In The Dharma of Natural Systems Joanna Macy presents four systemic properties:
1) The systems cannot be reduced to its parts without altering their pattern;
2) The system is homeostatic, stabilizing itself through negative feedback. The system adjusts its output to produce and sustain a match between the input it will receive and its internally coded requirements.
3) The system is self-organizing. When a mismatch between input and code persists, the system searches for and encodes a new pattern by which it can function. Incorporating positive feedback - differentiation and complexification of structure emerge.
4) The system is not only a whole, but a part within a larger whole. Whether the whole is a cell or organ, atom or animal, it is comprised of subsystems. It is also a subsystem within a wider system of whose character and functioning it is an integral and co-determinative component. Open systems in interaction form more inclusive structures or patterns as a function of their mutual adaptations.
In sum, a systemic approach, as opposed to a merely analytical approach, includes the totality of the elements in the system under study, as well as their interaction and relational interdependence with other systems.
Openness
The key to examining the existence and usefulness of paradigms is openness. (I must have been ahead of the time: in high school I founded an after-school gathering called "The Open Mind Club".)
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