Month: November 2017

The idea of the mechanistic view of the world was likened to a clock -made up of many interconnected components (pieces), which function as a whole (machine). To understand the machine, we have to understand the parts. Technically, this is a new way of understanding life, and the principle of interconnectedness could be applied to the way we see the world (as a machine). The same applies to the human body (as a machine), as well as other systems in the world such as politics and health system. In addressing the systems of the world, no problem should be treated in isolation due to the inter-relationship among the pieces.

An example was given from the health system, and the following chain of events is being observed: Cutting down trees in the rain-forest causes global warming, and using the cut down trees to build ranches for red meat could introduce some long terms effects. The effects include health conditions such as heart failure, and government spending on the production of artificial hearts. To illustrate this further, the following systemigram is used to depict the impact of cutting down trees on the economy. Continue reading “Mechanistic view”

It was an interesting experience observing the development of systemic depictions. First of all, I did not know there was such a tool used to model systems thinking. While the depictions were underway in class for student enrolment, what caught my interest was the way the links and nodes give new perspectives of the entire system, and it becomes easier to point out areas that need adjustment or modification -which is a flexible way of thinking.

The depictions remind me of “state-transition diagram” in automata theory, used for solving computational and engineering problems. The state corresponds each node, while the transitions corresponds to the link. I quite agree with the engineering approach used in educational systems design and engineering.

Having fully represented the system of interest, the relationships existing among the nodes became very clear and it was easy to identify potential problems. For example, in an attempt to establish equity and fair play, the links denote the behavior of the nodes with respect to other coordinating components. The number of items in a node could also suggest opportunities for modification and restructuring as needed. On the other hand, the depiction of student enrolment gives more insight to identifying causal and effect relationships, and helps to identify internal and external opportunities and threats. In addition, potential problems of the system could be deleted or redirected. I think SystemiTool affords great opportunities for effective design and redesign systems of interest.