Moments, September 2015: Toronto, Ontario; Trudeau Airport, Montreal; Brussels, Belgium; Antwerp, Belgium; Bruges, Belgium; Stockholm Arlanda; Vantaa, Finland
Toronto, Ontario; Trudeau Airport, Montreal; Brussels, Belgium; Antwerp, Belgium; Bruges, Belgium; Stockholm Arlanda; Vantaa, Finland
AGO, Before and After the Horizon: Bonnie Devine, 2014-2015 “Battle for the Woodlands”, part of the Anishinaabe Artists of the Great Lakes exhibition. Reproduction of pre-Confederation (1867) map of Canada. New sculptural element 2015 “Anishinaabitude” in foreground. (Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto) 20150902Late 30th anniversary portrait: With AHI visiting in town for the holiday weekend, DY requested an official family picture with everyone together, wearing matching ties. Occasions for all of our sons to be at home at the same time are getting rarer. (Don River at Lakeshore Blvd., Toronto) 20150906Yonge-Dundas Square: Labour Day early evening, no formal events, but buskers draw their own audience. Crowds dissipated a few minutes later, with another performer announcing the next show. Stores mostly closed, many restaurants dark in celebration of labour. (Yonge-Dundas Square, Toronto) 20150907Don Landing: Bike path route though underpass gives credit to PanAm Games funding. Event was last month, maybe the signs will come down when the Athlete’s Village becomes a residential district. Short cut from Lakeshore Blvd around Corktown Commons towards Front Street still underdeveloped. (West Don Lands, Toronto) 20150909Greek hot table: Old style casual dining has moved north up Pape Avenue. Cooks on open kitchen behind warming trays including specials of the day, in continual Greek conversation. Sunday lunch away from the crowds, and so much food that we took half of it home. Must be a neighbourhood institution, as guests are asked whether they’ll be dining in our taking out. (The Greek Grill, East York, Toronto) 20150913Sacks of rice: In awe of varieties of basmati rice and flour at Iqbal Foods. Definitely a South Asian superstore, did find patna but not milagrosa/jasmine that appeals to East Asians. Butcher counter had large supply of lamb, so a potential alternative source to Greektown on the Danforth. Unfamiliar foods and brands may call for a serious adventure shopping trip. Store has long hours. (Iqbal Foods, Thorncliffe Park, Toronto) 20150914
Frankfurt, Germany; Hameenlinna, Finland; Takajarvi, Finland; Espoo, Finland; Vantaa, Finland; Vienna, Austria; Linz, Austria; Hull, UK; Chicago, IL; Evanston, IL; Las Vegas, NV.
Air Canada FRA. Boeing 777 arrived at Terminal B at Frankfurt, on a cloudy day. Flight delay at outset meant 3 hour connection became a 1 hour connection. Changing to Terminal A and then Gate 36 at the far end was a really long walk to Helsinki leg (20120407 0840) Frankfurt, GermanyIce and drainspouts, Hameenlinna. Field work more as art than science, as @minlii emerges a theme in thawing temperatures. Curated as a collage on Facebook photos (Hameenlinna, Finland) 20120408 1340Takajarvi docks well. Unexpected Easter snow after thaw. Docks still stacked up for the winter. Too early to prime the well head in the forest. Cottage will be more welcoming when the temperature rises. (Takajarvi, Finland) 20100409
TUAS party. Spring break for Aalto U. engineering students, jousting at party in Tuas house parking lot. Hot tub in background, naked engineers but no females participating. Sunny day, temperature above freezing isn’t like Daytona Beach. (Espoo, Finland) 20120410 1635Vantaa Design Gallery. An invitation to enjoy Finnish design at Helsinki Vantaa Airport leads to an installation of chairs designed by Finns, with biographies on display. Directions to “wear hearing protectors” a typically playful Finnish style, enabling greater enjoyment of design in “seizing the moment” (Vantaa) 20120411 1309Mariahilfer Vienna. Airline waylaid luggage, got suggestion to shop along Mariahilfer, outside the ring road. Found C&A. Browsing underwear led mindset shift, as American white briefs nowhere to be seen, nearest alternative in color with no fly. Luggage fortunately delivered later in the evening. so prior conception of foundation clothes can remain undisturbed (Vienna, Austria) 20120412 1901ArsElectronica BitFlow. Installation by Julius Popp, associated with myth of Ariadne’s thread in which chaos is vanquished by order. First exhibited in 2008, now at @ArsElectronica. (Linz, Austria) 20120418 1448ArsElectronica FabLab. 3D stylus, screen and visors still requires talent, to design to make in Fab Lab at Ars Electronica. Polygons have to be closed so that 3D printers will work. (Linz, Austria) 20120417 1604Mountains behind Salzburg. Approaching Salzburg from the east on the train, the mountains are impressive. Brief stop on the Railjet from Linz to Munich (Austria) 20120419 1058Blossoms UHull. Pink blossoms having a tough time flourishing in early British springtime, by the U. of Hull. More warmth and sunshine might help. (Hull, UK) 20120420 1251Ferens Gallery Upstairs. Second floor of the Ferens Art Gallery recently renovated, opens up with beautiful skylight. With @jmwilby, enjoyed the Precious Cargo exhibition of contemporary works by local artists more than the pre-21st century works in most of the galleries. (Hull, UK) 20120421 1307UIC view east. John Hancock tower in background behind Lecture Centre, on plaza outside Richard J. Daley Library. Beautiful spring day could make one forget that winters on the west coast of Lake Michigan can be bitter. Visited Annalenna for lunch (Chicago) 20120427 1241Kellogg Reunion 2012. Under tent on Deering Meadow, Kellogg School Class of 1982 convening as 30th year alumni. Noisy, with deejay calling people to make more noise encouraged us to decamp to private party earlier (Evanston, IL) 20120427 1722McCarran Airport gates, Immediately on arrival as Las Vegas Airport, there are slot machines nearby. Casinos don’t like cameras on their floors, but the attendants at the airport don’t seem to care (Las Vegas, NV) 20120429 1136SandsExpo breakfast. Feeding 8500 #ibmimpact attendees for breakfast in Las Vegas presents an industrial scale challenge. There’s disglamour in the Sands Expo self-service buffet and tables on the concrete floor. The style follows fast food protocols, unlike lunches served in ballrooms with carpets, and dinners hosted in onsite hotel restaurants. Maybe late Vegas evenings encourage rudimentary service early in the day. (Las Vegas, NV) 20120430 0759
Treasure Island Sirens. Almost trampled by Asian women tourists recoiling from the heat in performance of Sirens of Treasure Island on humid Las Vegas evening. Performers might have been more emotive if they weren’t lipsynching, and actually sang, instead. (Las Vegas, NV) 20120430 2032
For the November 2023 Systems Thinking Ontario session, historian and policy advisor Dr. Michael Bonner was invited for an interview by Zaid Khan. In organizing the sessions, we’re trying to avoid the trap of systems thinking becoming a discipline, through learning with a sweeping-in process. The session opened on a map of The Sassanid Empire […]
It the systems sciences are an open system, then learning more and more about systems of interest are foundational. This was called a sweep-in process by C. West Churchman, in the heritage of Edgar A. Singer. Jr. A concise definition is found in the entry on “Experimentalism” in the International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics: […]
For the Relating Systems and Design RSD12 symposium on October 14, 2023, members of the Explainers subgroup of the Systems Changes Learning Circle conducted an in-person workshop on “Explaining Systems Changes Learning: Metaphors and translations” at OCADU in Toronto. RSD12 included both in-person sessions and online sessions. In the planning phase for the symposium, our […]
Judith Rosen agreed to give an online presentation for the Systems Thinking Ontario meeting in October 2023, after we converted her in-person meeting at OCADU in August into a discussion circle. Channelling the anticipatory systems approach of her father, mathematical biologist Robert Rosen, Judith has been extended those ideas in her own continuing observation of […]
An article related to the ISSS plenary talk of July 2022 has now passed the peer review process, and is published in early view for Systems Research and Behavioral Science. It should shortly be printed in the November issue of SRBS that serves as the General Systems Yearbook. Update on Nov. 22, 2023: A full-text, […]
In a return to original Systems Thinking Ontario format, we reviewed an (old) systems thinking paper from 1998. Mohammed Badrah served as reviewer. Kelly Okamura was the discussant. The author, David Hawk, was available during the discussion period for extended knowledge. As compared to prior Systems Thinking Ontario sessions with the word “entropy” in the […]
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 ›
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 ›
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 […]
In a recording of the debate between Michael Quinn Patton and Michael C. Jackson on “Systems Concepts in Evaluation”, Patton referenced four concepts published in the “Principles for effective use of systems thinking in evaluation” (2018) by the Systems in Evaluation Topical Interest Group (SETIG) of the American Evaluation Society. The four concepts are: (i) […]
How might the quality of an action research initiative be evaluated? — begin paste — We have linked our five validity criteria (outcome, process, democratic, catalytic, and dialogic) to the goals of action research. Most traditions of action research agree on the following goals: (a) the generation of new knowledge, (b) the achievement of action-oriented […]
After 90 minutes on phone and online chat with WesternUnion, the existence of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland is denied, so I can’t send money from Canada. TicinoTurismo should be unhappy. The IT developers at Western Union should be dissatisfied that customer support agents aren’t sending them legitimate bug reports I initially tried the […]
