For the past thirty years, I have been an educator, businessman and student of the practical application of General Systems Theory[1]. For about fifteen of those thirty years I have been proselytizing the word of General Systems Theory, and have been told innumerable times by students, colleagues, friends and associates - “you should write a book.” Well, this is that book.
Why should I write a book on General Systems Theory (also known as "GST")? There are two reasons: First, because the rules of General Systems Theory are the “glue” that holds our world together and the fuel that makes it move. It is the rules of General Systems Theory that makes things in life predictable, and the absence of adherence to those rules that makes things unpredictable. Second, for all of the literature published about General Systems Theory over the last 50 years, there is no "How-To" manual for the GST practitioner.
Whenever we make a decision, whether personal or business, the outcome of that decision will be governed by the rules of General Systems Theory. Therefore, GST should be the cornerstone of the foundation upon which that decision is made.
The Universe in Motion
The universe is alive in constant motion. Photons (quanta) move through space and time at the speed of light. Spinning quarks bang together to form protons and neutrons that make up the atomic nucleus. Electrons orbit the nucleus of an atom. Atoms twist around each other, sharing orbiting, gyrating electrons to form molecules such as DNA that form the basis of life. Life moves about the planet, digesting, respiring, working, warring, loving, communicating, and otherwise being mobile. Planets rotate on their axis and revolve around their suns that revolve around the center of the galaxy. Galaxies cartwheel through space in a grand, cosmic choreography. Without this cosmic and quantum motion there is no energy, no matter, no life, no great thoughts to ponder.
As complex and chaotic as it seems, all of this motion is generally predictable, because it follows certain rules. Planets orbit suns in a particular manner, following the "rules" called celestial mechanics. Electrons orbit atomic nuclei in a particular way according to the rules of quantum mechanics. Because we know the rules, we can use them to our benefit.
Understanding celestial mechanics allowed us to land men on the moon, and spacecraft on Venus and Mars and send Voyager out of the Solar System.
Because we understand certain of the rules of quantum mechanics we can alter the state of electrons, protons and other sub-atomic particles to our benefit. When you know the rules of electron motion, you can alter the way an electron moves to gain a benefit - such electric light, or a CAT scanner at a hospital, or a laser light to play your CDs. When you understand atomic motion, you can create a fuel cell or nuclear power plant or a new medicine or a new meal-time snack.
The Value of Understanding Similar Rules
These "rules of motion" in celestial mechanics and in quantum mechanics are at opposite extremes - from the motion of cosmically large objects and systems like suns and planets to infinitesimally small objects and systems like atoms, molecules and photons. The truly amazing thing is that many of the rules of these extremely different systems are, in the terms of systems theory, isomorphic, which means that, even though they are, physically, very different systems and objects, the rules of their behavior are very similar in structure.
By studying, analyzing and understanding the isomorphism (or similarity of structure) of the rule sets for very different objects and systems, we can begin to apply those rules to even more apparently unrelated systems.
Why Understand General Systems Theory?
General Systems Theory is the body of rules that apply to all systems, from quantum to cosmic, from chemical to biological, from human interaction to inanimate computer and telecommunications systems. The rules of General Systems Theory govern the organization of cells, the propagation of ocean waves, the organization of corporations, terrestrial weather patterns, the organization of solar systems and galaxies, the success or failure of an ecology, and the organization of philosophical and religious thought.
Why understand General Systems Theory? The knowledge and practice of General Systems Theory gives the individual tremendous advantages in life … from social interactions, to success in the work place, and in general, to problem solving and self-actualization. Yet for all of its power and value, General Systems Theory has remained relatively obscure … the province of a few specialists operating in a few disciplines - such as computer science, engineering, medicine, and to a lesser degree cognitive psychology.
[1] theory
\The"o*ry\, n.; pl. Theories. [F. th['e]orie, L. theoria, Gr. ? a beholding, spectacle, contemplation, speculation, fr. ? a spectator, ? to see, view. See Theater.]
1. A doctrine, or scheme of things, which terminates in speculation or contemplation, without a view to practice; hypothesis; speculation.
Note: ``This word is employed by English writers in a very loose and improper sense. It is with them usually convertible into hypothesis, and hypothesis is commonly used as another term for conjecture. The terms theory and theoretical are properly used in opposition to the terms practice and practical. In this sense, they were exclusively employed by the ancients; and in this sense, they are almost exclusively employed by the Continental philosophers.'' --Sir W. Hamilton.
2. An exposition of the general or abstract principles of any science; as, the theory of music.
3. The science, as distinguished from the art; as, the theory and practice of medicine.
4. The philosophical explanation of phenomena, either physical or moral; as, Lavoisier's theory of combustion; Adam Smith's theory of moral sentiments.
Atomic theory, Binary theory, etc. See under Atomic, Binary, etc.
Syn: Hypothesis, speculation.
Usage: Theory, Hypothesis. A theory is a scheme of the relations subsisting between the parts of a systematic whole; an hypothesis is a tentative conjecture respecting a cause of phenomena.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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