| | | Newsletter: January, 2023, Vol 2:1 | | |
|
| | | | Image reproduced by kind permission of Hugh Palmer. | | |
|
| | | | In this Edition : Message from the President. Conference News. Stories from the Kruger.
Programme of Online Mini-symposia. SIG Focus: Proposed Linguistic Modelling SIG. Upcoming SIG Events. Meet our new ISSS Members: Alexandros Mialis. New Systems Books. News from the Book Club.
Recent Members' Publications. Recent Conferences: COP27 Systems Science Events in January. Unified Theory of Knowledge. Systems Practice To contribute to any of these, please see the details at the end of this newsletter.
|
Message from the President Dear Reader I wish you all a prosperous 2023! In a time when we consider what our wishes should be for those around us and when we are setting our personal goals, I have to reflect on the most influential talk I heard in 2022, at RSD-11 in Brighton. Dr Mathilda Tham spoke about falling in love with complexity and among many important things she said, I was most affected by her ontological view on a complex world. My own internalisation of her ideas encourages me to embrace the complexity in my immediate and closest circle before expanding my circle of influence further. Therefore, my most important goal of 2023 is to support my husband, daughters, and my aging parents. Both my daughters have important school years. Rika is turning 18 in her final year of high school and Kari is turning 16 and starting the specialisation phase in high school. Even after many years serving with my husband in church congregations, it is only now with my own parents’ experience of old age and my experience thereof that I begin to understand the challenges of growing older. I’m aware that many of you are experiencing this in your own homes. When widening the boundary of my complex world, I experience in some sense less complexity. Perhaps, this is due the increased resilience I gain from my close support circle. In terms of my management position at the North-West University (NWU), my critical systems perspectives along with my |
| | |
|
| | | Christian values motivate me to adopt a servant management approach dealing with situations from a Churchman perspective, focusing on objectives, resources, environment, sub systems and the coordination thereof. As ISSS President, I’m sometimes overwhelmed by the complexity of management of a volunteer organisation. After months of unexpected complexity, I am delighted to announce that the registration for the ISSS2023 conference is open. Our accommodation deposit is paid at the Kruger National Park by the NWU and all systems are in place to receive your abstracts. More details follow later in the newsletter. I want to thank all the board members who made this possible but especially Jennifer Makar, our VP Admin, for her perseverance in making it all happen. Also, a big thank you to Dr Olaf Brugman, our VP Conferences, for his support. Peter Tuddenham, along with other past presidents Gerald Midgley and Ray Ison are pillars of strength. The conference is indeed the highlight of my year as ISSS President and I hope to make it an unforgettable experience for those who are able to attend. The newsletter is very dear to my heart and made possible by very committed fellow members, working even on New Year’s Eve. I appreciate each one of you. May 2023 afford you the opportunity to embrace complexity and to reach your goals, in your closest circle and beyond. Roelien | | |
|
| | | | Conference News International Society for the Systems Sciences, 67th Annual Conference. | | |
|
| | | | Registration is open from 1 January 2023! A conference logistics video and special newsletter issue with all the detail is available, as well as a video with more specific information about the registration process. It is advisable to read the newsletter and watch the video before starting the registration process here. Please note the following: - Registration closes on 15 March 2023
- The first 90 people who register will be allocated accommodation in the conference lodge while the rest will stay in the rest camp’s bungalows. The conference lodge accommodation includes breakfast while the bungalows are self-catering. Both are walking distance from the conference facility.
- Room sharing is available with a reduced fee for the second person. The system allows for groups to register, adding one member at time with one payment at the end.
- Guests are most welcome, there is an option to add a guest in the registration group. Please take note of the conservation and transfer fee for guests.
- Please read the advice on malaria precaution and air ticket purchases in the special issue newsletter.
We are using an email abstract submission system this year. The procedure is in the call for papers. A template is available on the conference web page. Please indicate the track for the submission in the file. Approved tracks will be added to the conference web page as they develop. For any queries send an email to confe...@isss.org. There is topic on the ISSS message board for conference questions. | | |
|
| | | | Stories From The Kruger
We are adding a new section to the newsletter to provide interesting facts about the Kruger National Park. Please send us your own memories, stories and photos to newsl...@isss.org to publish in future editions. In this first edition we provide links to Facebook pages and websites with interesting information. | | |
|
| | | | Programme of Online Mini-Symposia January and February are Cybernetics Months: From Theory to Practice. One of my goals for my presidency is to showcase different perspectives in or disciplines of systems sciences. Please join me on my own journey to improve my understanding of Cybernetics. I invite you to present your insight in long or short sessions on Cybernetics in February. Please send me an email to Pres...@Isss.org to start the conversation. With your assistance we can increase our understanding but also our knowledge repository! | | |
|
| | | | | | In January we start our theme on Saturday 7 January with a presentation by Prof Stuart Umpleby on first and second order cybernetics. After viewing an edited version of a presentation he delivered previously, he will take part in our discussion, answering questions and providing more insights. https://blogs.gwu.edu/umpleby/
I invite you to present your insight in long or short sessions on Cybernetics in February. Please send me an email to Pres...@Isss.org to start the conversation. With your assistance we can increase our understanding but also our knowledge repository! |
|
| | | On 14 January we listen to Dr Angela Espinosa when she will introduce Beer’s ‘Viable System Model’ (VSM), a theory of effective organisation inspired in cybernetic ideas on neural networks. She will explain how it supports organisations to manage complexity, and comment briefly on its recent developments and applications. Dr Espinosa worked closely with S Beer and has continued developing the VSM to support governments, businesses, and communities in several countries in America, the United Kingdom and Europe. She is an Emeritus Fellow at the Centre for Systems Studies at the University of Hull, UK. |
|
| | |
|
| | | On 21 and 28 January we turn our attention to practice when we listen to Richard Knowles on his work at the DuPont plant in Charlston, WV where he led a successful transformation of the organization. On 21 January he provides background into the development of the Cycle of Intelligence and the Process Enneagram models. On 28 January he will provide more detail of these models and another case study from an Australian sugar mill. |
|
| | |
|
| | | Richard Knowles is President of Richard N. Knowles and Associates, Inc. . He helps organizations move towards and sustain safety excellence using systems thinking to solve complex problems working with teams at all organizational levels to share information, build trust and interdependence, and release the energy and creativity of the people. He uses the simple, powerful Cycle of Intelligence© tool that helps people to solve complex problems, opens the social connections they’ll need and builds the emotional energy and commitment to get the job done quickly…all at the same time! In using this approach as a plant manager, he led his 1,300-person chemical manufacturing plant to excellence reducing the Total Recordable Injury Rate by 98%, lowering emissions by 95%, increasing productivity by 45% and raising earnings by 300%. He worked in DuPont Research (40 US Patents) and Manufacturing (Manager of 3 large chemical plants) for 35 years and has been working with all kinds of organizations in the US and many other countries to solve their complex problems for over 25 years. https://www.rnknowlesassociates.com/richard/ | | |
|
| | | | SIG Focus Proposed Linguistic Modelling SIG. We are seeking expressions of interest from ISSS members for this proposed SIG. Please email us at em...@johnachalloner.com or jano...@btinternet.com if you support our proposal. Human cognition, language, and logic, including mathematics, are thought to have co-evolved and to interact very closely within our minds. These three aspects of human nature provide us with a reasonably accurate reflection of reality. Were this not the case, then it is unlikely that humanity would have survived and become as successful as it is. Language and logic, including mathematics, are therefore, very likely to be the best tools that we have for modelling reality. They are also likely to be the best tools for the development of conventional disciplines such as physics and modern disciplines such as systems thinking. Language is a reflection of human cognition. “While many other species have conceptual systems, humans are unique in having language. And the range and complexity of human conceptions appears to far exceed that of any other species. An obvious implication is that it is language that may provide, in part at least, a means of harnessing our conceptual systems, releasing its potential—a conclusion that has been reached by a number of leading cognitive scientists.” Prof. Vyvyan Evans, “Why did Language Evolve?”, Psychology Today, 19/1/2015. Very few of us are formally taught logic. Nevertheless, most of us are capable of logical inferences by our early teens. Although we are motivated largely by emotion, logical reasoning underpins the way in which we satisfy those emotions. This may be because logic is inherent within language. Certainly, the structure of language provides the necessary components for any logical inference. We use language and logic to reason, but our mental ability to do so is limited. Just like arithmetic, if language and logic are written down or externalized in some other way, then they can be manipulated using formal rules, and become a far more powerful tool. This may form the basis for the development of a systems theory which integrates systems, problem solving, and design thinking. Our work to date has shown that linguistic modelling, particularly the concept of the propagation of states towards outcomes, has numerous practical applications in technology, engineering, and society. The purpose of the SIG is, therefore, to: - advance the concept of linguistic modelling,
- employ computer modelling such as Prolog,
- apply methodical problem solving to some of the practical difficulties that humanity faces,
- develop the proposed ‘systems theory’ as the basis of a General Systems Theory, and
- investigate educational implications.
Janos Korn & John Challoner
References: - J. Korn, “Science and Design of Problem Solving Systems”, Troubador, 2022.
- J. A. Challoner, “The Mathematics of Language and Thought”, Self-Published, 2022.
| | |
|
| | |
|
|
