{"id":2357,"date":"2013-08-07T17:17:03","date_gmt":"2013-08-07T22:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.synapse9.com\/signals\/?p=2357"},"modified":"2015-02-20T12:39:01","modified_gmt":"2015-02-20T17:39:01","slug":"natural-systems-science_quick-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/natural-systems-science_quick-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Organization in Natural Systems \u2013 \u201cQuick Start\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

How Natural Systems Work… <\/strong>is by forming processes that produce a profit, used to grow it, in a burst of creative self-organization, to become sustainable ONLY\u00a0IF<\/span> the profits that built it get used to maintain what was built; the essential road map. <\/em><\/p>\n

That general model of nature’s “facts of life” is your “quick start”<\/span>. \u00a0 Following is a foreword and then a\u00a0compact introduction to a scientific method. <\/em>Anyone can observe the details of how developmental systems work by just learning to study the development of individual systems in nature. \u00a0You <\/em>start with learning how to identify natural “living systems” as what fills our environments from watching how they develop. \u00a0Then you can recognize them as cells of organization that produce resources for their own development. \u00a0E<\/em>asier reading descriptions are found in:<\/em><\/p>\n

“In a Nut Shell<\/a><\/span>“<\/em><\/strong> and <\/span><\/em>Why ?<\/a><\/span>\u00b8\u00b8.\u00b7\u00b4 \u00af `\u00b7.<\/span>\u00b8\u00b8<\/a>\u00a0 The scientific method<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

How Natural Systems Fail… <\/strong>A growth system that can’t change to maintaining itself after <\/span>building itself, becomes disabled. \u00a0 As for our modern world economy, at the limits of the earth, keeps\u00a0devoting\u00a0more and more effort to expanding<\/em><\/em>, it drains resources from maintaining itself. <\/span><\/span>What’s wrong is the\u00a0essential road map<\/span> for sustainability is missing. \u00a0 It is absent from our great cultural conversations, absent from the models of the professions and groups trying to stabilize the economy or seek “sustainability”. <\/span><\/em><\/span><\/em>
\n<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

_______________________________________________<\/span><\/p>\n

An Organizational Stages Model (OSM)<\/em><\/h4>\n

– \u00a0the science \u00a0–<\/em><\/h3>\n

Foreword: Understanding natural systems involves learning how to first recognize them as individually developing systems, and then discover some of the hidden organization within them. \u00a0 You can find them where you see events have “lives of their own”. \u00a0 The real learning is a \u201clearning by doing\u201d process, as the key is discovering how to define your words by <\/span>referring to self-defining objects of the natural world, not defining words with other words or use abstract models. <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Abstract languages are “self-referential” and what a science of natural systems needs is words defined by nature. \u00a0 To understand system models, then, you then need to consider them as questions about the real world subjects that are NOT in the model… but referred to by the words associated with the natural subject, a new way of scientific thinking. <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Most any history of events will have periods of <\/span><\/span>accumulating\u00a0change that speed up and then slow down. \u00a0T<\/span><\/em>hat becomes the main subject, the key that unlocks the basket of productive questions \u00a0about “what’s happening”. \u00a0 It’s the question that identifies a systematic process of change as a sign of a developmental process and evidence of a self-organizing system doing it. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

When some local system of change is “taking off” or later “fading away”, you notice where it and begin piecing together what is doing it, by watching for regularly changing rates of change. \u00a0 \u00a0It could be anything from the history of your own career choices, to the stages of organization for “the big prom”, the founding of your own business or the dramatic global shifts in economies and societies that “history” is itself a record of.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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[This is a sample graph showing a real systemic\u00a0transformation. \u00a0 Only the data is shown to focus your attention on the changing rates of change<\/span>](i)<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It definitely helps to have some kind of \u201cdata\u201d to indicate when locally developing changes are speeding up or slowing down, and notice the turning point from one to the other. \u00a0 The different periods of behavior display different states of organization, and are used for “building a <\/em>narrative ” for how one transitions into the next. \u00a0The traditional scientific. \u00a0For systems with hidden organization, it’s the continuity of change<\/span> that is the direct evidence, of organization you can’t actually see, but can expect to find if you look there for it.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Making notes on everything involved helps you make confirmable guesses about the continuous chains of events, as you think about your observations like a detective. \u00a0 For example an<\/em> indicator might suggest the turning point from faster to slower change was at one time. \u00a0The details might showing it really occurred earlier or later, possibly changing the whole story, as in the case of the event depicted above (i).<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Notes on the continuities of change help you string together the dynamic flowing way nature “connects the dots\u201d. \u00a0\u00a0If your observations contain assumptions they won\u2019t fit the flows of change as well, so being completely innocent and honest in making observations, free of other thought, is a key to developing good guesses to later confirm about what is actually happening. \u00a0For busy minds that’s hard!. \u00a0 In my own thinking I find some of my assumptions can be pealed away, by exaggerating them not fighting them. \u00a0They become just ridiculous, which lets me have some fun and also more able to separate the subjective story from the real observation, making both more clear. <\/em><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Any ideas or suggestions are quite welcome.<\/em>
\n<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

– \u00a0references \u00a0– <\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

Some of my older introductions are listed below as “Other General Introductions”. <\/span><\/em>You may find one of interest, or prefer to browse my extensive collection of other short discussions here on the blog<\/a><\/span>. \u00a0 I’m particularly proud of The “<\/span>3Step<\/span> approach to working with nature<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span>” as a great tool for getting work groups to actively explore their environments to find anything <\/span>that achieving their ideals might need to work with. \u00a0 Actively exploring ones environment <\/span>without any intended plan for it or\u00a0preconceptions of what it there<\/span> is tremendously important to learn to get good at this<\/span><\/span>. \u00a0The principle is you can find <\/span>anything\u00a0you need to know \u00a0is connected to what <\/span>you truly care about.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

i) The data in Fig. A is from <\/span>a study of the mysterious collapse in NYC murder rates<\/a><\/span>that started abruptly at the very peak of the crack epidemic in 1990, and lead to a lasting period when people stopped being afraid to live and play in New York.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/em>– That there even was a major citywide culture change did not get into the papers, though the signs of it were simply everywhere, as it “had no name”. \u00a0The only real reporting on it was on various relatively small political or policing policy changes taking credit for the very unexpected regular\u00a0citywide <\/em>declines in violence.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/em>– The five curves show the murder rates of the five boroughs, smoothed by a mathematical method that does not lose the dynamics of the underlying process, called “derivative reconstruction”. <\/span>Giuliani was elected at about the “turning point” when the initial accelerating declines in the murder rate started to slow down…<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

ed: 7\/18\/13<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

________________<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Natural Systems Science \u2013 \u201cQuick Start\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

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I. \u00a0A Temporal Map – a life-cycle as a individual <\/span>wholeevent in time<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Five periods of accumulating change, speeding up and slowing down, in the typical life cycle of natural systems that begin and end.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The idea is that natural systems have a developmental life-cycle, composed of periods continuous accumulative change<\/span>.<\/em> If you trace the continuity of their changes with \u201cwhole system indicators\u201d<\/em> like \u2018energy use\u2019, \u2018scale\u2019 or even \u2018performance\u2019, or many other ways<\/a><\/strong>, the shapes in the curves help you see distinct periods of progressive change (symbolized as 1, 2, 4, 5 above)<\/em><\/span> that mark the irreversible changes (being simply accumulative) in how the system works over its life cycle.\u00a0 Associating those periods with narratives for what is observed happening, lets one identify what is becoming more systematic as a whole system behavior.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Systems that become [3<\/strong>] \u2018sustained\u2019 for some period need to have both periods of [1<\/strong>] \u2018emergence\u2019 and [2<\/strong>] \u2018integration\u2019, and \u2018endings\u2019 that include both periods of [4<\/strong>] \u2018disintegration\u2019 and \u00a0[5<\/strong>] \u2018decay\u2019, with the kind of progressive change you see usually indicating \u201cwhere it is\u201d in its life cycle (its place in time).<\/p>\n

II. A Spatial Map – a system that operates itself<\/p>\n

\"\"
How systems have internal processes that use an environment to change it, can be thought of as working like an organism, collecting resources to transform into products.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Progressive change occurring within a boundary indicates locally occurring self-organizing processes<\/span><\/em>, <\/em><\/strong>evidence of \u201ca local system\u201d with a ‘life of its own’ emerging as an individual<\/span>. To emerge and work locally as a system it needs its own form of organization, independent of others, not independence from other influences but of its organization of working parts, and by that organization having evolved where it is seen working.<\/p>\n

Noticing what else besides its key indicators is changing along with it helps define its location and the shape of its self-defining boundary, as<\/em>\u201cwhere it is\u201d in the environment (its place in space). \u00a0That helps distinguish between its interior and exterior relationships as an individual whole system<\/em><\/span>, and to begin asking about the organization of its interior working parts, how they developed, and how they rely on their external relationships.\u00a0 These all follow from observing locally independent progressive change.<\/p>\n

III. \u00a0A Cognitive Map – for nature to theory and back<\/p>\n

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Building a formal world of ideas to faithfully fit a natural world of living things<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So \u201cwhat is it\u201d and \u201cwhere is it headed\u201d are the kinds of questions to ask, as you begin \u201cbuilding a case\u201d, moving your attention back and forth between the<\/span><\/strong> Natural System<\/strong> <\/span>(what\u2019s being observed) & t<\/strong>he<\/span><\/strong> Formal System<\/strong> <\/span>(what\u2019s being imagined), using both theory & intuition to generate and narrow down hypotheses as way to build up a mental map of the far<\/em> more complex local working parts of the natural world.<\/p>\n

IV. An Information Record Map – everything by how it connects<\/p>\n

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One of many ways to organize one’s notes on the life cycle of a natural system (from a 1985 SGSR paper)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You\u2019ll need places for taking notes, to\u00a0record observations<\/span><\/em> on the system and its place in its various environments, to help identify and verify some of its internal and external relationships, creating a complex story for it, that others can use to locate what you are talking about<\/span><\/em> in the natural world and to add to or edit the story based on new perspectives<\/em><\/span>, on what has, is or will be happening, as how the system and its environments keep changing.<\/p>\n

jlh<\/p>\n

______________<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Other general introductions to the natural systems science method:<\/h3>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 70\u2019s to 00\u2019s \u00a0In the Synapse9 archive Physics for Natural Open Systems<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

a.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bump on a Curve<\/a><\/span> \u00b8\u00b8.\u00b7\u00b4 \u00af `\u00b7.<\/span><\/a>\u00b8\u00b8<\/a> Notepad\u00a0For\u00a0Dummies<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

b.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Observing Systems<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

c.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Physics of Happening…<\/a><\/span> the studies demonstrating mathematical methods
\nof\u00a0systems recognition <\/span><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2013 3Step process for Working With Nature<\/a><\/span> and the Draft Facilitator\u2019s Guide<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 sample of the recent in-depth blog posts on the general method<\/p>\n

a.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2012 Steps to a natural systems view<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

b.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2012 Self-organization as \u201cniche making\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

c.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2012 Emotionally proofreading your logical models<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2011 Systems Energy Assessment<\/a><\/span> \u2013 systems physics of whole systems, \u201chow to measure them\u201d<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2011 A decisive moment for Investing in Sustainability<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2011 The curious use of Stimulus for Constraint<\/a><\/span> \u2013 systems physics of economies, \u201chow to steer them\u201d<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2010 Life\u2019s Hidden Resources for Learning<\/a><\/span> & 2008 Models Learning Change <\/a><\/span> essays in Cosmos & History<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0\u00a0 1995-2010 The Energy Physics of Continuity in Change<\/a><\/span> why change begins with bursts of self-organization<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0\u00a0 1995 Reconstructing the Physical Continuity of Events<\/a><\/span>, math and methods for recognizing processes of developmental change<\/p>\n

10.\u00a0\u00a0 1985 Directed Opportunity, Directed Impetus: New tools for investigating autonomous causation<\/a><\/span>,\u00a0conceptual study of causation<\/p>\n

11.\u00a0\u00a0 1979 An Unhidden Pattern of Events<\/a><\/span> implications of nature displaying both continuity and events<\/p>\n

______________<\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How Natural Systems Work… is by forming processes that produce a profit, used to grow it, in a burst of creative self-organization, to become sustainable ONLY\u00a0IF the profits that built it get used to maintain what was built; the essential road map. That general model of nature’s “facts of life” is your “quick start”. \u00a0 … Continue reading Finding Organization in Natural Systems \u2013 \u201cQuick Start\u201d<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,8,10,12,1,16],"tags":[32],"class_list":["post-2357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-among-best-2","category-teaching","category-theory","category-pop","category-scitheory","category-uncategorized","category-whattodo","tag-org-stage-models"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2357"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3059,"href":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2357\/revisions\/3059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}