Las Vegas, NV; San Jose, CA; Alameda, CA; Palo Alto, CA; Vancouver, BC; Toronto, Ontario.
Opera Las Vegas Venetian. Encountered opera in St. Mark’s Square of the Venetian Hotel, Carnevale di Venezia. Arrived in time to hear the singing of Arrivederci. Since I’m not a fan of opera, the last few minutes was enough. (Las Vegas, NV) 20120503 1421Almaden chair sculptures. On walk outside IBM Almaden building with @jimspohrer, art installation of chairs with high backs and singing wires. Better to walk and talk on a warm spring day, than spend the hour in the office (San Jose, CA) 20120504 0957Oakland runway end. Marshes of Alameda at the northwest end of Oakland Airport, with Bay Bridge in the distance. Hotel room has view of jets way taking off, amidst waterfowl nesting below. Was impressed at nearby Victorian homes in Alameda, crossed a lot of bridges to reach hotel. (Alameda, CA) 20120505 0825SJSU fountain. Walked SJSU campus in anticipation of ISSS 2012 in July. Being there surfaces insights that viewing maps online doesn’t. Fountain at the intersection of Paseo de San Carlos and S. 7th St. is a landmark in the middle of campus (San Jose, California) 20120505 1543Palo Alto Farmers Market. Mammoth artichokes at California Avenue Farmer’s Market, with @warstrekkid nephew Kevin on an early Sunday morning. Practically everything seems organic, much sourced from Watsonville nearby. Troubles of the world seem so far away. (Palo Alto, California) 20120506 0913Seabus delay. Minor delay for Seabus southbound, as tugboat pulls crane past ferry dock. Not exactly the traffic congestion that I experience on the commute back home. (Vancouver, BC) 20120507 1216Seaplane commute. Some had a morning commute by seaplane from the Vancouver Coal Harbour Seaplane Base. I’ll be on the Seabus, later (Vancouver, BC) 20120517 0738Pine Hills Cemetery. Annual visit of the Low Kong Society to the Ing monument at Pine Hills Cemetery. Usual offering of scotch and burning hell money. I wonder what beverage might be spilled for a non-drinker. (Scarborough, ON) 20120520 1342Liquid Art Painted Van. Art by @kustaasaksi and @heliosdesignlab for #MolsonM_Art funding @Cdn_Art_Fdn installed on King St. E. parking lot. Theme extends to background mural. Story described in Strategy magazine. (Toronto) 20120523 1845Liquid Art Mural. Mural signed by @kustaasaksi as part of #MolsonM_Art funding @Cdn_Art_Fdn installation on King St. E. parking lot. Painted van was added after mural was complated. Story described in Strategy magazine. (Toronto) 20120523 1846
Airport Klezmer on Flickr. Lemon Bucket Orkestra group at baggage claim carrying tuba, guitar, clarinet, etc., starting playing klezmer exiting into arrivals hall at Pearson Airport Terminal 1. Not just one song, they played many. Audience included professional videographers (Toronto) 20120531 2115
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 […]
On my May trip through the UK, I accepted an offer to lead an Expert-Led Session at the University of Hull. I had previously been a Research Fellow of the Centre for Systems Studies, but haven’t travelled to the Hull for some years. As we worked out the arrangements, I found out that the seminar […]
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 […]
