial materials, planned as a safe place for toddlers. In the plaza beyond, trees sparsely ring the open space, yet it seems unlikely that children would attempt ascending. Park is a former 1900s warehouse site, constructed between 2014-2016, with the rise of apartments in the district. (Lisgar Park, Abell Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20210723
Madison Heights, Michigan; Benton Harbor, Michigan; Mount Pleasant, Iowa; Salina, Iowa; Iowa City, Iowa; Rock Island, Illinois; Windsor, Ontario; Scarborough, Ontario; Toronto, Ontario
Madison Heights, Michigan; Benton Harbor, Michigan; Mount Pleasant, Iowa; Salina, Iowa; Iowa City, Iowa; Rock Island, Illinois; Windsor, Ontario; Scarborough, Ontario; Toronto, Ontario
168 Asian Mart: Michigan evening for Chinese groceries before driving to Iowa in the morning. Korean-style rice grown in the U.S. is something we don’t see back home. The vegetables and sauces are much the same as everywhere. (168 Asian Mart, John R Road, Madison Heights, Michigan) 20160502Asian Grille Buffet: Changing pattern from Midwest Chinese restaurants to buffets, driving westbound across Michigan towards Iowa. On last trip westbound, found price at buffet same or lower than custom orders for lunch. Trading off on driving, expecting food coma. (Asian Grill Buffet, Benton Harbor, Michigan) 20160503Jefferson Street, Mount Pleasant, Iowa: Quiet Tuesday evening in town with population less than 9000 in Iowa. Over dinner in local Chinese restaurant, discussed conveniences not available, e.g. no taxis, so farmers drive tractors if a car isn’t available. Drove through campus of Iowa Wesleyan University, less than 600 students on 60 acres. (Jefferson Street, Mount Pleasant, Iowa) 20160504Salina, Iowa: Family dog watching out picture window onto rolling landscape of fields and roads in farm country. Temperature has swung from winter to summer within 3 days, rush to planting will be underway with forecasts for clear weather. (Salina, Iowa) 20160405Salina, Iowa: Warm and dry May day scheduled for planting on the farm. We went to the field to learn about agriculture in practice. Terrain was rolling hills, so the six row planter was steered according to the way water will flow on the ground. Moving around a little dirt surfaced a green bean buried under a little soil. We’re just tourists from the city. (Salina, Iowa) 20160506
Six row planter in Iowa: Learned about how soybeans are put into the ground with a John Deere six row planter. Smaller tractors can follow the contour of the landscape, whereas the larger 30-row planters would have problems turning around. This machinery is less computerized, relying on the experience of the farmer to a greater degree. (Salina, Iowa) 20160506
Towards a general theory of living systems, we should be looking beyond the singletons of a hierarchical level, i.e. (i) cell, (ii) organ, (iii) organism, (iv) group, (v) organization, (vi) community, (vii) society, and (viii) supranational level. In a scientific approach, James Grier Miller created a list of hypotheses. In the 1100+ page book, the […]
When exploring the meaning of Living Systems, it’s pretty hard to ignore the major works of James Grier Miller (1916–2002) with a book thus titled. In addition to the 1978 book Living Systems (of 1168 pages!) some additions were published in 1992 in Behavioral Science, the Journal of the Society for General Systems Research. Miller […]
For their community of systems practitioners, Systems and Complexity in Organisation (SCiO) UK invited a presentation at their Virtual Open Meeting in July. Presenting in a 45-minute slot, the slides at http://coevolving.com/commons/2022-07-11-doing-thinking-making-systems-changes were covered in 38 minutes, leaving time for a few questions and comments. The agenda mainly focused on “Doing”, with “Thinking” and “Making” […]
On the path towards a publication in 2023, this plenary talk for the International Society for the Systems Sciences 66th Annual Meeting came with a preamble. Slides were provided in advance at http://coevolving.com/commons/2022-07-08-appreciating-systems-changes, so that details might be later perused at leisure. Here is the agenda for the presentation: A. Rising interest in System(s) Change(s) […]
In which ways are systems changes different from changes? Extending the deep body of knowledge in the systems sciences, rhythmic shifts serve as a gateway for exploration. In a rigourous coevolving of inquiries into (i) doing (praxis), (ii) thinking (theoria), and (iii) making (theoria), a coherent systems approach is being recast and reified. An article […]
System thinking, starting from graduate studies, can be a continuing (if not lifelong) journey. In parallel to a professional career in strategic communications, Zaid Khan has the distinction having studyied systemic design in the OCADU SFI program (2016-2020), under the supervision of Peter Jones. He became a cofounder of the Systems Changes Learning Circle in […]
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 the history of science of systems thinking, Debora Hammond related the backgrounds and connections of the founder of the Society for General Systems Research, that is now the International Society for the Systems Sciences. Boulding (1956) plays a large role in framing two orientations towards “general systems theory”. Kenneth Boulding used to distinguish between […]
Geoffrey Vickers saw human systems as different, with moral character distinguishing from natural and manmade systems. Gregory Bateson, in a more general view of systems, saw morality as entering in systems processes.
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)
