General Systems Theory and Peace [Anatol Rapoport, ISSS 1998 Plenary Session, July 22/98]

These notes are a rough transcription, prepared as each individual presenter and/or commentator spoke at the ISSS 1998 conference. Gaps and errors have likely occurred. For more accurate citations, please consult the original presenters. These notes have been contributed to the ISSS by David Ing, of the IBM Advanced Business Institute (sabi@systemicbusiness.org).

Anatol Rapoport, one of original founders of ISSS, mathematical biologist

Asked to prepare a paper on General Systems Theory and Peace, found a different topic listed on program, as Peace, Sustainability, and Military Technology.

• Peace, I'm for it.
• Sustainability, I'm for it.
• Military technology, I'm against it.

• General means across disciplines.
• System
• Theory is logical framework under generalized systems

Originally attracted academics, in generalists, in two camps:

1. Hard science
2. Biology.

• Common interest wanted to take analogies series:
• Chariots like thunder
• Monarchy like organism
• General System Theory is different.
• General harmonic theory to an electrical system
• Derivatives of oscillator vs. mass; compared to derivatives in electric, each playing similar roles.
• Two phenomena explained by one mathematical model.

• What do things have in common.
1. An Englishman (Algar Nelson lost an arm)
2. An Englishmen (John Silver lost a leg)
3. An expensive thing (cost an arm and a leg)

1. A man is taking a bath in Sydney, Australia vs. Sydney Nova Scotia (rotation of water into drain)
2. Galileo in Spanish Inquisition (about rotation of the earth)
3. Horse traders in a huge financial lost (horse latitudes, ship lost in trade winds)

Another

1. Bee on flower
2. Man sends flower to woman

• Both for procreation.

• Social: families, tribes, states, ..
• Gerard presented social scale
• Structure (being), function (acting) and behaviour/evolution (becoming)

Jim Miller created a similar table, with 19 subsystems of living systems.

• Jessie played a major part in this work.

• e.g. Bank of England from 50 years ago.

• Bill Horvath and Rapoport wrote organism metaphors of organizations helpful

Peace research based in Louis Richardson in 1940s, from mathematical base (not organism)

• From deadly quarrels (from murders to wars)
• No discussion of causes of violence, e.g. trade, power, religion.
• Richardson was interested exclusively between violence and other processes, compared arms race with USA/USSR in 1930, found similarities with feedback and negative feedback.
• Conjectured both driven by distribution by both.
• Reflected as organization for aggression, e.g. gangs.

• Knowledge of causes may eliminate wars.
• Analogue of medical research, to eliminate disease.
• Sufficient causes of diseases is required.
• Necessary causes is sufficient -- bacteriology has been very helpful
• In war, sufficient causes of war changed a lot.
• Dynastic wars in 1800s not relevant today (i.e. who will be the next king).
• Necessary condition, however, is weapons.

• Consider curing disease (e.g. curing AIDS) -- within weeks, all hospitals will have it.
• Institutions to make use of peace are non-existent.
• Why?

• Institutions were of necessary of the time: become obsolete rapidly.
• 35 years later, Europe was in massacres.
• At the time, war was not counter to politics and expedience
• WWI, cheered soldiers
• After WWII, U.N. recognized war is counter to principles of morality.
• Similar to holy inquisition, slavery,

• Practitioners?
• Look in Gerard's table, last column: evolution.
• Darwinian principle of natural selection
• Tiger not given sharp teeth to kill prey, but tigers with sharp teeth had progeny
• Absolute hereditary monarchy disappeared after war, because it didn't adapt to the changes
• Monarchs who removed political power (e.g. U.K.) survived.
• In Russia, indoctrination from kindergarten: invasion expected, state was seen as only institution to avoid genocide.
• In U.S., war system had not been militarized (honour, parades), except for civil war, victories were painless
• "We will not repudiate out duty".

• Technology and business, de-emphasized military virtue to budget allocation
• Maximization of individual, profits to corporation, most military worth
• What should be used to keep score?
• Absence of boundaries between military and business sectors.
• Colin Grey, in the strategic community: Only in U.S. is it possible to have mixed careers: university, think tank, private counciling, corporation.

• Draws on resources of the host, without giving anything in return.
• Military does give a defence function, but only makes sense when countries have apprehension against each other.
• In the world as a whole, military is powerless against ecology, etc., and in fact, contribute to threats.
• Argument: Humanity is not a unified system.
• Isn't this a function of the military establishment themselves?

• Humanity can survive only if it develops in image of a superorganization living in a super-superorganization, in a symbiotic relationship.
• Then institution of war can't adapt.
• Replacement by cooperation.
• Corporations should not compete, should develop without compete.
• Against current market economic thinking.
• Need a new renaissance.
• Enlightenment in human rights is recognized more in corporations: globalization is gets more control over individuals than state control.
• Disturbed.
• Cycle: corporation for more growth, more clients, which calls for more growth.
• Growth is the only goal of a malignant tumour.

Questions

Humans are intelligent: economics have defeated most countries, still have lots of people starving. Is this a complicity of scientists?

• Rapoport: Economic war: Shows another adaptation of the war system.
• Long-term destruction, i.e. use of more resources, whether exhaustible or not exhaustible.
• Doesn't reflect humans are part of a larger supersystem.
• Constantly hear: we have to be more competitive, which is similar to being more destructive.

• Rapoport: To increase the cognitive powers of human beings.
• To dispel superstitions: illusions, hangups.
• e.g. 40 years of nuclear deterrence has kept peace
• Compare: playing Russian roulette is safe, by firing one empty chamber
• e.g. missile over Norway, Yeltsin's briefcase was activated, although turned off shortly.

Ethnic separatism? There's 150 wars or skirmishes today, but over 100 battles are within countries. Since 1943, 100 new countries established. Large number of refugees and displaced individuals. Number of civilians impacted has increased.

• Rapoport. Could say war system has adapted itself.
• War system has penetrated farther, than just most powerful states.
• Recruitment of people who do massacring is related to the hopelessness of their fate: food, opportunity to loot, may be conditioned to sadism.
• In the first world, the cancer of war is diminished, but still survives.
• Already resistance to war: Canada's initiative on landmines. Need to continue, to destroy war, just as slavery and human sacrifices have disappeared.