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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

This blog is available for SIG Chairs to keep ISSS members and the general reader of this webpage aware of activities and interests of the Special Integration Group. contact me for more information, webadmin at isss.org

The Primer Project of ISSS was an ambitous effort to capture some of the essence of General Systems Theory on a previous ISSS website.

 

We moved the ISSS website to a new server in May 2020 and so the old primer site became unavailable.

 

Rob Young with support from Peter Tuddenham has revived and updated much of this primer website. Thank you Rob Young for your work on this project.

 

You can find it here https://web3.isss.org/primer2/

 

If you find errors or links not working please email webadmin at isss.org

 

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.

 

 

As SIG chair for Action Research, I'm looking forward to represent the ISSS at the AR+ meeting in Gothenburg,Sweden from March, 7.  https://actionresearchplus.com/community-gathering/

 

I will have an opportunity to meet other scholars in the field or AR and explore the different traditions of AR.  The meeting has an open, more informal structure than the typical conferences that I usually attend. Keep an eye on this Blog, I will share my experiences!!!