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Systems Thinkers and Current Challenges

Observing our body it can be used as a metaphor for a self-organizing, self-regulating, and self-healing sustainable living system, capable of performing the most complicated actions with minimum effort, like speech or regulating blood pressure, sugar, enzymes, heartbeat, oxygen level, all automatically without requiring direct control or any conscious effort. Development of nonlinear theories like systems, chaos, fractal, and network theories are providing deeper insight to this effortless action by explaining how the universe and earth are self-organizing and cognitive living systems, and contain the universal structural pattern of nonlinear networks.

Quantum mechanics indicates that the universe is not made of building blocks, rather it is composed of dancing energy which performs as a wave, and when it experiences local partial stability, it performs as particles. Due to the inherent information pattern that particles carry they can engage with other particles in a nonlinear manner to create self-organizing nonlinear networks. This type of organization provides them with fractal dimensions and the potential to sync with other members of the network to create a whole that has functionality and information content greater than the sum of its components, this makes the living networks creative and cognitive systems. Every nonlinear network also has the same inherent tendency to engage with other networks to create larger nonlinear networks with highly advanced functionality and information content. We can observe this fractal hierarchy of networking processes with unlimited creativity and efficiency in subatomic particles, molecules, proteins, cells, human organs, and our body network, to the human, planet, solar, and galaxy networks. When we travel upward in this cognitive hierarchy, we observe higher functionality increasing at each tier in the form of information content, and knowledge capable of guiding its sub-networks to achieve its higher cognitive goal.

The cognitive purpose of the larger networks determines the destiny of the subnetworks and the purpose of each subnetwork is its own will. In a fractal living network the synchronicity of destiny and will provides optimum efficiency and creativity, and when they do not synchronize it creates a whole that is less than sum of the parts and an unsustainable network. This nonlinear living network model of the universe is self-generating without central command or an independent outside creator and is made of cognitive energy embedded with spiral pattern of information which enables it to inertly structure itself in nonlinear network patterns. The networking model of the universe is the simplest, yet very elegant model to explain the creativity and higher intelligence of the universe and internalize the traditional independent divine or separated creator (God) and in doing so unifies science and spirituality.

The universality of nonlinear network’s behavioral patterns and their fractal dimensions (enabling them to create complex systems with simple equations) are the basis of the simplicity and effortless behavior of all living systems, including the living planet and universe. This ability to effortlessly synchronize to perform complex actions can be seen on the scale of human experience. It has been observed by mystic traditions most notably by Lao Tzu, who refers to it as the flow state, or in sports and music it occurs when you are “in the zone”.

Considering our planet as a self-organizing, self-regulating, and cognitive living system,  it’s capable of effortlessly self-regulating its sub-networks. The self-awareness of human beings as a highly connected, and inseparable part of the living planet is a first step in planet earth’s self-awareness process which already has been achieved by the development of non-linear theories in the digital era. Our liner perception, thinking, and relationship as an approximated model of the universe, (which we have developed in our self-awareness process) has been the milestone of this achievement of self-awareness. However, the linear perception of humanity that enabled this awareness is becoming unsustainable in the nonlinear digital world.

Through the process of becoming self-conscious, human beings created an approximate linear model of the universe based on the partial stability and order of their immediate surroundings. Then, through the development of sign language and the process of mimicking other animals (to repeal or attract them), they started to separate subjects from objects. This separation started the perception of a subjective virtual world of information and abstract thinking, which eventually led to analytical thinking (or linear thinking) within their approximate linear model of the universe. Linear systems are reductionist and deterministic systems which provide predictability and certainty, when we analyze an event we reduce it to a few dominant causes (the inherit tendency towards power law distribution always provides a few dominant causes in any event) and neglect most insignificant factors. Focusing on major factors of an event along with the proportionality of cause and effect in linear systems provides certainty, determinism, and predictability and makes linear thinking a judgmental logic.

Over time this process led to self-awareness and elusively separated human beings and their network from the living planet. To protect the separated self from the rest of the living planet the nature of linear thinking became protective, defensive, and biased towards negativity, fear, and violence. This gradually led to a relationship with the planet and its other sub-networks based on self-assertiveness, domination, short-term gain, and liability management. Through these types of relationships, the human network has in one hand heavily consumed earth’s resources, but in the other hand this cognitive process was able to manifest many kinds of hidden metaphysical and physical potentials of the living planet. These include mystical experiences, art, advanced technologies, and sciences. These scientific theories enable us to develop systems thinking and systemic relationships based on living system’s universal behavioral patterns, including extraordinary evidence that the earth is a living system. The cognitive process of linear thinking also led humanity to recognize the limitations and short comings of the linear model (more noticeably in the current digital era).

When we consider the earth as a living network it has greater intelligence and higher cognitive goals than those of its sub-networks. As living systems are sustainable and very efficient systems, a question always arises as to how such an efficient and creative system could create such a wasteful system as the human network. However, acknowledging human self-awareness and the development of linear thinking and relationships as part of Earth’s self-awareness process brings into context this journey of elusive separation (and the resulting unsustainable nature of humanity) as an achievement with higher purpose and not a failure. This outlook shifts our attention positively to the wealth of systemic information that has been developed, such as universal systemic relationships applicable to any network from the personal level to social, economic, and planetary levels. In the nonlinear digital era, since most activities (political and economical) are being processed through the nonlinear network of the Internet, they are becoming highly interconnected, interdependent, and nonlinear and require the practice of systemic relationships. In addition, while the promises of tradition and modernism are fading away and becoming inconsistent and unsustainable, acknowledging the higher intelligence of the planet Earth that is guiding the sub-networks will bring hope to both secular and religious believers.

System thinking and relationships are based on the universal behavioral patterns of living systems, and it is a nonlinear logic that has a universal answer to the challenges of the current nonlinear digital world. Systems thinking is a paradigm shift toward simplicity, flexibility, quality, patterns, relationships (which are conceptually supported by nonlinear mathematics), cognitive process, interconnectivity, and interdependency. Shifting from linear thinking to systems thinking is shifting relationships from self-assertive to integrative, from rational to intuitive, from reductionist to holistic, and from separation to connectedness. System thinking also has different values, shifting from consumption to conservation, from competition to cooperation, from quantity to quality, from domination to partnership, from rigidity to flexibility, from judgmental to observant, and from liability to asset management. Furthermore, this shifts our state of mind, from negativity, blame, anger, revenge, violence and hopelessness to be observant, positive, forgiving, tolerant, peaceful, hopefulness and practicing unconditional love.

Throughout the history of the universal cognitive process the rate of change, (or the time from one stage of complexity to the next) shortens after each progression on an astronomical, planetary, and biological scale. In our planetary scale the current nonlinear digital age with an exponential rate of change, corresponds with higher connectivity and interdependence among the human network and its activity internally and with the living planets other sub-networks. This increased rate of change can also be observed in the increase of frequency and severity of weather related events,  accelerated unpredictability, uncertainty, the dis-proportionality of cause and effect (especially noticeable during the COVID-19 Pandemic) and the unsustainability of our linear structures (political, economical, environmental). All these changes are indicating that the planet Earth has achieved its cognitive goal of self-awareness, and the emergence of chaos is the beginning of the self-organizing process to reintegrate the human network with the living planet. The human networks participation with systemic thinking and relationships is extremely critical at this phase, further domination of linear thinking and relationships will cause further unpredictability and uncertainty along with hopelessness, fear, and violence. Chaos and uncertainty is a prerequisite to the emergence of creative systemic solutions, to bring hopefulness and positivity and the ability to achieve the most complicated tasks with minimum effort, especially when we recognize that the living earth with higher intelligence and purpose is on our side to provide connections and resources to facilitate the process.

It is difficult to predict how the shifting process will materialize, but by investigating our body network as a metaphor for a self-organizing living system we may be able to predict the pattern of shift, then the universality of nonlinear living systems behavior will make it possible to apply it to different disciplines and scales. Prior to examining the metaphor it is important to note that because of the uneven universal distribution (power law distribution), nonlinear networks create hubs, and according to Albert Barabasi (Network Science) the function of  hubs are essential for the sustainability and robustness of the whole network.

When we analyze the human body as a living system we notice that it follows the uneven power law distribution: our brain which weights and occupies only five percent of our body network consumes twenty percent of our energy intake (similar to the function of the human network in our planet). We notice that subconsciously our brain is in full synchronicity and cooperation with our body network when effortlessly performing any complex action. However, through the domination of linear logic (left side brain) our brain elusively separates itself from the body network and exercises self-assertive and dominant relationships with the network to satisfy its short-term desires and entertainments (addiction to sugar, coffee, alcohol, information etc.). While systems thinking is observant and embraces accelerated change, chaos and the emergence of the digital era with positivity and creative solutions, the defensive nature of linear thinking creates fear, stress, negativity, and hopefulness to further depress the self-healing process.

Our brain can be so shortsighted that it is not humble enough to realize that its own long-term sustainability is connected to the well being of the body’s entire network. Consequently, this short-term focus makes the entire self-healing, self-regulating network unsustainable. Sustainability and longevity of the body network will be achieved and optimized when the brain as a hub implements systemic relationships in the body network. Therefore, the paradigm shift starts in our brain (as a self-organizing living system) first and expands to our body network. When we start to observe and align our behaviors, thoughts, and actions with systemic values and relationships as a feedback system our brain can become aware of its linear relationships and its short-term gains. Eventually the domination of the linear (left side, masculine, analytical, and physical) brain (that has been more dominant in the last few centuries), shifts to cooperation with the non-linear (right side, feminine, intuitive, and metaphysical) brain to optimize its potential and establish sustainable relationships with the body network.

Similarly, the sustainability of the planet Earth network requires that the human network as a hub, shifts its relations from linear to systemic ones. Systems thinkers are the hub of the human network, by collaborating their knowledge, resources, and connections they can create a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts, and this begins with the hubs of the system thinkers network to plant the seeds.

Systems Philosophy – In Detail

Systems Philosophy The main goal of systems philosophy is to argue that we are residing in a self-organizing living system (our planet and the universe) with an inherent capability to sustain life. Living systems are cognitive systems with an inherent tendency to structure themselves in nonlinear network patterns capable of performing highly complex functions with … Continue reading Systems Philosophy – In Detail