systems
All things related to an interconnected, systemic view of the world
systems
A program is a building of thought. It is costless to build, it is weightless, and it grows easily under our typing hands. But as a program grows, so does its complexity. The skill of programming is the skill of building programs that don’t confuse yourself. The best programs are those that manage to do something interesting while still being easy ... See more
Introduction :: Eloquent JavaScript
There are three distinct ways in which a system can react to perturbations (stress, shocks, noise, volatility, faults, attacks, or failures): it can be
1. fragile , unable to withstand even small perturbations,
2. robust , keeping its structure intact even under large perturbations, or
3. antifragile , improving its behavior under (certain kinds/amoun... See more
1. fragile , unable to withstand even small perturbations,
2. robust , keeping its structure intact even under large perturbations, or
3. antifragile , improving its behavior under (certain kinds/amoun... See more
Understanding Living Systems
Living organisms are truly complex and antifragile (3) in a way our technological systems are not.
Understanding Living Systems
This is Darwinian evolution in a nutshell: adaptation through natural selection in populations of individuals across many generations.
But this is not the only way organisms can improve through challenges: they can also adapt their physiology, growth, or behavior to their arena (environment) as individuals within a single life span because they are autonomous agents. As the famous evolutionary biologist Richard Lewontin put it: “the organism is both the subject and the object of evolution.”
Interconnectedness is one of the basic principles of life. Transience is another. They both go together to form a multileveled dynamic web of connections between living processes. What results is an emergent and persistent higher-level order from constantly changing lower-level interactions. The singers change, but the song remains the same.
Understanding Living Systems
Sustainable living and regeneration can only be understood in this wider context. Not only is the persistence of an individual rooted in its own constant regeneration, but the entire eco- system depends on the antifragile absorption and adaptation that results from the constant and rapid turnover of its components.
Understanding Living Systems
Life emerges from the realm of the non-living as a new kind of organization of matter . Life is not distinguished by what it is made of, but by how it is put together, and how it behaves.
Understanding Living Systems
Understanding Living Systems
johannesjaeger.eu
Living systems are anticipatory . Agents have internal models (forward projections) of what is likely to happen next in their arena. This enables them to choose actions with beneficial expected outcomes in many situations, to build strategies towards achieving their goals. Non-living systems are purely reactive, their behavior determined by their e... See more
Understanding Living Systems
8. How can principles learned from living systems inform our approach to solving contemporary societal crises, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and lack of sustainability?
Two aspects are central to our move from dominion to stewardship :
1. We must pay close attention to the rates of change in our social-ecological system.
2. We must shift... See more
Two aspects are central to our move from dominion to stewardship :
1. We must pay close attention to the rates of change in our social-ecological system.
2. We must shift... See more