Sightseeing one day in Vilnius, then variable weather in spring in Toronto.
Vilnius, Lithuania; Toronto, Ontario
Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania: View from second floor down into archeological artifacts and original walls dating back to the 1400s, destroyed the Russian invasions in the 1650s. In the 2000s, the palace was reconstructed as part of nation-building after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. During the Grand Duchy periods 1500s-1600s, the palace was favoured not only by the Dukes of Lithuania whom maintained political distinctiveness, but also the King of Poland who established a commonwealth through the marriage of royalty. (Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, Vilnius) 20230401
Bridge of Uzupis: Entering the Republic of Užupis on International Liars Day, border agents stamped our passports as we crossed the Vilnia River into the bohemian art district The theme for the 25th anniversary of the self-proclaimed republic is a protecting and nurturing angel, whose trumpet proclaims fellowship and faith in openness. We found the wall with the English version of the Užupis Constitution that encourages tolerance in Lithuania, including Man has the right to make mistakes. (Bridge of Užupis. Vilnius, Lithuania) 20230401
Uzupio Meno Inkubatorius: Opening day for #IrmaLescinskaite personal exhibition Painting (Tapyba) at #UžupioMenoInkubatorius. Entering the building with windows covered for a dark space, the canvas frames were not affixed to the walls, but suspended with straps tethered from the ceiling, and illuminated with spotlights. Instead of walking up to the artwork, walking around the abstract splashes of colour adds dimensionality to the experience. (Užupio Meno Inkubatorius, Vilnius, Lithuania) 20230401
Gediminas Castle Tower: On a rainy Sunday morning, started the ascent from the east side near the river, up a steep cobblestone path, joining to a set of wooden stairs where we paused to catch our breaths. The first brick castle was built in 1409, and as a symbol for the city, collapse and was rebuilt many times over 700 years. The three-storey tower, as it now stands, was re-architected in 1933 guided by archeological reearch. (Gediminas Castle Tower, Vilnius, Lithuania) 20230402
Cathedral Square, Vilnius: Sunday market on a rainy second day of a connection visit, hat still wet from yesterday. Approached from Gedimino Prospektas, on the way to Vilnius Cathedral. Not in a shopping mood. (Cathedral Square, Vilnius, Lithuania) 20230402
Gerrard – Ashdale: Live Qawwali led by @SufiShahidKhan in early evening @GerrardIndiaBaz Ramadan Kareem. Learning about another heritage culture, within bicycling distance on the east side of town. Observed local politicians posing for publicity photos. (Gerrard – Ashdale, Little India, Toronto, Ontario) 20220419
Lower Don River Trail: Bicycling east through the Bala Underpass has southbound path marked as closed to December 2023. Construction machines on top of raised earth downstream foreshadows future Don River Park, wrapped around rail yards and the forthcoming Ontario Line. Enjoying early spring weather on an aimless bicycle route. (Lower Don River Trail, Toronto, Ontario) 20220416
Sugar Beach: City dwellers lounging on chairs facing southwest towards Toronto Harbour in late afternoon, enjoying the sunset. It’s still spring in Toronto, so high fluctuations of temperatures meant bright sun, but I was biking around with scarf and mitts. Saw some die-hard runners in shorts with bare legs at 10 degrees C. (Sugar Beach, Dockside Drive, Toronto, Ontario) 20230427
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 […]
