| | | Newsletter & General Systems Bulletin: July, 2024, Vol 2:7 | | |
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| | | In this Edition Message from the President. Message from the Past-president. Conference News. Programme of Mini-Symposia. News from the Board of Directors. Members' Initiatives and Perspectives. SIG News. News from the Book Club. Systems Events. Members' Publications. New Members. Readers' Letters. To contribute to any of these, please see the details at the end of this newsletter.
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Message from the President Time goes by so fast, and as I reflect on the past year, it feels like time well spent. Michele’s year of Responsibility saw the publication of our Policies and Procedures, reinforcing the operations of our board members, trustees, various committees, and our Special Integration Groups (SIGs). Most notably, it emphasized our responsibility to engage and support the broader community of organizations and practitioners.
The theme for my presidency is Integration and Collaboration. I have always believed that greater value is achieved when things are joined together. Our 2025 conference will be held in Birmingham in partnership with the Birmingham Leadership Institute and I encourage the SIGs to consider this theme in their engagements over the year and in their paper preparations. |
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| | | Outreach will be crucial if we are to meet the society's objectives. We need to build our understanding of the people and organizations we should be collaborating with. Many organizations have declared their vision and support for “a better world through a systems approach,” and I want us to promote collective collaboration across these organizations and individuals. Taking inspiration from the Tao Te Ching - “If we can fulfill the needs of others, then we ourselves can be fulfilled.” Updates on Projects and Initiatives
Mini Symposia: This year, subject to interest and availability, we will be hosting up to two sessions on Saturdays, scheduled to accommodate a broader global audience. These sessions will be open to all, not just ISSS members, and will be recorded, with the presentation content made publicly available. We will be on the lookout for high-quality speakers through our networks, and we ask everyone to assist. If you come across something of particular interest, please bring it to our attention.
ISSS President’s Webpage: In an effort to keep you updated on the work during my term, I would like to invite you to visit my president’s page on the ISSS website. It will be updated with presentations, announcements and other news. Thank you to our VP Administration Jennifer Makar for the idea and design.
Outreach Engagements: We have created a Miro Board of organizations that we are aware of and have compiled a list of system conference events that ISSS members are encouraged to participate in. You can find connections to these on the “System Outreach Engagements” feature box on the ISSS.org webpage, and invite you to contact us with additional information.
Upcoming ISSS Systems Events: In September, we will host an online event where we will invite identified organizations to discuss the purpose, mutual benefits, and proposed structure of our engagement at workshops we will hold or synergize with other partner organizations later in Q4.
Thank you for your continued support and dedication. I look forward to a productive and collaborative year ahead. Gary Smith | | |
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| | | Message from the Past-President Dear Members,
On the 13th of June 2024, at the annual general meeting, I handed over the presidency of ISSS to Gary Smith. I am now a past president. You are in very capable hands. Gary (President), Yiannis (President Elect) and I will work to ensure continuity. I welcome your contributions for the conference proceedings publication. Please submit them by the end of September.
At least from my point of view, the conference was a success. This was our first hybrid conference. I hope that those who could only join us remotely still had a good experience and took advantage of the technology to meet in virtual corridors. It was a pleasure to see some of you face to face, and have a little time to chat.
More important, I think that the quality of the keynote, plenaries, in-person paper and virtual presentations was high. The content was respectable and indicates the standing of the society. The variety of presentations was impressive, and they all had something in common: the problems are complex and we need systems science to navigate them effectively. We have good tools, good projects and good intentions. Let us continue the important work.
As a society, we have matured. We are needed beyond the society. It is time for outreach both to other societies with whom we can collaborate. Thank-you for your support.
Michèle Friend - past president ISSS. | | |
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| | | Conference News International Society for the Systems Sciences, 68th Annual Conference. | | |
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| | | Photos from the conference (with thanks to David Ing) | | |
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| | | | | Programme of Online Mini-Symposia See "Message from the President. Events will be notified by email and posted here as they are arranged. | | |
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| | | News from the Board of Directors | | |
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| | | Members' Initiatives & Perspectives
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| | | CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS - THE SUPERORGANISM PROJECT
Dear ISSS colleague:
I am hoping to organize a group of co-contributors to advance a plan for making major changes to the global community in light of the growing threat to our future. I’m attaching a five-part blog item about this challenge called “Unite or Die” (after Benjamin Franklin’s famous term). See also my book, Superorganism: Toward a New Social Contract for Our Endangered Species (Cambridge University Press, 2023).
There will be at least four distinct topics in this project:
- a new “Fair Society” social ethic (including a universal basic needs guarantee);
- an extensive upgrade to the United Nations under a “Global Governance Initiative”;
- major infrastructure improvements via a “Global Infrastructure Fund” (GIF); and
- an agency for managing “Global Environmental Emergencies (GEM).
I will serve as the rapporteur and writer for the final joint product.
Would you be willing to participate? Can you suggest anyone else who might join in this project? I am now retired but was a professor in the interdisciplinary Human Biology Program at Stanford University for many years. Over the years, I have published nine books and more than 200 articles/papers in various journals. Some of them are available at my website: http://complexsystems.org See especially my 2018 book, Synergistic Selection: How Cooperation Has Shaped Evolution and the Rise of Humankind (World Scientific). With all best wishes, Peter Corning, ISSS Past President | | |
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| | | To Be or Not To Be. That is the Question.... The following Shakespearean sonnets were created by Chat GTP from a recent email discussion on reality. (with thanks to Peter Tuddenham). | | |
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| | | To Be... As engineers, we seek the truths that lie
In nature's realm, where facts define our view.
Within this world, no hidden motives spy,
The rules are firm, the laws both just and true.
Yet in the social sphere, where minds convene,
A different dance unfolds in subtle guise.
With agency, each player shifts the scene,
Beliefs and needs entwined in complex ties.
Reality persists, its rules remain,
Though finding them in social realms is hard.
Through meta-thought and evidence, we gain,
Yet truth oft seems elusive, veiled, and scarred.
To navigate, we must our nature know,
For in that knowledge, change may start to grow.
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Not to be... When anchors firm to tribes doth tie the soul,
And passions drive the heart beyond belief,
To shifting sands of kin and team, we roll,
And cybernetic threads weave brief relief.
Truth’s transient dance oft fades from earnest speech,
In fleeting frames of what is deemed as real,
Through shared discourse, we grasp, and thus we reach,
A woven world from which our truths unseal.
Not realms agnostic lie beyond our sight,
But shared constructs in language do we find,
For mammal needs and human social rite,
Through verbal threads, our common fate we bind.
Yet fear I that the claim of truth’s domain,
May seed the ground where power’s roots sustain. |
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| | | | ... And Why the Answer Matters. I do worry about some of the opinions that have been coming out of the academic establishment recently. Unfortunately, they appear to be caused by cultural manipulation. That is, the fostering of cultural beliefs by minority vested interests, which can influence academia in the same way as everyone else. Some of these opinions can be extremely harmful to society. Consider for example, the popular view that we lack free will, and that everything is preordained. The justification for this view appears to come from a simplistic assumption about space-time and causality which, although commonly held, lacks empirical evidence. If we were to accept this opinion, then it would completely undermine our sense of agency, i.e., our ability to make decisions and act accordingly. This, in turn, would have an adverse impact on both our psychological wellbeing and our ability to deal with social and environmental problems. Recently, I had a conversation with an influential academic who expressed the following opinion. “My issue with the concept of truth is that its temporariness tends to get lost as we speak of beliefs, reality and objectivity. … It is not a question of being agnostic (or not) about the knowability of an external, objective world; the question is irrelevant. … I worry that acceptance of an external, objective reality privileges those [who] can claim, based on their authority, to know that reality and dismiss those who do not. This then leads to a justification of oppression and violence.” Personally, I do think that there is a reality, that we are a part of it, and that it defines what is true and what is not. I have also come to the conclusion that we interact differently with our natural and social environments. The former has no agency and hits us randomly with threats and opportunities that we have evolved to navigate. We do so quite well, in my view, and our success as a species is largely down to this. So, objective truth is important when dealing with the natural environment and this is reflected in our approach to the natural sciences.
On the other hand, our social environment does have agency, and we regard objective truth as being less important. So, we often engage in psychological defence mechanisms such as denial. We also often accept, form, and propagate beliefs that are not necessarily true, but rather ones that we feel are likely to satisfy our needs. So, interaction with our social environment can be very complex indeed. Nevertheless, we are a part of reality, governed by its rules, and there are techniques for identifying those rules, or something close to them, even though the endeavour is far more difficult than in the natural sciences. However, the endeavour is worth pursuing. We now have a population of 8 billion and this, along with some of our behaviour, is unsustainable. So, if we are to have any hope of altering that situation, then we need to know the objective truth about human nature and our behaviour. In view of the chaos of conflicting beliefs that we are currently presented with, we do need to find ways of coping. The strategy adopted by the academic referred to above is a good one, so long as it remains entirely personal. However, he is influential, and suggesting to others that there is no objective truth or that it is irrelevant is not a good idea. If there is no objective truth, then all ideas, views, opinions, morals, ethics, etc. are equally valid, or should I say invalid? Because culture relies on shared values, norms, and beliefs, this can undermine the cultural consensus, leading to cultural disintegration. Approximately 13% of the population are estimated to have dark personality traits such as narcissism, psychopathy or Machiavellianism. I should emphasise that these are personality traits rather than pathologies, and that the behaviour of people with these traits is otherwise normal. However, by virtue of reduced moral and ethical standards, those with such traits are more likely to ascend to positions of power than others. Unfortunately therefore, many of our leaders have these traits. We rarely oppose those with greater power for fear of reprisal. So, our response can be to support them in our personal interest, flight to other organisations or nations, but, in most cases, it is denial. That is, we do not consciously acknowledge the existence of dark leaders until, for example, such time as war breaks out. Such leaders do often falsely claim the truth and it is sensible to point this out. Personally, I would never knowingly follow one, but unfortunately, many do. However, as well as engaging in other forms of cultural manipulation, it is possible for dark leaders to undermine a belief in objective truth and, for the reasons given above, this is dangerous too. So, the argument that a belief in the existence of truth empowers dark leaders is incorrect. Rather, it makes their lies much easier to follow. In summary, people do have a problem with discovering and expressing the truth, particularly in the context of society, and it’s fair for academia to say that. However, academia should also point out that reality defines the truth, and that some human beliefs are closer to it than others. These are difficult concepts to accept, can undermine our self-image, and this in itself can lead to denial. However, once we are aware of the problem there are techniques that we can use to bring our beliefs closer to the truth than they might otherwise have been. The Buddha even taught this 2500 years ago. Ones worth mentioning are the sociologist Margaret Archer’s meta-reflexivity. This involves reflecting on decisions that we have previously made and beliefs that we already hold to ascertain whether they are associated with our needs. If so, we can make a conscious effort to disassociate and revise them. Then there is the consistency of reality. If two ideas contradict one another, one must be false. Another important technique is empirical evidence gained from observation. Finally, academic, political or other authority is no guarantee of the truth. Psychological defence mechanisms, satisfying beliefs, and vested interests operate in those arenas too. All opinions should be questioned no matter what the source. Finally, you may also find this entertaining "Beginners Guide to Critical Realism" by Tom Fryer helpful. https://tfryer.com/ontology-guide/ John Challoner | | |
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| | | SIG News Holism SIG At the SIG meeting on June 24, 2024, I resigned as chair of the Holistic Systems SIG. There are a number of reasons for this: my housekeeping duties have made me shift my time priorities, getting older means less energy, and I want to spend more time writing plays. Besides I think coming up with three definitions of holism is an impressive accomplishment. The SIG will be meeting again on July 22, 2024 to talk about a way forward. We have had a good time as a SIG. Louise McCulloch remains the Secretary and you can contact her at mccu...@tcd.ie I remain an interested member of ISSS but my future contributions will be limited. Robert Johannson Re-energising our SIGs Thank you to those who participated in the recent discussion about re-energizing SIG integration and collaboration. Please take some time to familiarise yourself with ISSS SIG's Management Suggestions Document. Here are some quick wins to help us maximize the benefits of society and enhance coherence: • You are welcome to comment on any section in the document. • Annex B: Please update the SIG chair information in Annex B or find out who the SIG chair of your group is. Feel free to volunteer to co-chair existing SIG chairs, start your own SIG, or take on a vacant SIG. • Annex D: If you’re a SIG chair and have provided feedback, please see our reply to the issue you raised. • Annex D: Raise an issue for us to address. • Annex E: Our society needs volunteers to review papers. If you have the skills or know someone who does, please consider stepping up. I would greatly appreciate your contribution. Here are the main ideas shared and raised by SIG chairs who attended the discussion: • Our new president, in collaboration with the board, may produce a call for papers early proposing real-world problems to solve and encourage multiple SIGs to integrate and serve a common purpose. The idea of this initiative is to bring people together • SIGs can utilize Saturday and Wednesday sessions to present their progress in solving these real-world problems which may lead to papers. • A reminder of proposed quarterly objectives will be sent to SIG chairs to help them organize effectively. In due course, we will schedule another SIG Chairs meeting to check in with everyone. Thank you again. Warm regards, Haider Al-Shareefy, VP Membership | | |
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| | | News from the Book Club After a two month break, the book club will be meeting once again on July 18 from 12:30-2:00 pm EDT. We will be discussing the Foreword and Part I of Steps to an Ecology of Mind by Gregory Bateson. Here are the additional reading assignments and meetings: - August 15: Part II
- September 19: ”Social Planning and the Concept of Deutero-Learning” through “The Group Dynamics of Schizophrenia”
- October 17: “Minimum Requirements for a Theory of Schizophrenia” through “Comment on Part III”
- November 21: Part IV
- December 19: Parts V and VI
Please join us for a great conversation! Happy reading! That’s it! Warm regards, Marty | | |
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| | | | Forthcoming Systems Events INCOSE INCOSE's 34th Annual International Symposium 2024 2nd-6th July INCOSE INCOSE Cleveland-Northern Ohio: July 2024 - Systems Engineering C-NO Café #4 Mon 8th July 6-7pm ET SCiO SCiO UK Virtual Open Meeting with presentations from: Disability inequality in the healthcare workforce: how my journey through the systems thinking apprenticeship helped to add a new perspective to the problem - Elisse Grint Interactive Planning in Action? - Dr Tim Curtis Mon 8th July 6.30-9pm BST | | |
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| | | | Action Learning Action Research Conference 2024
Transdisciplinary Action Learning and Action Research
7 - 8 November 2024, Sydney, Australia
This conference offers face-to-face and virtual attendance and presentations. ALAR Association supports action research, action learning and participatory practice in a range of disciplines, including in health, education, business, community and international development, systems, and in cross-disciplinary forms. The Organising Committee invites submissions of proposals related to these or other disciplines that will contribute to the learning community in the conference program. The Committee encourages proposals that include high levels of participation by the audience of the presentations. Authors will receive an acknowledgement of receipt of the proposal and the result of the review of the proposal within three weeks. Details of the program for the conference and registrations will be available in mid-October 2024.
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| | | New Members If you are a new member, welcome to the society. We send an email with a list of fun questions to all members who have joined in the last month and you are welcome to respond. Please send a photo of yourself too. Every month we will feature a few new members and this is your opportunity to introduce yourself to other members of the society. To join the ISSS simply go to ISSS.org/Register/ | | |
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| | | New members in June were: - Velikovsky, JT
- Nelson, Michael (Mike was a Plenary Speaker at the conference and joined the Society)
- Badillo-Piña, Isaias
- Tejeida-Padilla, Ricardo
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| | | Readers' Letters 25 years in ISSS
Hi Folks, just back from Washington via Boston and London
Family to family so to speak
It was cold in the sand dunes of California in July
Not what I was expecting
So sought warmth in nearest shelter
An older man sat at the front while others made the contributions to the conference
He struggled with French and Maths for sure
So I asked some questions
We met in the Chapel before others gathered
Would I like to continue to contribute he suggested after sharing his gratitude
As I demurred, my partner arrived and greeted him warmly
They were olde friends while we were new
It was my first conference
I was just a Tourist if truth be told. What’s your role now a young scholar challenged
Looking around I offered …I’m an Elder
There were several of us still around among friends
Some from the last century, some more recently garnered
One or two right here in Washington
One of those now the President and a drinking Friend. So on to Brum next year it seems
With Integration as our latest theme
Seems appropriate at this time
Young and Older comes to mind
That’s my role I’ve been assigned
Quite close to home for me too
Though most meetings have been elsewhere
From Oz to Africa of late
Thought I don’t recall the exact date
Enjoyed them all for different reasons
Parts of world in varying seasons
So it seems with us Elders too.. Warm regards to All, Dennis Finlayson
Hi Folks, already getting stuff together for next years ISSS conference in Birmingham My topic will be ….a systemic approach to international development…from village initiatives to intercontinental agreements The image below is where it begins with Lynne Symonds project and I am hoping she will be present to share her experience of here own and other link projects such as the science education one with a number of African countries where we first met. Likewise I am hoping Muriel will tell us about her returning to Zimbabwe experiences and also Colette with her experience of a hospital linking project between Lesotho and Ireland. On a grander scale I am planning to invite at least one prominent figure to explain government policies international development cooperation between North Western Europe and Africa, especially West Africa….see my contributions to the monthly ISSS newsletter for continuing inputs. Warm regards to All, Dennis Finlayson | | |
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| | | | Become a Member of the Friendly Newsletter Team We have openings for members of the ISSS to become a part of the Newsletter team. The newsletter sections are now well established and you will act as sub-editor for the section or sections that you would like to take on. This includes procuring content from others each month, checking and proof reading it, and passing it to the team for formatting. Easy. This is a great opportunity to communicate with and get to know other members of the society. Just email newsl...@ISSS.org if you are interested. |
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Thanks to All Contributors!
Editorial Team: John Challoner, Louise McCulloch, Gary Smith, Michele Friend, Jennifer Makar, Yiannis Laouris - To make a contribution please email it to newsl...@isss.org
- The opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the contributor and not necessarily those of the ISSS. Contributors are responsible for the accuracy of any information provided.
- Past copies of this newsletter can also be found at https://www.isss.org/isss-newsletters/
- To receive a regular copy of this newsletter by email please register on our main isss.org page under "Newsletter Sign Up".
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International Society for the Systems Sciences
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Ashland, KY 41101 - United States |
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