Tried to have a normal month, with a busy social calendar of birthdays, a funeral plus Christmas season, while daily temperatures hovered just above freezing.
Toronto, Ontario; Hamilton, Ontario; Pickering, Ontario
Hudson’s Bay Queen Street: Shopping, not for Christmas, but seasonally-decorated windows displays still draw crowds. Paused to see the rabbit’s head in a good position; it’s animated. I remember similar displays back into the 1970s, when this location was the Simpson’s Department Store. Americanization is more present with FAO Schwartz signs drawing attention to the second-floor pop-up. (Hudson’s Bay, Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20181201Sake Sushi: Family lunch in celebration of DY’s birthday, a series of servings of all-you-can-eat sushi ordered over the iPad menu. Salmon nigiri was exceptionally fresh. First fish for me in 9 months, since I negotiated with the dietitian to occasionally relax the strictly vegan options. (Sake Sushi, Highway 7, Vaughan, Ontario) 20181202 McMichael Canadian Art Collection: #AJCasson (1965) Little Island, by the youngest of the #GroupOfSeven painters. Featured by @mcacgallery exhibition in The Art of Canada: Directors Cut, tour guide mentioned that only #LawrenHarris and Casson were commercial designers in the Group of Seven, with the others full-time painter artists. Family enjoyed the works, and the walk around the grounds. Somehow, our sons had not known this venue, donated to the Province of Ontario in 1966. (McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Islington Avenue, Kleinberg, Ontario) 20181202CSI Spadina: Systems Thinking peer circle #ClimateVentures @csiTO trying examples on @Andy_Boynton #BartVictor @JoePine. Product-Process Change Matrix with (i) Invention and Mass Production where demand > supply; (ii) Continuous Improvement and Mass Customization where supply > demand. These entrepreneurs found these explained a lot of the challenges they’re experiencing. (Climate Ventures, Centre for Social Innovation, Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20181203KDMI-Semaphore: Critical making @mattratto@kmdi@UofTInfoFaculty emphasizes reflection in producing material objects. Has the difference between critique and its object reduced, asks Horkheimer? Can human beings be brought back into design? (KMDI-Semaphore, Bissell Building, University of Toronto) 20181206 Mike Hansen Studio: Exhibition of The Remix Series by @mhansen823 Mike Hansen, visualizing sound in a synaesthetic approach, translating specific pieces of music into abstract painting. Converted building is notorious as bunkered house from the 1990s for Satan’s Choice Motorcycle Club, through to 2010 for Hell’s Angels. Bright lights for the show makes visitors forget the windows are bricked over in history. (Mike Hansen Studio, Lottridge Street, Industrial Sector C, Hamilton, Ontario) 20181209 Munk School: Trends and outlooks for Asian countries @Bartapest@ADB_America@munkschool. Asian countries have to deal with the most climatic tragedies in the world, e.g. typhoons. Rapid urbanization, as well as poverty in rural areas. Population is getting old before they’re getting rich. To fill labour gaps countries could open more doors to migrants. (Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Devonshire Place, University of Toronto) 20181210Distillery District: Crowds @TOXmasMkt Wednesday night 8:30pm @DistilleryTO. Lineups at poutine shack, couples taking selfies. Many young adults, a few children at attractions. Not shopping, just cycling through. (Distillery District, Mill Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20181212 CSI Annex: Holiday smackdown @csiTO with panel judging the best in a wide variety of cookie styles. Lively crowd, with volume of chatter rising to crescendo with the cocktail competition. Met other members coming from across the three CSI offices across the city. (CSI Annex, Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20181213Asian Legend Dundas: Casual seasonal dinner for #DesignWithDialogue #SystemsThinkingOntario #UnifyToronto core organizing group, with regrets from those escaping the shortening winter days. More formal meeting will be held in January, yet some cross-group direction has been navigated. (Asian Legend, Dundas Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20181214Grand Lake Cuisine: Dinner with family flying in all over North America, as a celebration for one who is no longer with us. Younger generation continuing ties, despite the distance. (Grand Lake Chinese Cuisine, Kennedy Road, Markham, Ontario) 20181219 Grand Lake Cuisine: Dinner of elders, on evening before final celebration of one not with us. Having family together in times of change, even briefly, interrupts our lives to remember what is important. (Grand Lake Chinese Cuisine, Kennedy Road, Markham, Ontario) 20181219Mythology Diner: Family lunch early for both my birthday and for Christmas, because sons will be on a plane tomorrow to spend holidays with my sister’s family. Vegan cross-sampling across Filet O’Fish; Philly; Reubenator; Bacon Double Cheeseburger; Caesar Salad; Cream of Spinach Soup; Poutine; Shakes in Peppermint ChocoChip, Lemoney Meringue, Strawberry; Sweet Tart Pie. Dietary indulgence led to food coma for all. (Mythology Diner, Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20181222 Olga Korper Gallery: Family playing with steel letterforms of #RustGarden by @DonovanSiegel@OlgaKorper. Search for specific letters amongst the 700,000+ to form words on the bench isn’t as quick as one might initially think. (Olga Korper Gallery, Morrow Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20181222Chinese Heritage Society of Canada: Welcomed into study group by I Ching master Benfeng Zhu. Lessons are practically held in Mandarin Chinese, so aided by bilingual learners to appreciate throwing of coins, sketching hexagrams, and interpreting changes. My reading of multiple books translated into English, plus smartphone apps, have gotten me beyond beginner’s level. Deeper insight into the underlying five elements theory, and its relation to lunar calendar, will require more scholarly inquiry. The group clubhouse, active for one year, overlooks a pedestrian bridge over a small stream feeding into Petticoat Creek. (Chinese Heritage Society of Canada, Kingston Road, Pickering, Ontario) 20181224Allen Gardens: Turtle climbing on the back of another for a better view, by the waterwheel. Municipal greenhouse is true to posted schedule of opening 365 days each year. Couples day, preceded by lunch out, followed by movie. (Allen Gardens, Gerrard Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20181225 Toronto Eaton Centre: Busy crowds on Boxing Day in Canada’s most popular tourist destination. Looking at warm gloves, even half-price seemed too rich for my current lifestyle. While I often pass by intersection to this shopping mall, I now recall that I haven’t been inside or bought anything in many years. (CF Toronto Eaton Centre, Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20181226 Toronto Reference Library: Sometimes the Dewey Decimal System works better than web search on the Internet. Exploring wu xing (five elements or five agents) theory, on second floor in Chinese philosophy, then third floor in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Successfully found The Philosophical Foundations of Classical Chinese Medicine, 2017 by Keekok Lee from Manchester University. (Toronto Reference Library, Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20181228
Nathan Phillips Square: Rink is cleared of skaters for 13 minutes, open for midday resurfacing with the Zamboni. Obedient crowds left the ice within a minute of guards blowing whistles and an announcement over the loudspeaker. Expect an even larger mob approaching midnight, as entertainers on the stage counts down to the new year. (Nathan Phillips Square, Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20181231
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
