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I gave a talk via Zoom for a conference in Bangalore about consciousness last month. It was presented as a pre-recorded video. I thought I would share it here because it gives examples of the holon theory. I decided that the best way to understand cyclical causality is by example. That was what the Vedic masters also decided when they produced the Vedas and Upanishads. The reason is that the elements of the holon are archetypes that can apply to any system. Thus they will take on different labels depending on what it is describing. That can be confusing for a lot of people, it seems undefined. But it is self-defining - that is one of the most intriguing aspects of it. Basically, it describes causal order - how events and their contextual meanings relate to each other as a whole. 

 

In this talk I focus on “Post-truth” and challenge the popular view that truth is only relative. Holon relations reach throughout nature, so “truth” can have an ultimate meaning while also being locally relative to different contexts. The immanent harmony with nature is the gauge for truth. I proposed in this talk that truthfulness can be evaluated by the degree of harmony any system has with other systems, with itself, and with the cosmos (as a reflection of the holon causal order).

 

Comments welcome.

 

John

 

Yesterday, Friday 30 September 2022, I was in Portland and met with Professor Wayne Wakeland, Chair of the Systems Science program at Portland State University. He told me the program began in 1969 and has been going ever since. The program offers PhD's, Masters and also a Systems Minor at the Undergraduate level. We discussed how we might work together to do more to promote the value of a systems science education. Read about the program here https://www.pdx.edu/systems-science/

 

 

 

 

 

I have known Alexander Christakis since the late 80's when he was a professor at George Mason University Virginia working with another former ISSS President John Warfield. His life's work is seeking ways to emancipate people to be their best and work to address the world's problematique and to seek peace in areas of conflict. His life's commitment continues at 85. I joined him, Maria Kakoulaki and Jeff Dietrich as they delivered a training on Structured Dialogic Design and the supporting software Logosophia. Along with 6 other participants we gathered in Arhanes, Crete for the past week. Although I have known and read about SDD for all these years I finally, I think. get the Science behind the Systems Mapping outcomes of this human systems process. We were all being trained as facilitators. I look forward to doing more "CoLabs" using the SD process and the Logosophia software.

 

More information on SDD here https://www.coexplorer.org/structured-dialogic-design/.  and here https://www.isss.org/structured-deliberations/

and a presentation to ISSS by Aleco and Maria here https://vimeo.com/502853832

 

Interesting to see this "promotion" of systems thinking from the United Kingdom Government in a You Tube video dated April 2022.

 

Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Sir Patrick Vallance, Government Chief Scientific Adviser, set out what Systems Thinking is and the advantages it offers for good policy making. They also offer advice to those getting started with a systems thinking approach.

 

 

And you can get copies of the documents here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/systems-thinking-for-civil-servants

 

The British Government published a previous reference to Systems Thinking in 2012 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/285442/12-1043-introduction-to-systems-thinking-gse-seminar.pdf

 

Systems Thinking was the title of a book by F.E. Emery published in 1970

The University of Washington, Tacoma School of Engineering and Technology announces its new PhD program in Computer Science and Systems: https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/institute-technology-intranet/phd-computer-science-systems 

While the core of the program will emphasize the CS part, I have a number of computer-based research projects in modeling language for systems, a tool set for modeling systems, and the design/implementation of an efficient knowledgebase for systems. Please pass on this to anyone you think might be interested in pursuing such a doctorate degree.

 

Contact for more information

Over the past few months I have had the opportunity to spend time with a number of former Presidents of ISSS and share my experiences so far as President of ISSS 2018-19 and to hear from them about their experiences as President of ISSS and now perspectives as Past President and a Trustee.

 

In January David Rousseau (ISSS President 2017-18) and I both attended the INCOSE International Workshop in Torrance California. Also in January  I visited Len Troncale ( ISSS President 1990-91) in his Claremont, California Office where he has a significant number of  historical journals, papers and books of ISSS. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Debora Hammond  (ISSS President 2005-06) and I have spoken about membership trends and issues and her experience with the annual conference.

 

Gary Metcalf (ISSS President 2007-08) and I have regular conversations that began when he was President of the International Federation for Systems Research http://www.ifsr.org We meet on bluejeans video conferencing and discuss ways to broaden the engagement between systems sciences and groups and leaders around the world.

 

David Ing ( ISSS President 2011-12) and I have had several Skype meetings over the past few months reviewing the whole ISSS data management and website challenges.

 

Alexander Laszlo (ISSS President 2012-13) and I have had several conversations about a group called Grupo Mar, a group concerned with matters of education and the ocean in Argentina that emerged or developed from the Argentina Systems Sciences Chapter of ISSS. He also gave a great overview of his SIG work on a recent SIG Session on Saturday, see https://www.myisss.org/sig-sessions-recordings/

 

In February Gerald Midgley (ISSS President 2013-14) and I spoke at length about the vision for systems sciences an what ISSS might accomplish in the next 5 years, a conversation prompted by the vision survey described in the blog in February.

 

Also over the past month I have talked with Allenna Leonard (ISSS President 2009-10) about the Viable System Model and also about developing online seminars about systems tools and VSM applications to not for profits.

 

Also in February Jennifer Wilby (ISSS President 2010-11) along with ISSS members Janet and Michael Singer stayed with me for four days as we represented ISSS at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington D.C.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the past few weeks I have been exploring Superorganisms with Peter Corning (ISSS President 1999-2000) in preparation for the ISSS 2019 conference. I have also been in email exchanges with Aleco Christakis (ISSS President 2002-03) and Mike Jackson (ISSS President 2001-02).

 

And last week I visited John Kineman (ISSS President 2015-16) in the mountains west of Boulder for an afternoon discussion on a wide range of topics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And looking forward to next year Shankar Sankaran ( President-elect)  and I have been developing ways to ensure more continuity from one ISSS President to the next by having Skype conversations between us from the USA to Australia.