[v] Book: The Systems View of Life - A Unifying Vision
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| The Systems View of Life - A Unifying Vision |
Part IV begins with the ecological dimensions of life. There's a reminder that ecology, comes from the Greek 'oikos' for "household". We need this -
move you rubbish (don't leave it in the first place), wipe your feet; switch the lights off when not in use, assuming you have them!; close and open the windows as needed; think less 'location, location, location' and having a home.
Given the pictorial form of Hodges' model - mind-mapping - I've always been attracted to diagrams, no-less here the pioneering work of the Odum brothers and 'Odum flow diagrams' which even today are an ecological currency in the literature (p.344-45). An update on ecosystems as dissipative structures and as autopoietic would be helpful. Of course, now for scholars and students have search terms then resources and learning can follow. While ozone depletion is acknowledged, the role of the atmosphere could possibly be (briefly) expanded (guest essay, box?), in-particular the role of the Van Allen belts and the fact of Earth's magnetic field and (still) molten core. 16.2.3 definitely points the way pp.348-351.
16.3.1 Defining sustainability - made me sit up. Lester Brown's 1980's work is not referenced in:
Jones P, Wirnitzer K. Hodges’ model: the Sustainable Development Goals and public health – universal health coverage demands a universal framework. BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health 2022;5:doi: 10.1136/bmjnph-2021-000254 (From the bibliography listing in the sidebar of this blog.)
It was Brown who defined sustainability, and the question is ongoing regards how to build a sustainable society (p.352). Key as Capra 2002 notes is that a sustainable human community would not interfere with nature's inherent ability to sustain life. Ecological literacy 16.3.2 was also welcome; a constant theme on this blog, given the many claimed forms of literacy, as with (schools of) informatics. The informational perspective can reveal its power across literacies and informatics, consider media and information literacy? A way to paraphrase the authors: "The market and the marketplace is information disordered." (p.354).
Three chapters include descriptions of agencies (with links) that work with knowledge in an interdisciplinary way; where ecological and spiritual dimensions of education are emphasized; and in chapter 18 several other centers of learning. Chapter 16 looks at organisations with a focus on ecoliteracy in schools, colleges and universities. Checking some of the links many are ongoing - alive!
Struck in the past by the original approach of Goethe to 'science', his work on patterns is described in the introduction and here in relation to the arts and curricula. You will find 'art' sprinkled throughout the posts on W2tQ. Key concepts are described networks, flows, cycles, nested systems, dynamic balance, and development. Chapter 17 joins the dots of the world's problems. 'Growth' appears a disposable term, in how it is applied and so little understood, even by politicians and policy makers? Recent UK politics is a prime example. There is a another concurrent thread (to informatics and literacy) on this blog, as it is inbuilt, hard and soft-wired into the structure of Hodges' model. It is dichotomy, polarity and oppositions, specifically, objective - subjective, quality - quantity.
'In fact, the new systemic conception of life makes it possible to formulate a scientific concept of quality. It seems that there are two different meanings of the term - one objective and the other subjective. In the objective sense, the qualities of a complex system refer to properties of the system that none of its parts exhibit. Quantities like mass or energy tell us about the properties of the parts, and their sum total is equal to the corresponding property of the whole - e.g., the total mass or energy. Qualities like stress or health, by contrast, cannot be expressed as the sum of properties of the parts. Qualities arise from processes and patterns of relationships among the parts. Hence, we cannot understand the nature of complex systems such as organisms, ecosystems, societies, and economies if we try to describe them in purely quantitative terms. Quantities can be measured; qualities need to be mapped (see Section 4.3).
With the recent emphasis on complexity, networks, and patterns of organization, the attention of scientists in the life sciences has begun to shift from quantities to qualities, and there has been a corresponding conceptual shift in mathematics. In fact, this began in physics during the 1960s with the strong emphasis on symmetry (see Section 8.4,3), which is a quality, and it intensified during the subsequent decades with the development of complexity theory, or nonlinear dynamics, which is a mathematics of patterns and relationships. The strange attractors of chaos theory and the fractals of fractal geometry are visual patterns representing the qualities of complex systems (see Sections 6.3 and 6.4).In the human realm, the notion of quality always seems to include references to human experiences, which are subjective aspects. This should not be surprising. Since all qualities arise from processes and patterns of relationships, they will necessarily include subjective elements if these processes and relationships involve human beings.' pp.368-369. (My emphasis - and encouraging for research and researchers in Hodges' model)
The authors point out how the conjoining of 'sustainable development' is problematic when viewed in qualitative and quantitative terms (17.2.2 pp.369-371). I wonder what Capra and Luis would make of the SDGs and the metrics employed today? This has been an issue (reading for Jones & Wirnitzer, 2022), with measures needing to catch up and the disruption of COVID. There really is a case for economic literacy for people globally, as 'freedom' is so readily passed-off - associated with economics and trade as a 'right'. Another potential update revolves around globalisation, what would they make of Doughnut economics?
An additional risk now are the bitcoin factories and energy needed to drive AI data-processing. How transparent are global corporations in declaring their energy use? The LIBOR scandal is raised, but what the cost involved in Bankman-Fried and FTX-Alameda Research fraud? Capitalism is built on speculation and always will be? But if we defer 'paying' for economic transformation in a decade the costs will rapidly increase. Capra and Luis acknowledge the need to think about future generations. An ethical stance that is, thankfully, changing policy, and deserves attention.
I pencilled in the margin - what is the conclusion of the lesson of Argentina? Do the economists, the IMF, the World Bank, the Argentinian people know? What of the economic predilections of other nations? Who are the exemplars, the pioneers? Must Africa follow the West's bad-habits? Can they leap-frog technologies (land-lines, fossil fuel reliance ...)? I understand they are! In the West, do we need to re-invent public information services, to address the prevailing mindset? Even as the financial industry has passed-through a 'quant' phase, but mathematics still (and will always) hold sway (p.379).
Page 381 reminded me of the need for gainful employment, and how this is threatened and has always been threatened by technology (very broadly defined). The varied forms of parity of esteem become evident not just in health (mental - physical); education (technical - vocational), but employment too, especially with automation and artificial intelligence. The decade since the book was published leaves room for new content: what might replace or complement The Occupy Movement, The Seattle Coalition? The socio-political rate of change is remarkable. Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion, for example, are clearly post-publication. The claimed rationale for business as usual in 'trickle down economics' remains relevant (sadly) p.384. More could be made now of the two numbers - 565 gigatons and 2,800 gigatons of carbon (350.org); and the current debate on carbon capture (Ah! p.408).
I have over the years associated the intra- interpersonal domain with the individual's cognition, reasoning, logic, intellect, thought, and education. Collectively though we need to invert this:
individual
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INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES
humanistic ------------------------------- mechanistic
SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL
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group
| education | EDUCATION |
| EDUCATION | EDUCATION |
It is essential for every person to be informed were possible, to get to this situation (e.g. this book in a sense is an appeal for the public's understanding of science; and our political leaders):
individual
|
INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES
humanistic ------------------------------- mechanistic
SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL
|
group
| EDUCATION | EDUCATION |
| EDUCATION | ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE! |
Chapter 18 pulls everything together (and provides HOPE) in systemic solutions. The previous post:
- drew on this chapter (p.398). I didn't realise 'commercial speech' is protected in the USA.
As expected - a moral compass is still needed (p.430). I really the section on acroecology. It might be an idea to read this final chapter first. If there is a response to the question (there's no answer) as to why we are here - this is it. Biotech has its section, genetic engineering, the scope and risks, as does, the third industrial revolution, citing Rifkin's five pillars (2011). Agribusiness, world hunger, and the twelve myths:
'At a time of unprecedented wealth, when almost one-half of all Americans own stocks and are able to watch their wealth and economic power grow on the nightly news, it is good to remember that over 800 million people worldwide are passing the same nights unable to feed themselves and their children. A full quarter of other Americans, especially children, have much in common with the world’s hungry, experiencing their own hunger intermittently. Frances Moore Lappe and co-authors Joseph Collins and Peter Rosset in World Hunger: 12 Myths are there to remind us. Remind us of the plight of the world’s hungry, as Frances Moore Lappe has done for over 20 years, and remind us too that there is enough food; that hunger is not necessary; that hunger is a social creation; hungry people a social phenomenon, and consequently one that depends on us and that we can change.'
https://www.worldhunger.org/world-hunger-12-myths/The chapter and book closes with a meditation regards hope. A comprehensive bibliography and index follows.
Despite the age of this book it has proved well-worth reading. I am glad I pursued my original request for a review copy. Well recommended and I wonder if there would be another edition? Clearly this would take a great effort, but then needs must? I will revisit the chapter on health. In the past week, the the UK's last coal power plant closed (BBC News). Change is happening. And the weather globally of recent months cannot be denied.
My thanks are extended to the team at Cambridge University Press for the paperback copy.
Fritjof Capra and Pier Luigi Luisi (2014) The Systems View of Life - A Unifying Vision. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
https://www.cambridge.org/gb/universitypress/subjects/life-sciences/genomics-bioinformatics-and-systems-biology/systems-view-life-unifying-vision?format=HB&isbn=9781107011366
https://www.cambridge.org/gb/universitypress/subjects/life-sciences/genomics-bioinformatics-and-systems-biology/systems-view-life-unifying-vision?format=HB&isbn=9781107011366
orcid.org/0000-0002-0192-8965