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 diamond WV Theme ...              #13             ...individual <---> knowledge 

 DANCING WITH SYSTEMS

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I value solving problems using computer-aided modeling and systems thinking. Modeling complex systems involving living things can begin with reductionistic analysis, but our goal is a wholistic synthesis, which will require understanding properties that emerge in passing from lower to higher levels of organization. Modeling social systems should involve “dancing”: humbly gathering data and learning, being mentally flexible, valuing information, being alert to how the system creates its behavior, and to feedback. Do all this--not to arrogantly control or predict the future--but to design a system that creates a desired future that we envision. Design mechanisms / policies that change with the state of the system. Factor in values, respect what’s important, not just quantifiable. Expand time and thought horizons, and the boundary of caring. Go for the good of the whole.

Alternate Concise Characterization with Wikipedia Entries:

values alternative to reductionism: holism in science

appreciates matter/energy/information system flow, feedback loops

appreciates unexpected / Emergence in system 

appreciates value of modeling complex or biological Systems 

summary Wikipedia article: Systems Thinking

Numerical Characterization with TFJD code: 3223

Numerical Characterization with Emotional Volatility VI index: 24

Related Words, Beliefs, Background -- 40 entries             Songs!          self-test           Discussion from The Worldview Literacy Book

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More to Explore -- Worldview Theme #13: Dancing With Systems

Systems Theory  (from online encyclopedia)
Systems Ecology (from online encyclopedia)
Systems Biology (from online encyclopedia)
Complexity Systems Theory (from online encyclopedia)  
Living Systems Theory (from online encyclopedia)
World Systems Theory (from online encyclopedia)
Synthetic Environment for Analysis and Simulations (from online encyclopedia)
Causal Layered Analysis (from online encyclopedia)

Object-oriented analysis and design (from online encyclopedia)

Dynamical Systems  (from online encyclopedia)
Environmental Impact Assessment (from online encyclopedia)
12 Leverage Points to Intervene in a System (from online encyclopedia, reports on Donella Meadows' work) 
The Fifth Discipline (from online encyclopedia about Peter Senge's work)
Predictive Analytics (from online encyclopedia)
Network Effect (from online encyclopedia, about the digital snowballing phenomenon) 
Worldview Watch #56, April 13 2018: Pointing Facebook in a "Dancing With Systems" Direction
Evolutionary Algorithms (overview from Sandia National Lab) 
"Dancing With Systems", article by Donella Meadows
Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella H. Meadows (read excerpts of this 2008 book at Google Books)
The Five Disciplines of Organizational Learning (from The Dance of Change, by Peter Senge, etal)
Systems Thinking -- An Operational Perspective of the Universe
The Systems Thinker Newsletter
Systems Thinking (from Thinking.net)
Santa Fe Institute ( think tank devoted to "complexity research expanding the boundaries of science")
Overview of Principia Cybernetica ("an...attempt to develop a complete cybernetic and evolutionary philosophy")
The Human Brain Project (website of effort to build computer models to simulate the actual working of the brain)
Living Earth Simulator: The Ultimate HPC Big Data Application by Michael Feldman (December 2011 news item)
"Managing Complexity in Socio-Economic Systems" by Dirk Helbing (on Future ICT website, 2009 paper)
The MIT Integrated Global System Model
The Social Data Lab (at Stanford University, "acts as a hub connecting key players in the social data landscape") 
System Dynamics Example (illustrating a six step approach)
Complexity Digest ("networking the complexity community")

“Criticality” by Cesar Hidalgo (Essay 2017 contribution to Edge.org) 

"Artificial Intelligence: March of the Machines" (leader for cover story re: lengthy section on this topic in The Economist June 25 2016)
"When Science Goes Wrong: Computer Says Oops" (report on neuroscience modeling mishaps from The Economist July 16 2016)
"Decisions Handed Down By Data" (a "What If..." article in The Economist July 16 2016)

"Artificial Intelligence: machines for thinking" (review of books related to this topic from The Economist October 3 2015)

"Quantum Computers: A Little Bit, Better" (report from The Economist June 20 2015)
"Virtual Biology: Computer Worms" (report on effort to make world's first simulated organism from The Economist May 24, 2014)
"The Man Who Would Teach Machines to Think" by James Somers (article about artificial intelligence pioneer D. Hofstadter from The Atlantic Nov 2013)
"Neuromorphic Computing: The Machine of a New Soul" (article from The Economist August 3 2013)
Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking by Daniel C. Dennett (review of book printed in June 15 2013 The Economist
"Can Engineers and Scientists Ever Master Complexity?" by John Horgon (Dec 10 2012 post on Scientific American blog)
Links to Systems-Oriented Thinking Websites
A Primer on Systems Thinking and Organizational Learning
Applied Systems Thinking (a look at thinking tools from a systems view)
System Dynamics: A Learning & Problem Solving Approach to Development Policy, by Khalid Saeed
Feedback, by Piotr Golec ( from Economics Web Institute)
A Summary of the Principles of Hierarchy Theory (hierarchy theory is "a dialect of general systems theory")
Hidden Order, by John Holland (1995 book about "how adaptation builds complexity" preview at Google Books)
Introduction to Evolutionary Computing, by A. Eiben and J. Smith (read excerpts of 2003 book at Google Books)
Too Big to Know: Rethinking Knowledge by David Weinberger (read excerpts of 2012 book at Google Books)
The Black Swan--The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Taleb (read excerpts of 2010 book at Google Books)
Ackoff Center for the Advancement of Systems Approaches
International Society for the Systems Sciences
Global Vision: Communicating Sustainability  (about cybernetics pioneer Gregory Bateson and cybernetic wisdom) 
The Systems Architecture of a Bacterial Cell Cycle with Lucy Shapiro (June 15 2009 UCTV program)
"Quantum Entanglement in Photosynthesis" by Mohan Sarovar, etal  (2009 paper re: a many body quantum system)
Building the Brain: From Simplicity to Complexity with Nick Spitzer (2005 UCTV program)
The Lifebox, The Seashell and the Soul by Rudy Rucker (read excerpts of 2006 book at Google Books)
Information Theory, Evolution, and the Origin of Life, by Hubert Yockey (preview of 2005 book at Google Books)
"Information is the Difference Between Life and Matter," by Gert Korthof (explains ideas of Hubert Yockey)  
Central Nervous System for the Earth Project -- Hewlett-Packard (2009 press release about this project)
A New Kind of Science - Stephen Wolfram (2003 UCTV program about science of complexity)
From Complexity to Life: On the Emergence of Life and Meaning ed. Niels Henrik (review of this 2003 book)
The Genius Within: Discovering the Intelligence of Every Living Thing by Frank Vertosick (review of this 2002 book posted on The New York Times site)
A New Kind of Science, by Stephen Wolfram (website for this 2002 book re: cellular automata)

The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems, by Fritjof Capra (from Google Books)

"Emergent Phenomena and the Secrets of Life," by Peter Macklem (2008 article by McGill University researcher)
"Is "Nonreductive Physicalism" An Oxymoron?" by Nancey Murphy (paper: downward causation ==>neurobiology)

"Downward Causation: An Example Involving Human Reproductive & Neuroendocrine Systems", by S. Cook

"The Art of Simplexity," by Jeffrey Kluger (excerpt from his Simplexity book, in Time June 23, 2008)
"Restricted Complexity, General Complexity," by Edgar Morin (2005 paper) 
Bowen Family Systems Theory (applies systems thinking to describe and understand family interactions)
Deep Ethology: Levels of Organization ("Deep Ethology begins with a behavioral pattern and seeks insight as to its causes and consequences")
The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently--And Why, by Richard Nisbett
quotes from systems thinkers
 

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"As you shop in "The Reality Marketplace" avoid spending your "reality cash" too early,  before you have seen everything. " 
from Coming of Age in the Global Village,  by Stephen P. Cook,  with Donella H. Meadows. 

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