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English Pages 131 [148] Year 1972
$2.45
ERVIN LASZLO Author of Introduction
to
Systems Philosophy
Digitized by the Internet Archive in
2011
http://www.archive.org/details/systemsviewofwOOIasz
^USqa
—
By
gain some
natural systems according to our hypothesis.
f
i
categories
use suborganic,
assessment of the validity of the properties characterizing
„
yJ
\
specific
of organization rather than to essence or substance.
In general, then, by suborganic
rO N(f
shall
and supraorganic, meaning by these
organic,
modes
more usual
instead of the
organic,
its
Are
there entities in the suborganic world
whose
£\
properties as wholes cannot be reduced to the properties of
^
their separable parts? This
,J
careful thinking
is
is
our
needed right
first
question,
at the outset.
and some
Atoms were
taken as the indivisible basic building blocks of physical reality until the
\
jT\
*i
$* V*/ P
.
V.
O
0/ Ml) \
that
advent of modern atomic theory, which
atoms are complex and
divisible.
Their elemen-
P art i c l es were next thought to be indivisible, but they, too, turned out to be capable of scattering into quanta
tary
of
radiant
particles.
energies
corresponding to several subsidiary
In the search for the genuine rock bottom of
material reality, the latest candidates are the most unmatter-
^ '
showed
*>
\
.y
like "quarks." exist
They are not
in other than
thought to constitute the particles
known
isolable,
composite
many
nor are they known to
states,
which they are
nucleonic and electronic
to the contemporary physicist.
clear whether they exist in nature at
30
in
all.
And
it is
not
Hence bas ically
The Systems View of Nature
jvehave but ofjnatter,
On
if
the vaguest understanding of the ultimate units
indeed there are any such things.
the other hand,
crete structures.
properties
Each
we do know
a whole has certain properties.
atom are not reducible
we took
And
it),
certain
the properties of the
the neutron, proton,
we would
and the atom as
to the properties of all
hydrogen atom and recombined them chances are
exist as dis-
atom has
(some, such as spin, so abstract that only a
mathematical definition can be given of
together. If
atoms
that
constituent of an
in
its
parts
added
and electron of a
any arbitrary way,
not get a hydrogen atom at
properties of the latter equal the properties of
The
all.
parts plus
its
These
the exact relations of the parts within the structure.
are usually expressed in terms of fields of force potentials
(such as electronic and nuclear fields). Microphysics would
be a simpler science indeed piles of
if
atoms were mere heaps,
rubbish or streams of raindrops. But such
like
not the
is
/f>M?J / *s* Jlfjfas \ Thermodynamics^ It
0/rru
we
run and keep
en-
The Systems View of Nature tropy, or
its
negative,
is
a measure of the energy available to
way
a system in virtue of the
For example, a house with a supplyoTelectricity
is
full
components are organized. tank of heating
so organized that
able to heat and light tric
its
itself
oil
and good
has energy avail-
it
and operate a number of
elec-
appliances. But the heating oil (as well as the electricity
and
stored in the batteries) can be exhausted,
in time the
house will grow cold and dark. Hence most houses are supplied with regular deliveries of fuel oil and with a con-
tinuous input of electricity from a power source.
down
process of running
is
For now the house needs from the outside, and
it is
Fuel
side supplies last.
Then
the
postponed, but not eliminated. to import
oils
working energies
its
a question of
how
long the out-
are fossil fuels which were
generated a long time ago in the history of the earth by processes which resulted in the accumulation of reservoirs of
natural
oil
under the earth's surface. These can, of course,
be depleted. Electricity is
is
generated by burning coal, which
likewise an exhaustible fossil fuel, or
by some other
force,
such as a waterfall, being used to drive the generators. It is
a question of
how
long such forces are available for
Although some (such
the purposes.
as nuclear energies)
be available for a very long time, the point are_given in limitless supply. Eventually available
becomes cold and dark with
supposes that no more sunlight
—
import from space )
all
that
no energies
the free energies
on the surface of the earth can be used up and then
the house
indeed.
is
may
The
is
—
available,
finality.
(This pre-
a source of energy
we
an event a long way
off
principle states that within any given isolated
system energy stored in virtue of the organization of the
components
gets used
up and the system
gets correspond-
35
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD
The house
ingly disorganized.
as
an isolated system would
run down rather quickly. The house coupled to the power
much
supplies of a continent forms a system of a
with correspondingly longer
life
coupled with the earth-sun system
is
tremendous
But
reserves of energies.
vaster kind,
And
expectancy.
a house
a very vast system, with
such systems run
all
down eventually, however long it may take. Ordinary objects run down unless they
are fed energies
and repairs or replacements from the
outside.
physical systems cut off from other systems run
way
this
too.
But there are excepti ons
to the rule,
are found within the closed systems of
Law just
Entire
down
in
and these
which the Second
speaks. The Law is permissive: it does not determine how such a system runs down. It can do so very
unevenly. In fact
down on
it
is
quite possible that
the whole, while in
actually get
wound
some areas or
up. That
is,
it
should run
parts
it
should
there can be subsidiary
systems within the whole system, and these subsystems can get
more organized
Of
as time goes on, rather than less.
course, the rest of the system gets correspondingly depleted,
and the sum of the energies used up
more energy
is
used up than
is
is
always positive
The system as a parts become
generated.
whole gets disorganized, whereas some of
its
increasingly organized at the expense of the
though we used the
house to produce more
batteries.
available energies in the
new
The sum
of the electric
decreased, even
if
locally
down even
if
some
runs
36
it
We
batteries,
energy from the original ones to serve.
rest. It is
electricity stored in the batteries of
it
but use up more pre-
available to us has
has increased.
parts of
concentrate our
make them than we
power
as
our
The whole house
wind up.
The Systems View
of Nature
any given thing
If
condition,
it
to maintain itself in proper
must act as a subsystem within the
which defines that
is
its
energy supplies.
draws energies from
it
them up
in running
itself.
It
its
own
purposes.
It
must be so organized
environment, and burns
its
That
is,
it
must take
to that extent.
to run the subsystem
in sub-
can use
it
then puts out waste products in
the form of used-up substances, impoverishing
ment
system
total
stances which contain energies in a form which for
running
The
energies gained can be used
—something which
be paid for in terms of the
environ-
its
total
inevitably has to
supply of energy
carry out the necessary maintenance work. All this
—and
is
to
directly
involved in sustaining a subsystem over an appreciable
period of time. Like Alice, they must keep running just to stay in the
The
same
place.
particular configuration of parts
which
is
tem
called a "steady-state." It
is
and
relationships
maintained in a self-maintaining and repairing is
sys-
a state in which energies
are continually used to maintain the relationship of the parts
and keep them from collapsing
dynamic violate
state,
not a dead and inert one.
And
it
is
a
does not
any of the principles of the physical world, although
the question is
in decay. This
why such
peculiar local systems
come about
not answered by physics.
The
technical definition of a natural system
is
"open
system in a steady-state." Openness refers to the importexport activities of the system, which the
same
state.
place," that
Man
compose
is
his
is,
to maintain
its
it
needs to "stay in
own dynamic
an open natural system; so are the
steady-
cells that
body, and the ecologies and societies which
he constitutes jointly with his fellow
human
beings and
37
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD organisms. Hence
man
of natural systems.
when we
is
effectively
embedded be
(This situation will
discuss his future
and
his values.
)
in the
world
of significance
Let us review the
characteristics of various suborganic, organic,
and supra-
organic entities and see whether they do in fact manifest the properties outlined here.
The
(i)
basic system in the physical realm
Atoms may be
the atom.
is
clearly
stable or unstable. If they are
stable, the energies within their structure are so well inte-
grated that they balance each other and the atom maintains
space and time. Unstable atoms have dynamic
in
itself
instabilities, usually
sisting of
many
due to a very complex
structure, con-
protons in the nucleus and a corresponding
high number of electrons in the
shells.
Stable atoms are
usually considered closed systems: they do not exchange energies with their environment, although they are affected
by high energies and
heat.
Atoms
of this kind effectively
withstand the overall course of degradation of energy predicted by the Second
Law. They
own
internal forces balancing the atomic
structure.
The
structure are so vast relative to
arrest entropy within their
its
size that
forces can disrupt a stable atom. Since heat
few external is
one of the
forces that can penetrate the atom's boundaries, intense heat
—
as well as highly accelerated particles
forces
which can undo
stable atoms.
—
constitute external
Under such conditions
the energies binding the atomic nucleus are exceeded by the
energies introduced externally, and nuclear fission occurs.
In our nuclear devices such conditions have to be created artificially,
whereas they obtain constantly in the interior
of all shining stars, including the sun.
process
38
may be
One outcome
"nuclear transmutation"
:
of the
the conversion of
The Systems View
of Nature
one type of nuclear structure into another, with often several
making up one
nuclei of the former kind
Energies which do not energies in the
new
fit
of the newer.
into the configuration of balanced
structure are released.
They are
and account
radiations which maintain a star's luminosity for
its
light
and
heat.
The atom's behavior under tions intense
enough
conditions of "stress" (radia-
to penetrate the atom's boundaries but
not so high as to smash electron
bombardment
its
nucleus)
atom and permitted
wave
is
own
electrons.
extra energy from outside,
The
when
it
and that
it
readjusts to
of energy
form of one of this process:
atom becomes "excited" when
citation potential"
atom absorbs
quantum
structure, usually in the
Another descriptive term defines
said that the
energy)
directed toward an
to interact with it) the
the energy and ejects a corresponding its
remarkable. Under
is
(a descriptive term which defines a
process in which a particle or a
from
the
it
its
it is
absorbs the
radiates off the "exits
normal (ground-
state.
processes sketched here are not usually considered
in the light of open-system theory:
they are short-lived
events, interspersing vast stretches of uneventful existence in
the
life
more temperate But they do show that atoms
of stable atoms under conditions
than those of
stellar interiors.
are able to maintain themselves in a changing environment.
They keep themselves running
entirely
on
their
own
unless
bothered by excessive heat, or by high velocity particles (energies).
And
even then they can perform the adjustments
necessary to keep going, either by a quick readjustment of their electronic structure, or
by a complete nuclear reorgani-
zation of the entire set of atomic
fields.
Thus, contrary
39
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD
Jo
the overall tendency of physical nature, stable atoms do
not run down. They maintain themselves and can even
transmute into more organized ones. But of course even nuclear transmutations do not contradict the Second Law,
sum
since the
of energy
is
degraded consistently with
excess energies are radiated off and further work. at the
As a
same time
burn themselves
result stars
it,
become unavailable
as
for
out, while
atomic populations become more
their
complex and organized. (ii)
as
When we
we know them
processes
of
change the setting and look here on earth,
self-maintenance
we
at
organisms
find basically
analogous
exhibited
in
Organisms are open systems
explicit forms.
They could not
exist for
the constant intake
more than
and output of
much more all their life.
a few minutes without
energies, substances,
and
information. Think only what the survival chances would
be for any organism
were closed. tion,
No
air,
if
all its
intake and output channels
no water, no food, no sensory informa-
no disposal of wastes
—
communication with the world
in
sum, no interaction or
outside.
No
organism could
survive under such circumstances.
Organisms not only constantly take stances, energies,
and information,
in
and put out sub-
as a
computer
is
fed
punched tape on one end and produces the print-out on
—even
the other
more remarkably, they undergo a slow
but inevitable exchange of It
is
as
all their
though various nuts and
parts in the process. bolts,
transistors
and
capacitors were fed to a computer together with the punched tape,
were
and the computer, having to put out
its
its
own
repairs,
own "garbage" with the print-out. Hence much like candle flames or waterfalls,
organisms are very
40
effected
carx *l*f*
The Systems View
of Nature
and output constantly replace and
in that their input
plenish
their
all
parts.
candle flames
unlike
But,
re-
and
organisms are able to maintain their particular
waterfalls,
They can get even when con-
structure under a variety of circumstances.
own
their
ditions
Of
fuel
and make
their
own
repairs
change around them.
course, drastic changes in the environment
may be
Man
beyond the adaptive capacity of any organism.
can
export his terrestrial environment to the surface of the
moon, and thus compensate in living conditions, but
he
for that rather drastic is
irrevocably
change
damaged by
a
brick falling on his head. Other organisms, such as soft-
bodied
insects, are
more
resistant to such forces, yet less
capable of avoiding them. But whether by stitution, all
organisms maintain their
own
skill
or by con-
vital constancies
within a given range of variation in their living conditions.
The most remarkable organic self-maintenance phenomis the process known as "ho meostasis ." The term, coined by Cannon in 1939, refers to the precise regulative mechanisms of warm-blooded creatures. Their body temenon
perature in the
is
maintained constant, notwithstanding variations
surrounding medium, and so
is
blood pressure, sugar
and iron concentration, and a host of other stances and conditions. regulates
its
own
stat regulates the
The
essential sub-
highly developed organism
internal environment,
much
temperature of a house. For
this
reliable information concerning conditions in ings.
and its
as a
its
it
thermorequires
surround-
This comes from sense receptors (eye, ear, nose, touch,
taste)
vital
which
medium.
tell
If
the organism
all it
needs to
know about
conditions change perniciously, the or-
ganism can take steps to protect
itself
—remove
itself if it
41
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD can, or close
more
its shell,
or activate
its
delicate organisms require
ening conditions and the
defense mechanisms.
advance warning of
skill to interpret
The
threat-
the relevant sense
They must be able to predict to some extent what is likely to happen (as a rabbit can predict that he is likely to be attacked when he smells a fox), and see about taking preventive measures. Man, more than any other organism, signals.
has greatly refined such predictive and interpretive In fact, he has
come
to rely
on these
skills to
skills.
such an extent
that many of his natural physical defenses have deteriorated. He can neither fight nor run well enough to survive under
attack from major predators. But he has the
what
is
skill
involved in the attack, and can deal with
to
know
it
either
preventively or aggressively through the use of tools and
Man
instruments.
can now take care of
all
survival
his
needs by using his predictive and manipulative capacities.
The
organism keeps
living
as long as
it
itself
in running condition
can, and performs repairs
(these are the processes of healing
if it
gets
damaged
and regeneration). But
very complex organisms are unable to keep this up in-
and succumb to internal exhaustion even when undamaged (the process of aging). To survive, such species have managed to develop a way to perpetuate definitely,
relatively
themselves by a form o^super-repair: reproduction^) Instead
damaged or worn-out part, they replace the organism. This way the individual organism under-
of replacing a entire
goes the familiar life-cycle of birth, maturation, and death,
but in going.
its
course reproduces
The
individual
itself
and thus keeps the species
now becomes
like the ripple
wave in the sea: the individual, and temporal, while the species,
on the
surface of a larger
like the
ripple, is local
like the
42
The Systems View wave,
vast
is
of Nature
(JO'
and ongoing. Yet
wave
define the curvature of the
the ripples together
all
itself.
The state maintained in and by organisms is the steadyAs we have noted, this is a dynamic balance of ener-
state.
gies
and substances, always poised for
"plain equilibrium, such as the state a
has run down. In
action. It
is
never a
watch reaches when
organic steady-state more closely
fact, the
resembles a wound-up watch, with forces available to vate
all
it
acti-
needed processes. The remarkable feature of the
organism
is
that, unlike a
watch,
it
keeps
itself
wound
up,
and thus counteracts the general tendency of things to run down. It does so by taking in highly organized energies (water,
air, nutrients,
sunlight),
and breaking them down,
using the liberated energy to maintain It
puts out a
much degraded form
bodily wastes) which, fortunately,
form usable by some other from the sun and combining
itself
and grow.
of energy (used-up
air,
still
contains energies in a
species.
By drawing energy
it
with degraded animal sub-
stances, plants recycle the energies
and make them usable
again for more complex organisms.
And
nature, ecologists point out,
is
thus the whole of
something
like a vast, self-
regulating and recycling system, drawing energy from the
sun and running
itself
beautifully balanced
without surpluses and wastes.
and whirlpools
the energy needed to bring the water
flow supplied by the sun.
up
in a stream, with
to the
The substances and
the rounds, time after time, being part of that vortex, being
(iii)
a
mechanism, comparable to a repeating
series of terraced waterfalls
now
It is
head of the
energies
now
upgraded and degraded
The scene before our
the supraorganic sphere, yet
eyes shifts as
many
make
this fall,
in turn,
we contemplate
of the essential elements
43
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD reappear. Here entire organisms jointly constitute
some more enduring than
shifting patterns,
patterns tend to form wholes with their characteristics.
They
This
themselves.
human groups
in
If
irreducible
also exhibit a tendency to perpetuate
self -maintaining, is
These
others.
own
many
what
self- repairing
property
interests us at present.
people were to congregate into groups when and as
long as they pleased, groups and communities would be
ephemeral phenomena indeed. sit
down,
and a
if
A
football
could
player
so inclined, in the middle of a pass throw,
soldier could
throw away
enough of the war. But
that
is
not
his
weapon when he had
how
things are in reality.
There are rules^ regulations, and laws, and even principles
by which we stand. Customs and
as factors, together with
just plain habit enter
an innate tendency to conform
and society. Even informal gatherings obey some unformulated and sometimes consciously unrecognized rules, which keep them coherent over some period to one's culture
of time. Although
some groups have
for instance, one-shot training
technicians to bring
them up
built-in obsolescence,
programs for executives or
to date
on some new develop-
ment, most groups have some degree of permanence. They
may have
"thruput"
(a stream of people passing through
them), yet_their_structure
though the courses
I
is
conserved. For example,
teach exchange their student member-
ship every time I schedule them, the course itself has
degree of permanence. There is
is
continuity in the
presented and discussed. This, too,
And
way
it
my own
since the latter changes at a slower rate
than the former, there
44
some
can change, not as a
function of the change of students but rather of
knowledge.
al-
is
some degree
of pattern-mainte-
The Systems View nance
in the
of Nature
way
the courses are given over the years.
There are various degrees of are
and
rigidity
organization of multiperson groups.
some conservative elements
The
flexibility in the
point
is
that there
associated with each.
Even
conspirators in a revolution swear to a code of honor and
behavior
—one
that
is
quite different, of course, from that
of the society they are attempting to overthrow. In a larger
group, which produces
own
its
own
number
defenses, there are quite a
which conserve the
livelihood
structure.
and mounts
of pragmatic factors
econom y
In the
there are
norms, such as Pareto's "natural price" of goods and vices,
which impose a high degree of
self-regulation
production, distribution, and consumption. mists speak of an equilibrium which the
maintain
—
a
process
which
parallels
its
Many
economy rather
ser-
on
econo-
strives to
closely
the
homeostatic self-regulation of the animal body. Prices rise with
greater profits
demand; high
and
attract
prices
on goods make
more people
to
for
produce the
goods; hence eventually the supply equals or surpasses the
demand and prices fall again. Then production is cut until, through a number of fluctuations, some kind of equilibrium between supply and demand is reached. Likewise with defense:
threat
from outside forces (or subversion from
within) calls for the mobilization of threat
on the
is
armed
troops. If the
overcome, the troops become an excessive burden
state finances
and are reduced again. Here the
bal-
ance involves threat to collective security on the one hand
and defensive capacities on the
The
political
and juridical
other.
structure of a society tends to
remain consistent with the need to regulate individual behavior in accordance with prior concepts of justice and
45
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD the objective
demands
of social existence. Adjustment of
undue tension between overly
strict
or overly permissive
laws and such concepts and demands occurs by means of juridical
reform
or,
if
radical elements gain the upper hand,
through political revolution. National and international structures
obey analogous constraints. They follow a
nite course, conserve continuity within change,
norms of behavior on excitation
and impose
members. Like atoms under
and organisms under changing conditions,
structures adjust
dynamic
their
defi-
social
and adapt, maintaining themselves one of
steady-state rather than in
in a
inert equilibrium.
Like a truly self-winding watch, they have forces disposal to activate their various functions
at their
and remain
in a
state of readiness. Inert equilibrium is a sure sign of decay,
in the supraorganic sphere
no
than in the organic and
less
the suborganic one.
3.
Natural Systems Create Themselves
to the Challenge of the
in
Response
Environment
Self-creativity in the sense suggested here
is
not a mys-
terious quality, innate to entities with "spirit" or "soul." It is
offset
a response to changing conditions which cannot be
by adjustments based on the
more modest
existing structure. In this
sense, self -creativity is
tion. If natural
a precondition of evolu-
systems were merely to maintain the status
quo throughout the range of circumstances they encounter there would be no evolution, no patterns of development, and nothing we could call progress. Things would either succeed in remaining what they are, or go under. The
46
The Systems View
of Nature
evidence indicates, however, that
manage
many
things not only
to offset the pernicious influence of forces in their
environment but are capable of development. Natural
sys-
tems evolve new structures and new functions; they create themselves in time.
Now,
there are
One
be confused.
is
womb.
grow
coded
is
embryo
a preprogrammed kind of change, such
and growth of the embryo within the
as the evolution
mother's
two forms of change and they must not
All the information the
embryo needs to its genes. The
right into the structure of
as such
is
not creative
—
it
does not
make up
its
own
patterns of development but follows already established
pathways. This kind of change
which
"ontogenesis, "
young
the
change
is
is
the
is
typical of the process called
growth and maturation of
of self-reproducing species. typical of "phylogenesis,"
of the species,
and not
one generation
The
other kind of
meaning the evolution
just their individual
to the next. Phylogenesis
members, from is
the "creative
O^Jj
advance" of nature into novelty (as Whitehead would put it)
;
the trailblazing self-transformation of entire species
it is
and populations of organisms. This I
mean by
fies
is
the kind of change
the self-creativity of natural systems.
It signi-
the ability of systems to generate the very information
which codes It
may be
their structure
and behavior.
well to pause at this point to consider a thorny
problem connected with the concept of evolution. The problem
is,
does evolution have a purpose,
fulfill
a plan,
some definite end-product or final stage? some general blueprint which all things strive to by nature, as the classical Greek philosophers were
or strive toward Is there
realize
wont
to
assume? Or
is
it
all
a giant
game
of dice, with
47
\ t
S
|c*A \
q X^
'
.
^
w A\j\tft^ T
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD chance ruling the evolution of species without any deeper
meaning or plan
to it?
This question can
dence than
at
now be answered
with more confi-
any previous time in the history of
scientific
thought. Instead of speculations and rather arbitrary ad hoc
hypotheses to account for
now ways
this
phenomenon
or that,
we can
glimpse something like a logic of developmental pathas
comes from the workshop
such. This logic
of
mathematicians, systems theorists, cyberneticians, and similar "specialized generalists."
v^
"^ Assume
vd
V^
$J
\rs£ \r/v
\
The
general drift of their hypo-
Jhesesjs something like this,
number
that there are a
organized objects sharing a
field,
topologists sometimes call a landscape. is
open
to
some
influences
of at least partially
space, or surface
Each
—what
of these objects
from the environment and
re-
sponds to these influences. Hence each object influences
all
by communicating with
its
others, directly or indirectly,
own
Now, as each natural system (for these are the "objects" we are interested in) receives and responds to inputs from its fellows, it provides new inputs for the environment.
others.
And
so each system constantly challenges the others
by responding
itself
to
such challenges. There
dependence among the systems
when one
is
inter-
as with points along a net,
some displacement, where they are relative to the moving
displaced,
corresponding to
—
is
all
others suffer
point. In natural systems, of course, the points themselves
move and produce responding movements from
—
the others
active responses, not merely passive effects. In virtue of
the connectedness of
behavior of
all
or later emerge.
all points,
there
is
coordination in the
systems, and an overall pattern will sooner
^ o^
The Systems View
Assume now
of Nature
that the individual systems strung along the
net are capable not merely of repeating certain types of
behavior, but of inventing entirely
new
ones.
We
get a
progressive modification of behaviors: one invention poses
challenges
as
respond by their is
effects
its
reach other systems,
own matching
and these
inventions. Since behavior
based on structure, there must be an evolution in the
systems themselves. basic
mechanism
sector.
As
we find ourselves with the as we know it in the biological
a result,
of evolution
There are inventions or "mutations" produced from
time to time, and
randomly, that
we can assume
is,
that
that they are
produced
chance alone determines which
system produces what invention at which time. Yet they are being produced fairly regularly, and some inventions prove to
be more compatible than others with the parallel (innovabehavior of the systems with which they interact. All
tive)
some become definitely The result is that certain
inventions are equal at birth, but
more equal than
others later on.
coordinated patterns emerge in the pathways of innovation
among
the systems. There will be successful and unsuccess-
ful inventions,
will
and the successful ones,
like
Broadway
have long runs while the unsuccessful ones
shortly after opening night. closes
the
plays,
will close
Continued development
dis-
refinement of the successful innovations, the
elimination and merging of the less successful ones. There is
a gradual reduction of chaos and the patient emergence
of discernible order
all
along the network of systems.
We have one more feature to add to this picture. We must allow that several systems can jointly participate in an invention which
makes them very
close collaborators.
systems will henceforth behave so closely in
harmony
Such that
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD they respond to challenges from other systems as a team.
They delegate
different parts of the response
among them-
selves,
with collaborators specializing in carrying out specific
tasks.
We
have
them out
difficulty in sorting
as individual
systems, since from the viewpoint of any outsider they behave as one: to any stranger they speak with a single
among
tongue. Since what they do
themselves in carrying
out their joint tasks gets to be rather complex, and rather beside the point as far as their joint effect
good grounds
there will be
for
is
concerned,
lumping them together and
considering them as a single system. Hence for an observer
with a
human
type of intelligence the patterns of develop-
ment include the merging of formerly separate systems
into
more complex supersystems. Such supersystem-formation need not be limited by anything other than the availability of participating systems.
We
can assume that existing supersystems
and form super-supersystems, and that tems
of their
no input unless
it,
we cannot
it
Of
call
form
sys-
course, that ultimate system will have
too, is part of a further net (in
which case
be different from that of any system or
will
the effect or
it.
these, too,
ultimate), and so the situation of the net
supersystem within is
collaborate
own, until the entire net adopts the character
°f a .giant sy stem.
qua system
may
it.
The
outcome of the
It signifies that
systemicity of the entire net alliances of the systems within
most general
state
toward which
all
events
within the net tend.
""Where, then,
is
such a net going?
a state of great multiplicity and state of highly coordinate general
become 50
parts of a few,
It is
little
progressing from
coordination to a
forms of order. The many
and the few form coherent connec-
The Systems View of Nature tions
which make them part of the ultimate one of the net But the many do not cease
itself.
they
become
parts of teams,
nevertheless retain exist
as
and of teams of teams, they
They
individuality of their own.
subassemblies within the larger whole.
definite
Moreover
some
While
to exist for all that.
function need not be conceived purely
their
a. cv
mechanistically, like that of cogs within a machine; theirs
j/^L ^\
could be a function more like that of a vice president in
an organization. Such functions are not uniquely deter-
mined by the
situation in
which the individual
his _ability_to deal with that situation factor.
.
evolution in the real world,
we
is
a good analogue of
get meaningful answers to
our question concerning the existence of a master plan in nature. If by such a plan one
means something preestab-
and realized by purposive manipulation, then the
answer
is
that there
is
no such plan
—
or
temporary science knows nothing about
if
it.
there
But
if
is,
con-
by plan
one means a recognizable pattern of development, then the answers
is
definitely yes.
do rather than
in
some
limits, perfectly logical
That things develop the way they entirely different
and foreseeable.
ways
Among
is,
within
these
f ore-
seeable characteristics of development are incr easing co-
nrHirmtirm nf formerly relatively isolated entities, the emer-
gence of more general patterns of order, the consolidation of individuals in superordinate organizations,
and the pro-
gressive refi nement of certain types of functions
sponses. There to oneness
is
and
re-
a progression from multiplicity and chaos
and order. There
is
also progressive
development
-
yt
p&
in just this sense.
abstract scenario
If this rather
(j* ^ zd by other animals and these could
be pointed to with pride, as attainments unique to
at last
him. Consciousness, abstract thinking, language, feeling,
and the expression and embodiment of these cational realities such as written
and the many
transfer
signs
communi-
and spoken words, works
of art and other objects expressing feelings tions,
in
and
disposi-
and symbols which serve to
meaning and guide behavior
in the
And
are surely unique achievements of man.
human as such,
world, it
was
believed, they are superior to the achievements of other species.
While the aforementioned things and capacities are surely
unmatched by other
species
on
earth,
we must
recognize that they are not unattainable in principle by
some
of them:
chimps have been known to delight in
spreading multicolored paint on canvas,
and learn a rudimentary
sort of
make and
use tools,
symbol language. But the
ultimate blow to our anthropocentric pretensions will be dealt
by the realization that humanlike
qualities are not
necessarily "higher" achievements or signs of evolutionary progress. Evolution
may
not go in the
human
direction for
85
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD other species, nor
more
is
on
that to be construed a failure
likely that the
human pathway
their
of develop-
part. It
is
ment
one of those innumerable experiments which evolu-
is
tion tries, follows
up
and abandons
successful,
if
if
not. It
neither better nor worse than having long necks like
is
giraffes,
wings like birds, or a whiplike tongue
may
Evolution
even
if
What
evolution
it
uses
like anteaters.
not "drive" toward humanoid qualities at
them under rather
may be up
to could
all,
special circumstances.
be merely the continuing
structuration of the biosphere through increased levels of
communication between systems of one
more integrated supersystems on
first
the next.
human consciousand language come about in the
But why, then, the reader ness, thought, feeling, art,
level, resulting in
will ask, did
place?
The concept consciousness
raises
havoc
untold
heated discussion, often for no other reason than
used in different senses.
It
in the sense in
dog and mine surely has consciousness.
is
and the mating urge;
generally
it
mean
It feels
which your
pain, hunger,
can be happy and sad and
endowed with an inner
consciousness can
being
can mean subjective awareness
and the experience of sensations
thirst,
its
and
life.
But
in
another sense
the ability not only to have but also
be aware of having sensations. By simply stopping for moment and reflecting on my own mental states, I can examine my own sensations: I not only perceive that red object on the desk but also know that I perceive it. And I
to
a
can not merely
on with
all
feel sad
but be aware of feeling sad, and so
(or most) of the sensations that
sequence of mental
life.
I
am
not at
all
make up my
sure that
my dog
has consciousness in this sense and, even at the risk of
86
The Systems View
Man
of
offending the reader, rather doubt that his has This,
at
And
it is
last,
either.
property.
the basis for a long series of other properties,
of which presuppose
some way
in
feels
all
the ability not only to
know
perceive and feel things, but to
and
it
human
seems to be a uniquely
them and hence order them
that
one perceives
in the light of his
purposes.
Now,
it is
quite impossible to explain subjectivity (con-
sciousness in the
first
sense) by reference to the particular
and behavior of the human organism and
structure
nervous system. (I shall henceforth sense in which dogs also have the
word "consciousness"
uniquely human.)
we have they,
show
we
to grant that
are
too,
call
consciousness in the
"subjectivity,"
and reserve which
for the second sense, in
it is
grant that people have subjectivity,
chimpanzees and dogs have
endowed with organs
signs of purposive behavior.
we
then
If
it
its
are forced to admit that
But
all
it,
for perception if
we
grant
since
and this,
organisms possessing
a nervous system and evidencing goal-oriented behavior
have life,
subjectivity.
we
Now,
in reviewing the simpler
forms of
find sensitivity as well as purposive behavior with-
out anything
more than
the rudiments of a nervous system,
such as nerve knots or ganglia. Worms, for example, give every indication of feeling something against an obstacle, or
seem and
to
find
do
when
suitable ones.
they
come up
they are squeezed, and they
their best to escape
more
when
from unpleasant
Why,
they are deprived of subjectivity?
then, should
And how
Recent experiments show unsuspected
situations
we
say that
about plants?
sensitivities
even in
them. Certainly they perceive sunlight, temperature changes, obstacles,
and so on, for plants react
to all these.
Moreover, 87
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD they modify their behavior as a result: most plant species will
grow around
some respond
obstacles,
to
changes in the
by movement or by putting forth more
direction of sunlight
leaves in sunny areas than elsewhere. Granted that plants
not have perceptions and feelings of the human their sensitivities to conditions
instances of perception?
And
if
in their so,
do
variety, are
environment not
do they not warrant the
assumption that these perceptions are registered in the plant in
some way
infinitely less
there does not
seem
realm to draw the jectivity It
is
at least
to
line
analogous
own
although
to,
sensations? In short,
be any good place in the organic
between species endowed with sub-
and species which are
not.
certainly stretches credibility to extend the notion of
subjectivity
there
that
evolved than, our
is
beyond the
no viable
level of multicellular organisms, but
alternative. If a free-living
amoeba
is
granted to have some primitive sort of sensation which cor-
responds to the "tropisms" by which
it
orients itself in
its
ambient, does the specialized cell of the plant or animal
organism lack them? There
nothing that the unicellular
is
animal has in terms of structure and function that the of the multicellular animal could not match. Thus, reluctantly,
we must conclude
up our body have
that the cells
which make
levels of sensations of their
responding, of course, to their
own
cell
however
own, cor-
levels of sensitivity
and
not to the sensitivity of our entire organism (our sensitivity)
Rather than exhaust the patience of the reader by posing
same question over again for each principal kind of natural system, let us consider only two far-fetched cases.
the
Take first the atom. When it or wave of a frequency above 88
is its
bombarded by a
particle
threshold of elasticity but
The Systems View
Man
of
below the energies needed to produce nuclear reacts
energy equivalent to that which tivity of
a definite kind?
And
merely an automaton and
is
Of
course,
even
The
should feels
if
is
say that the atom
feel,
feel.
But
by
disturbed in
its
it is
not also true that the its
nest,
they
is
it
is
right?
vidual bees?
Of
course,
we
swarm
is it
not also the
swarm
just the indi-
don't have the individual bees
body and the body. But when a dog snaps
his nose,
action,
as a
it is
even though
all his
body
cells
at a fly
cells collaborate in the
not just his body cells which snap, but the dog
whole animal.
And
it is
precisely in this sense that
not just the individual bees but the sets
is
disturbed, as a rather vague
And
and the swarm, any more than we have the individual on
of
accordingly. But
by pursuing the intruder, and not
that reacts
a
the individual bees that
who respond
swarm
own
When
and men.
plants, animals,
but real entity in
of a
it
a subjectivity of
an undifferentiated one.
are disturbed and it
we
nothing in the process?
other example concerns the supraorganic systems
constituted
bees
it
absorbs. Is this not sensi-
nothing like what humans
feels
it
it
could well feel something like atoms sorts,
fission,
by quantum jumps and the emission of an amount of
swarm
as
it is
a whole which
out in pursuit of the unfortunate intruder that disturbed
it.
The
swarm of bees and a dog is one The dog is a more integrated system than a swarm of bees, therefore it is more convenient in more respects to speak of the dog acting than his body cells doing so. Think how awkward it would be to describe a difference between a
of degree, not of kind.
conceit goer's reaction to Beethoven as the reaction of the cells in his
nervous system, not to mention of the subcellular 89
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD tissues
way
and bodies constituting
it is
more convenient
nerve
his
cells.
In the same
to speak of a student
body being
riotous or bright or lazy than each individual student,
a nation being upset rather than each of levels of integration the
many
do we have
right
grant
it
it
to
is
We
to the others?
subjectivity
is
just as true for
is
and
for organisms
deny
At given
citizens.
achieve cohesion and speak
with the voice of one. Since this
and organisms as
its
and of
body
societies,
cells
what
when we
subjectivity to the latter
must end by acknowledging that
possessed by
all
natural systems whatsoever,
although the grade of subjectivity differs from level to level
and species
to species.
This conclusion does not do violence to our commonsense
mode
of thinking;
only extends
it
it
beyond
boundaries. Clear and specific sensations are
its
habitual
still
reserved
for animals with evolved nervous systems, for
we know
of the dependence of highly differentiated forms of aware-
ness
upon neural
structures
and functions. But there
is
no
unique correlation between the nervous system and the capacity for subjective sensations. Having subjectivity does
not depend on having a nervous system; and the absence of a nervous system does not
only flux
its
downgrading
mean
into
the absence of subjectivity,
some
global,
undifferentiated
of sensations, perhaps vaguely resembling those of
pleasure and pain.
The capacity
for such sensations
is
most
likely a universal feature of systems arising in nature.
Although universality of organized complexity
is
subjectivity in the realms of
a conclusion flowing logically from
the articulated philosophy of the
new
trends in the con-
temporary sciences, rigorous experimental evidence cannot be marshalled either for or against 90
it.
In the final analysis
The Systems View
Man
of
we can only observe our own sensations. I am already guesswhen I speak of those of my wife and sons. Yet if I don't believe that it is reasonable to assume that my own ing
unique
in all the world, I
must deduce the
subjectivity of others
from analogies of
their physiology
subjectivity
is
and behavior. And
in the
contemporary systems view these
analogies stretch both beyond and below the
human
being,
clear across the vast hierarchy of natural systems.
When
subjectivity
register internal in the
is
defined as the ability of a system to
and external forces
affecting
its
existence
form of sensations, however primitive they may be, we
must conclude that
subjectivity
universal in nature's
is
realms of organized complexity. But
this
conclusion does
not hold for "consciousness," defined as the ability of a sys-
tem
to
be aware of
its
own
subjectivity.
Self -awareness, as
contrasted with subjectivity, does not appear to be a universal property of natural systems.
There are good reasons
to correlate self-awareness with certain varieties of highly
integrated nervous functions, performed only by the most
evolved nervous systems.
There are tell
relatively clear-cut behavioral indications that
us whether or not an organism
capacity
of
monitoring
its
endowed with consciousness
own
their
endowed with
the
Organisms
are liberated from the world
of concrete here-and-now experience
autonomous world of
is
sensations.
own
and can enter a quasi-
creation. Subjectivity
is
the
it registers actual events when they take As Whitehead said, sometimes we see an elephant and often we do not; there is little we can do about it on the level of sensations. However, there is much indeed that we can do about conjuring up things like elephants, and even more
slave of actuality:
place.
91
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD outlandish things like electromagnetic fields of force potentials
and twelve-tone music, on the
level of consciousness.
For now we move not on the level of actual sensations, but on that of a monitoring of sensations. And by having a kind of running representation of our sensations, and not only the originals themselves, classify
many
of them,
Thus we can even create
and
we can come
to
know and
establish their interrelations.
so-called ideal entities like
and other abstract concepts
numbers
—pure monitoring phenomena,
without direct counterparts in the sphere of subjective sensations.
The conscious mind
—
abstract thinking jectivity.
Hence
organism it
is
able to develop language and
feats not within the reach of mere subis
it
possesses
relatively easy to tell
by
consciousness
whether any
noting
whether
has developed a language and other symbolic modes
of expression
cend the
and communication, and whether
directly triggered test.
it
can trans-
here-and-now by making plans not
limits of the
by actual
stimuli.
Man
alone passes this
Just because animals such as cats talk to each other
—sometimes them — and because
so vociferously that shoes have to be thrown
at
they appear to plan their strategies in
catching mice, does not
Their talk
is
sign
mean
that they
communication
have consciousness.
in the
form of actual
and not symbol communication, on the level of abstract thought. Their strategies in anticipating which way a mouse will run are triggered by the sight and smell of
stimuli,
mice and are not plans excogitated while sunning on a convenient windowsill.
Without disparaging the
gence of cats and offending cat-lovers,
we can
intelli-
say that cats,
while having highly differentiated subjective sensations and precisely correlated responses, have not
92
managed
to evolve
The Systems View
of
Man
monitoring capacity which represents the relatively
the
autonomous realm of true consciousness. They see, feel, and know, but they do not know that they see, feel, and know.
Nor can by
their
they manipulate their seeing, feeling, and knowing
own
volition.
Are we not
saying, then, that this remarkable capacity
of monitoring
and knowing one's own mental events
is
truly spiritual
phenomenon, something
sets
apart from the rest of nature? There
this
score,
last
is
not a supernatural phe-
or even a very complex one.
It
can be
built into
systems, such as sophisticated computerized servo-
mechanisms. All that
is
needed
is
a circuit designed specifi-
cally to read the signals of other circuits. set of
bad news on
decade or so we have come
to realize that self-awareness
artificial
is
While such uniqueness was suspected
too.
through the ages, in the
nomenon
at last,
that,
man
a
machines
in a factory is
geared to perform a certain
function, say, painting automobiles.
of the machines
is
For example, a
The proper
functioning
registered in a series of electric impulses
which are fed into a computer. The computer can be
programmed
to light
up a green bulb when the
signals
manifest a certain pattern and to light up a red one
when
a
new
pattern appears.
Thus the computer monitors
the functioning of the machines and signals any discrepancy
between the desired norms and the actual performance. (Engine performance instruments on cars and planes do essentially the
same
thing.)
Computers can be designed
to deal with nothing but such signals.
grams which make them produce an irregularity of function
is
They can have pro-
specific signals
registered.
whenever
These signals can
be fed to activate repair mechanisms as long as the irregu93
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD larity is registered.
When
all
phase of monitoring
Other
frills
is
back
things are
emergency procedures are shut
the
off
to normal,
and the passive
resumed.
can be added to
this
procedure.
The con-
computer can be endowed with the capacity
trolling
to try
various repair procedures in succession until one of them
works.
can be programmed to learn from
It
and the next time the to
this
irregularity occurs to
the successful procedure.
experience
go straight
Moreover, some really
own
phisticated computers can be taught to devise their
procedures, improving on their
so-
programmed performance.
Checker-playing computers, for example, can perfect their
"Dy-
strategies until they consistently beat their designers.
namic optimizing programming"
many
respects.
Yet
is
truly
human-like in
not due to the presence of a soul
it is
or spirit in the machine, but to a separate circuit which
(such as manufacturing goods or
doesn't "do" anything
propelling a vehicle) but
is
entirely confined to monitoring
the performance of other systems and setting
it
right
when
needed. It is
to
evident that
fulfill
all
highly complex systems, required
a variety of tasks with a high degree of precision,
require a monitor of this kind. fill
Many
artificial
systems
such functions in man-machine teamwork: a
ful-
human
operator monitors the machine's functions and corrects for eventual malfunctions. their
Some advanced machines do
levels of
corrective
complexity and precision where a special
monitor
is
required unless
monitor themselves. Only it,
94
this
on
own. But systems in nature cannot progress to such
man
they develop
self-
the
has succeeded in perfecting
although higher primates have
made
a good beginning
The Systems View in this direction.
of
Man
Man's highly accomplished monitor
cerebral cortex: the seat of
all
the
is
conscious processes, includ-
ing the ability to symbolize. Without the cortex reflectionless vegetable, well capable of
man
is
a
having sensations
and coordinating basic bodily functions, but unable
to think
about his sensations and to plan ahead.
Having consciousness makes man unique among systems in terrestrial nature.
But
this
uniqueness does not suggest
a supernatural quality, only a combination of most improbable circumstances, which led the
ties.
human
on
species to rely
and perhaps accidental, monitoring
at first primitive,
abili-
Consciousness does, indeed, confer great selective ad-
vantage. tions,
A
species of organism possessing
it
can plan ac-
communicate the plan within groups, and carry
in purposive
it
out
teamwork. In developing the rudiments of con-
sciousness, our ancestors exploded the limits of genetically
programmed behavior. They learned to learn from experience. By reflecting on the events of a hunt, for example, they could abstract its relevant elements and compare them with other occasions. They could select the most successful pattern of behavior and adopt it. Mere subjectivity is bound to the
immediacy of events; only consciousness can
one from by
his
his actual experience
and enable him
liberate
to control
it
own will.
This
is
the great selective advantage of consciousness,
and man came strength,
to rely
instinctive
on
skills
it
more and more. His physical and patterns declined,
the acuity of his sense organs diminished.
even
There was no
longer a direct need for them; the brunt of the responsibility for survival rested intelligence.
As
on abstract mental processes,
that
is,
on
Piaget and other investigators point out,
95
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD intelligence
the most efficient instrument of interaction
is
between organism and environment when the interaction far-flung
is
and complex, and has
greatly extended in space
to be accurate. Its scope
and time: an
is
intelligent being
can think about things past and future, and things far away as well.
The
abstracted components of the stream of
sations are those
which recur with some
human
regularity.
sen-
These
man grasped them He reified the recur-
are the invariances in the stream, and in terms of their sensory qualities.
first
rent patterns
sensory experience,
of his
endowing with
thinghood clusters of sensations which conformed to a
common
pattern. Later
he symbolized these invariances,
The rudiments
representing them in sound and in picture.
were already developed
art
among
the
elsewhere ally,
Cro-Magnon, as cave paintings in Lascaux and Language may have developed gradu-
over a period of as
denotative
Whereas
of
50,000 years ago
testify.
from expressive to
least
at
signs,
much
as
500,000
years. It evolved
such as animals use to communicate,
symbols,
of
typical
signs provide a stimulus
modern
which
languages.
signals something
of immediate significance in the communicator's environ-
ment, a symbol
may have
a meaning which
vorced from the here-and-now.
A
ritual
species of birds signifies the readiness to
and
place, but a love song
and
its
it
is
entirely di-
dance in some
mate
at this time
can speak of sexual intercourse
attendant sensations in general terms, or refer to
in a distant place, far in the past.
Thus human language,
in using denotative symbols rather than expressive signs,
became an ing. It
96
effective instrument for
enabled
man
communicating mean-
not only to survive, but to dominate
The Systems View
Man
of
the world around him. Existence
within the context of a
municated by means of a
became
social existence,
common set of meanings, comcommon language. Culture was
born, and elaborate forms of social organization created.
Man became
a sociocultural animal.
In the light of such considerations
draw the conclusion ment of human would is
that culture
survival.
is
it
might be natural to
nothing but an instru-
Yet such conclusion, while natural,
also be hasty. Frankl tells us that "nothing-butness"
the contemporary variant of nineteenth-century nihilism's
"nothingness," and one
may have
—
This
once
would say
survival is
as fallacious as the other. Culture
arisen in the battleground of the fight for
survival, but
of us
is
that
it
arose
took on a
it
that culture
it
is
life
of
more than a
is
its
human
own. Most
tool of
human
a qualitatively higher phenomenon.
based on a value judgment according to which
thinking rationally and feeling with clarity and intensity,
coupled perhaps with faith and a conscious morality, better or higher than merely assuring one's survival
the continuity of the species.
Be
that as
it
may,
it is
is
and
clear that
must not be confused. The programmed into every existing natural But why did we develop an autonomous culture?
culture and survival functions ability to survive is
system.
We
can piece together the evidence and hazard a rea-
soned guess. There
is
no
to support the claim that
clear
and independent evidence
an evolved culture has biological
survival value, nor for the different claim, that once biological survival
To
hold that
is
assured, the inevitable next step
human
culture
is
banners of biological evolution culture did
come
about, and
it
is
culture.
a goal inscribed on the very is
without foundation. But
did arise as a sequel to the
97
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD evolution of monitoring organs coupled with high-level sensitivities
subserving biological ends.
development of human culture
due
is
I suggest that the
to the gradual trans-
formation of a means into an end. Ordinarily,
when
a
means
transformed into an end
is
we
are far from ready to admire or even to condone
We
are told, for example, that
toward achieving the
making money
is
it.
means
a
finer things in life, or at least for
obtaining the conditions which give us the physical and
peace to contemplate them. But for
many
people
amassing material goods becomes an end in
itself,
and
spiritual
such cases
we
in
tend to shake our heads and speak of mis-
taken values and wrong thinking. Yet
I
would now propose
that a basically similar process occurred in the creation of
human
culture.
A means was used
as an
end
in
itself.
What
means and ends, and was this truly a mistake? The means are consciousness as we have defined it:
are these
self-monitoring capacities of the
Coupled with
human nervous
ness emancipated
He and
system.
subjectivity (sensitivity to the environment,
registered as a sequence of sensations),
reality
the
man from
human
conscious-
the confines of his sensory
and placed him within a world he himself created.
could surround himself with ideas, modes of feeling, beliefs
which are only
indirectly related to the experi-
enced world around him.
emerged they conferred
When
these
capacities
ment which included many physically stronger and creatures.
first
advantage in an environ-
selective
faster
But once the capacities were developed, man
became utterly dependent on them. It is
a case of the sorcerer's apprentice. If one uses reason
in tracking
98
down
one's prey
and
in defending the
common
The Systems View territory,
Man
of
he cannot stop using
when gazing
it
sky; reason cannot turn itself off. It
is
at the starlit
likewise impossible to
reserve one's mystical feelings and mythical beliefs for times
when
these
some
serve
function
positive
which can take the place of
some things, And when he evolved
life.
the capacity to substitute
he also became
imaginative satisfactions for real ones,
saddled with the capacity to
it
became was for
feel,
envisage, and believe.
as impossible to return to the state of nature as
Adam
which expresses
and Eve to return to Paradise— a myth insight in metaphorical terms.
this
knowledge but of the many
apple, not only of culture,
rituals
Once man started he became stuck with his
to use reason in
It
in
as
real aggression
unfeeling and unbelieving in daily
rationality.
— —and become
proved to have irreversible
uncook a half-cooked acquired truth.
And
could only go ahead.
Qgg, so
effects.
facets of
As you cannot
you cannot unlearn a
since there
The
half-
was no turning back, man
And we have recorded history
to testify
that he did.
Man's phylogenetic development called for consciousness as a
means
when man's evolution. The
of species survival. But consciousness,
evolved, took over the direction of
means became the end: the self-maintaining biological species was transformed into a culture sensitive to knowledge, beauty, faith, and morality.
We
could hardly
call this a
mistake.
Man's evolutionary history determined a cultural creature.
It
that he
become
did not determine, on the other hand,
what kind of culture he would have. Hence our problem day
is
not whether to have a culture;
culture to have.
And
this requires
it
is
some
to-
what kind of a serious thought.
99
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD
The kind fathers
of culture
is
we inherited from our fathers and
grand-
beginning to challenge our ability to survive on
this planet. If
we do
nothing more than blindly accept
it,
we may not be able to do what they did, namely, hand it down to our children and grandchildren: we may not have the grandchildren to hand it down to. This raises the question,
what
culture?
3.
is
it
that ultimately determines the nature of a
problem that we address ourselves
It is to this
next.
Values and Culture
Recorded history species.
During
is
a fragment of the social history of our
fragment, as in times before, the vast
this
organizational processes of differentiation, complexification
and association of individuals within groups, and of groups within groups, has taken place incessantly.
now
quickened,
now
slackened. But
it
The pace has
has never reversed
more than locally, and never for long. On the whole, the same branching evolutionary development took place here But here
as in the organic realm. setting of cultures.
And
development or slow
it
it
took place within the
cultures can quicken the pace of
down.
There are many factors
in a culture
which accelerate or
brake societal processes. Tool-using capacity factor,
is
one such
one which in our culture developed into the vast
resources of contemporary technology. Mores, customs, and
laws regulating
human
goods are further
interrelations
factors.
100
is
one
The speed and range
of inter-
is still
another. But over and above
set of factors
which exercises determining
personal communication these, there
and the exchange of
Man
The Systems View
of
influence, for
this set
it is
which influences the persistence,
growth, or decay of any particular kind of technology, law,
and communication. This
is
the set of values prevalent in a
Cultures are, in the final analysis, value-guided
society.
systems. Insofar as they are independent of biological need
and the reproductive needs of the
fulfillment
species, cul-
tures satisfy not bodily needs, but values. Values define cultural
man's need for rationality, meaningfulness in emotional
experience, richness of imagination, and depth of faith. All cultures respond to such suprabiological values.
form they do so depends on the
But
what
in
kind of values
specific
people happen to have. In
early
cultures
rational,
emotive,
mystical elements were interwoven in synchretic unity. is
part science, part
mankind logical
art,
lived with
and physical
world of myth
is
part religion.
one foot on the reality
How many in the
nebulous
But
scientific
myth
until the
a subject for speculation. itself
Myth
millennia
ground of bio-
solid
and the other
thought in the West did not divest
and
imaginative,
of
beginning of the great Hellenic culture, some four thousand In a slow but seemingly inexorable process, the
years ago. rational
and the emotive-imaginative-mystical elements of
myth were
One cohered
separated.
into philosophy,
first
cosmological, then humanistic and social; the other into religion, literature,
and
The
art.
great split that led to the
medieval distinction between moral and natural sciences,
and
later to the malaise of the
shadowed tists.
The
in the rivalry of
"two cultures," was
fore-
Greek philosophers and drama-
global unity of previous cultures
was gone, and
never entirely recovered.
The golden age
of
Greek
civilization
was guided by the 101
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD ideal of living the
good
life. It
was succeeded by Christian-
ism in the West, where the good
life
was
kingdom of God. It was not until modern age that the eternal order of
shifted to the
next: the
the beginnings of
the
things
subjected to empirical and rational scrutiny and to
was again
man began
adopt new values. First he was playing "zero-sum games";
he proceeded on the assumption that there are a fixed
number
of goods,
and these have
equally as possible.
—
another there
is
The
as expressed
to
be distributed as
man is wit who
gain of one
by the lonely
the loss of said that
if
a doll for every guy, some guy somewhere must
be going around with two. However, with the science and
new techniques
rise of
modern
of transforming energy in the
production of goods, zero-sum games were replaced by
growth games. The theory of early capitalism, as expressed
Adam
by
Smith, was based on the realization that there
can be growth cycles where one thing leads continuously to the next, and by the time the cycle returns to
point there has been a gain
all
its
starting
around. These cycles
such as saving, investment, production, distribution, con-
—were recognized
sumption, labor, and renewed saving
to
apply only to material goods. The spiritual goods were
thought to follow in their wake, when everyone had had
enough of whatever he wanted. Equipped with the technological applications tonian science,
growth
in
modern
Its
values were material-
istically oriented: the
good
and the better a
larger production.
is
a large production per capita,
But
internal prob-
lems created by the economy's development prompted thinkers to formulate alternative theories.
102
New-
capitalism led to an unparalleled
economic productivity.
still
of
many
Marx proposed
The Systems View
Man
of
the most radical one in
declaring the need to
and
private property, division of labor,
class differences.
Others, like Keynes, suggested creating an
still
human
dition of
economy with
of goods within everyone's earning
sufficiency
Their ideals
abolish
a
capacity.
centered on material goods as the preconfulfillment,
whether the goods were to be
obtained through corporate capitalism based on private ownership, or by a socialist economy based on collective
The golden age was
ownership.
had been a
fulfilled,
more equal
and
to
come when
basic needs
meant more production and
that
distribution of goods.
In the meantime Western culture reduced the death rate, did not immediately drop the birth rate, increased inter-
personal communication, and transformed the face of the earth in
its
sumption of natural resources vast population. past,
men
Whereas
just so
purposes.
much
a
There
is.
what
of
is
we have come much of it, usable for human
limit,
just so
is
there
and even decades
is
Not only can we not increase per capita produc-
tion indefinitely, but rate in
at
in centuries
thought that the sky was the
to realize that the earth
and
made for the concompounded rate by a
image. At the same time this
we cannot even
duplicate
America and Western Europe
its
present
for the rest of the
world. All the people of the world cannot live as Westerners
do today; the earth
is
something entirely new games. Progress cannot
not rich enough for that. This
is
for the players of nonzero-sum lie
in
more and
bigger, as
we have
come to believe. Progress must be redefined, and that means a new system of values. But what is there on which to base our values? This becomes the paramount question of our day.
103
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD It
was fashionable, not very long ago,
to profess thorough
skepticism in regard to value norms, holding them to be
nothing more than expressions of personal likes and
dislikes.
Similar to arguments concerning one's preferences for the
mountains or the seashore, they were said to be emotive responses on the part of individuals and not facts capable
and disproof. Relativism
of proof
in cultural anthropology,
together with subjectivism and noncognitivism in philosophical ethics, pronounced a death sentence on normative values; scholars found
held that there
is
no
them, and hence
justification for
no point even
in discussing them.
The
evidence for such skepticism was grounded partly in the observation that people hold very different values, partly in the fact that there does not
empirical experience of value advertising,
seem
itself.
to
and
be any reliable
Contrary to popular
which often claims that one can see the value
of this product or that, one cannot see values, nor can one
hear, touch, taste, or smell them.
there are justified,
erence
me
it
would seem
that
no grounds on which value judgments could be other than personal preference.
may be
And
while pref-
a good reason for you liking one thing and
liking another,
to agree
Hence
it is
which thing
is
no
justification at all for
our coming
best.
Skepticism concerning the objectivity of value norms
may
be rather too hasty, however. That many value judgments lack awareness of objective foundations
even be the case that
all
may be
true. It
may
value judgments in the history of
our species have ignored objective foundations. This would still
not preclude there being discoverable objective founda-
tions for values
and hence the
possibility of arriving at in-
formed and objective value judgments. Objective value norms can be deduced directly from the
104
The Systems View contemporary
of
Man
scientific
understanding of natural systems.
Values are goals which behavior activity
which
some end
is
strives
to realize.
Any
oriented toward the accomplishment of
is
value-oriented activity.
This includes such
brutish things as sonar-guided underwater torpedoes,
which
are self-orienting toward contact with a large metal
body
such as the hull of a ship, and such superlative ones as the
brush strokes of a great painter, which have as their end the realization of a painting
pursues an end
is
value-free.
paradigm of human
on the canvas. Nothing
Even
that
science, that oft-cited
turned out in the light
objectivity,
of recent investigations to be value-oriented not merely in
the general sense of pursuing truth, but also in the specific
sense of pursuing certain selected avenues toward the grasp of truth. There
is
nothing in the sphere of culture which
would exempt man from the realm of values floating around, ready to
—no
facts
be grasped without valuations and
expectations.
of
Even more importantly, there is nothing in all the realms natural systems which would be value-free when looked
at
from the vantage point of the systems themselves. Natural
systems exploit the permissiveness of the physical universe in gathering in themselves order
and usable energy
at the
expense of disorder and entropy in their environment.
While the environment of such systems runs down, they themselves remain in steady-states and can even grow and organize themselves.
If
you happen
—
we all are you find yourself You must keep yourself running
as
physical decay of
all things,
and
to
be one such system
with very definite goals.
to
the necessary repairs, including (if
against the odds of the
do
so
you must perform
you are a very complex
system) the ultimate one of replacing your entire system by
105
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD reproducing
common
from one special part of
it
it.
These are values
some form or
to all natural systems, shared in
another by suborganic, organic, and supraorganic systems alike.
for
No
system
is
free to reject these values for very long,
any change or reversal would
of probability, in
its
own
result,
with a high degree
disorganization.
But how these values are manifested depends on the
and hierarchical
specific characteristics
Whereas
all
natural systems share a
level of
each system.
common
value basis,
the form in which these values are manifested differs from level to level
of system
is
and species to
highly diversified
And when
species.
among
its
a species
members, allowing
for great internal variability of such things as nervous functions
and consequent behavior, further
specifications
about within the membership of the species
most
strikingly the case with
value base of the
men
all
human
beings.
natural systems, and
we
itself.
come
This
is
We do have the specify
it
to
fit
human level. And we do have the value basis of all but we specify it to fit our own individual thoughts
and purposes. There kind:
it is
but not a bottomless
measured against objective natural standards.
Contemporary
number
relativity here,
is
cultural anthropologists are specifying a
of fundamental universal values, shared by
everywhere.
The same
men
basic values of survival, mutual col-
laboration, the raising of children, the worship of trans-
cendent
entities,
and avoidance of
pain, are manifested different ways.
The
by
all cultures, albeit
If
106
we
and
often in radically
surface forms differ, but the depth
structures are isomorphic. logical, social,
suffering, injustice,
Man
pursues his ends as a bio-
and cultural being, wherever he
lives.
survey the conclusions that emerge from these
The Systems View findings,
we
Man
of
find that the objective basic values of
are those which he shares with of us
must
(in the sense that
Each
natural systems.
all
man
he cannot help but) commit
himself to survival, creativity, and mutual adaptation within
a society of his peers; the alternative to these there
no imperative attached
is
is
death. But
to the cultural specification
we can choose according to our we must (in the same sense as above)
of these values. These
Of
insights.
course,
remain within the
limits of general natural-systems values.
Finding and respecting these limits
precisely the
is
problem
facing us today.
To the
believe that
harmony
good equals
virtue in accordance with
was an
early specification of basic
of the soul
natural values.
To
more and bigger
believe that
of everything,
hold that affluence
is
good
omy, or
to believe that
socialist
one,
equals production, with
it
is
if it is
a contemporary view.
based on a capitalist econ-
good only
it is
To
if it is
based on a
are further specifications of contemporary
values. Quite different from materialistic values are those of
Western and Oriental
religions: salvation, love,
and
illumination, nirvana,
and asceticism. By and
large,
ever,
contemporary history
is
made by
as to
which mode of production
is
sure,
lofty
stomach.
On
dence that filled.
ideals
Thus
lofty ideals it,
disagreement
good one, not
human
are not easy to pursue
good.
To be
on an empty
no convincing eviare pursued when the stomach is
the other hand, there
filling
is
the truly
whether production defines the nature of
how-
the contest over the
There
specification of materialistic values.
purity;
is
while necessary,
may
not constitute
our highest value. It is
easy to
criticize.
We
all
know
that the critic always
107
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD seems to know more than the person he remarkable that relatively obscure great statesmen sensitivity. If
just
we
and
critics
criticizes.
It
should outrank
acumen and
scientists in intellectual
take their criticisms at face value, that
what they do. The rub
is
that
it is
is
is
one thing to point
out the weakness of anything and quite another to produce
such a thing. Both are needed, but criticism without con-
becomes
struction
self-defeating: the critic ends
himself into a state of cautious immobility.
We
by boxing must not
stop, therefore, at pointing to the fallacies of existing values:
we must
point out the
undertaking it
is
bound
new and better values. While this have many weak points of its own,
nevertheless has to be done. If he
turtle has to stick
4.
to
is
to survive, even a
out his neck from time to time.
The Norms of Contemporary Humanism
We
are asking about the indicated values of man. Let us
be careful to distinguish between descriptive and normative values.
Man
does have values
When described, they Man does not have,
—
a whole hierarchy of them.
give us a system of descriptive values. in
any meaningful
sense, normative
values apart from these. Normative values (or value norms) are things
we
and pointing fillment.
discover by examining man's characteristics to those values
which could lead him
Hence normative values
to ful-
are not described but pos-
tulated; they are creations of the inquiring intellect.
This
They
is
not to say that normative values are arbitrary.
are present in the sphere of actual valuations as
norms
expressed in various ways and to different approximations.
108
The Systems View
A
Man
of
good example of
heating system.
this is the
you
If
and the mechanism
ordinary thermostat of a
set the controls to sixty-eight
degrees
properly functioning, the actual heat
is
of the house will fluctuate around sixty-eight degrees.
actual heat level
known
like the descriptively
is
The
values of
a culture; the setting of the thermostat corresponds to
its
normative values. The actual values are not fixed to the
norms: they fluctuate around them. There as a separate normative value
ones, just as there
is
intrinsic
the descriptive in the house
There are only actual valuations,
known. But they are regu-
descriptively or introspectively
by
all
no such thing
no separate temperature
for the thermostat setting.
lated
among
is
norms which we can discover by patient
inquiry.
What
are the intrinsic
norms of man? The Greeks had
an answer: they said that the end of the good
life is
happi-
ness. Happiness, Aristotle specified, is the fulfillment of that
which ist
is
human
specifically
temper of Greek
as the element fulfillment
of
in us. Typically for the rational-
civilization, Aristotle identified
which
man
sets
reason
apart from beast, and the
which makes him happy.
We
can accept
the Aristotelian ideas without this particular identification. Self-fulfillment, as
contemporary humanistic thinkers and
psychologists acknowledge,
behavior. of us. It
It is is
is
the pattern of
what can
Individual fulfillment can be a specified
the end of
human
purposeful
the actualization of potentials inherent in
and analyzed
all
be, traced in actuality.
human
value.
And
it
can be
in the systems viewpoint.
Individual fulfillment
is
not the development of one
faculty of the mind, or one part of the soul, as the Greeks
would have
it.
It is
the actualization of any
number and any 109
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD combination of different potentials, according to the tem-
perament and conscious desires of the individual. What fulfilling for
is
one may be constraining for another; we are
make one man's meat another's poison. But we are not entirely different and we can talk of the syndrome of human potentials, out of which the paths of different
enough
to
fulfillment of individual persons are selected. Fulfillment
means the
realization of
human
potentials for existence as
a biological and sociocultural being. well as mental health.
ment
as a biological
whole of
its
It
It
means bodily
means adaptation
as
to the environ-
organism constituting an irreducible
hierarchical parts,
and
as a sociocultural role
carrier collaboratively constituting the
many
multiperson
systems in a given society. Fulfillment also means acting on the environment, both the internal one of the organism
and the external one of the
society,
and making
it
com-
patible with the expression of one's potentials. It calls for
a dynamic process of integration and adjustment, creating conditions for the actualization of in
all
the potential there
is
man. Individual fulfillment
by concrete
human
is
a concrete process, conditioned
factors. It takes place in the
situation, specified as the
framework of the
syndrome of conditions
that defines the existential reality of the given person. It
impossible, however, to specify
norms
is
for every situation in
a general theory. Such can only be the task of applying the theory, with
due regard
to the specifics of the situation.
But we can gain some understanding of the overall type of conditions which specify the
human
half of the twentieth century,
and such understanding can
situation in the latter
enable us to apply general theories in particular cases.
110
The Systems View
of
Man
Let us step back once more and look
minants of the contemporary
at the general deter-
human
from the
situation
systems viewpoint. In the world of organized complexity in terrestrial nature, the arrow of time does not determine
which pathway
is
taken by individual systems, only in what direction their
The general
paths converge.
irreversibilities of natural or-
ganization include the progressive differentiation of existing systems, the merging of smaller systems within large unities
without loss of individuality, and the increased level of
communication among systems on level.
A
level
of
system
their
corollary of these processes
is
the increase in the
super-
the global ecology of nations).
In the
(that
the
amount
by
"signals."
is,
of "noise"
The system
determination on the is
this
means
that
progressively reduced and replaced
is
becomes less open Randomness is on
itself
regular and lawlike.
There
hierarchical
information introduced into the largest
language of modern information theory,
more
own
to chance,
the wane,
rise.
good empirical evidence
that such indeed
is
the
pattern of contemporary development in the sociocultural sphere. Relatively isolated
rated in larger,
communication
and simple groups are incorpo-
more complex
ones, with an increase in the
level of the incorporated units.
systems enter into communication jointly
constitute
still
among
The
larger
themselves, and
higher-level supersystems.
We
are
already approaching the extensive boundaries of the process of international
communication and system building. Fur-
ther development, being unable to proceed extensively, will
take effect intensively. Increasing communication
a
finite
number
of
national
among
and multinational systems 111
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD can only them.
As
among
greater mutual determination
result in
the ratio of noise to signal
reduced through
is
wider channels of effective international communication, the
world becomes more and more is
A
like a single unit.
village
a unit because everyone knows everyone else and takes
a role vis-a-vis the village"
when
rest.
The world
be a true "global
will
similar conditions prevail.
Of
who knows everyone
scale the everyone
individuals, but heads of state
course,
on
else will
that
not be
and heads of corporations
their professional roles. Individuals will
in
be more and more
deeply embedded in complex hierarchical structures. Their interaction will be mediated
by the interaction of the many
which they and
sociocultural unities
jointly form. If this is the case,
woe
to the extent that determination
is
their
primary groups
to the individuals.
For
introduced into the sys-
tems above them, they become determined as cogs in a fixed machinery.
regiment.
To
The more you
the fully regimented
No
—
this
Although
organize, the
create the fully organized society
to create
cog.
a fallacious assessment of the situation.
is
it is
human
more you is
often voiced (most recently by Skinner),
commits one capital
error:
it
conceives of
as basically mechanistic systems.
men and
In the systems view, how-
they are dynamic, not mechanistic, systems:
ever,
determinateness interactions tions.
is
it
society
their
not due to the determination of individual
among
their parts but to their statistical correla-
In relatively simple mechanisms each part receives
an input which gives
rise to
an output
in
one way and one
You press a lever here, and up pops a tab there. No matter how many parts have been involved in the chain way
only.
of events
112
—
gears, springs, shafts, etc.
—
the effect
is
deter-
The Systems View
of
Man
minate because each part transmits the determined way. is
one part refuses
If
broken and the tab
fails to
pop up
effect in a rigorously
to cooperate, the chain
at the end.
Natural systems, however, are not at
and outputs
are correlations between their inputs
what you press and what pops up ministic ones.
something
like
—but
The components
all like this.
of natural systems form
democracies in which
particular
them.
fulfill
component
It
—between
these are not deter-
it is
agreed that certain
functions will be carried out, but where volunteers to
There
it
is
left
up
carries out a task.
function a component performs
is
What
particular
also determined
kinds of functions performed by the others. There
is
by the a high
degree of internal plasticity within any natural system.
system as a whole parts
is
not. This
is
is
to
matters not in the least which
The
determinate, but the relationship of the
not the mechanistic determinism of old-
fashioned behavioral scientists, but the flexible, dynamic
"macrodetermination" conception of contemporary systems biologists, psychologists,
When
and
social scientists.
a macrodeterministic system becomes a component
in a system of its peers, its cooperative relations with its
fellow systems take parts,
on the character of
and the system they
mination.
Hence
there
of indeterminacy)
is
and determination on the structure.
There
is
jointly constitute acquires deter-
freedom
on the
(i.e.,
level of the
is
atom
as an integrated
such freedom on the level of molecules
in a gas, but determination
there
a significant degree
level of electrons in the atom,
on the
volume, and temperature of the gas similar
plasticity typical of
freedom on the
level of the pressure, itself.
level of cells within a
And
there
is
a
body, although
determination on the level of the body
itself. If
you 113
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD cut your finger is
it
will bleed
and subsequently
heal, but
it
not prescribed by any law of your physiology which par-
ticular cells are to
certain
On
form the epidermal
number of them do the
so in a certain time sequence.
contemporary multiperson systems,
of
level
macrodetermination
layer, only that a
is
even more
striking.
tions, universities, social organizations,
take on determinate structure, and
we
and
We
see corpora-
political
regimes
see that this structure
mem-
does not impose mechanistic determinacy on their
have openings for certain kinds
bers. Sociocultural systems
of roles
—from
presidents to shoeshine boys. Persons with
adequate qualifications can
fill
the jobs, regardless of their
unique individuality. Roles are not made for given individuals, but for kinds of individuals classed according to qualification.
When
the roles are
sonality of each
new
with others, and
it
tenant
is
filled,
the particular per-
reflected in his interrelations
produces corresponding
organizational structure. There
is flexibility
shifts
within the
within any sys-
tem, as part adjusts to part.
Yet there and that itself.
is
That
is
something which remains relatively constant,
the kind of function performed by the system is
changeable too, but more gradually.
And
it is
subject to pressures both from within and from the outside,
and
it
changes as a function of a balance between them.
due to such
plasticity that
viable under
new
complex systems can remain
circumstances. Totally mechanistic sys-
tems have only two
work
It is
states:
a functional one where
in the rigorously determined
all
manner, and a
parts
failing
one where one or more parts have broken down. They lack the plasticity of natural systems, which act as dynamic, self-
repairing wholes in regard to any deficiency.
114
The Systems View
The
of
Man
inverse side of macrodetermination
functional
is
autonomy. The functional autonomy of parts within a natural system adds up to the macrodetermination of the
whole. Hence functional autonomy does not
mean
inde-
pendence.
A
would not
constitute a system, only a heap. Systemicity
fully
imposed as a
set of rules
binding the parts
set of units is
among them-
But these rules do not constrain the parts
selves.
in
autonomous (independent)
to act
one way and one way only; they merely prescribe that
certain types of functions are carried out in certain se-
quences.
number
The
parts have options; as long as a sufficient
of sufficiently qualified units carries out the pre-
scribed tasks, the requirements of systemic determination are met.
We can now appreciate why even an increasingly determinate hierarchy of social systems fulfillment. Fulfillment
is
is
not contrary to individual
predicated upon the freedom to
—
become what one is capable of being functional autonomy of human beings in
dom
is
a real possibility, although at present
fully realized.
upon
is,
Such
it is
the
free-
nowhere
Today's sociocultural systems are not entirely
mechanistic, but
Some
that
society.
some are more mechanistic than others. become the
designate the first-born of the leader to
next leader, and thus exercise a mechanistic preselection of the
fulfillment
pathways for that individual. There are
others which force persons to of
personal choices,
politics,
and
fill
specific roles regardless
whether in business, marriage, or
they, too, are mechanistic to a corresponding
extent.
Consider a system of national defense based on picking the male offspring of families Smith, Jones, Barker, and
115
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD
Baker to
man
to a given
the ramparts from a given day in one year
day
this
manner, but
freedom on the individual
quota
is
and
level
filled.
Now
an element of chance is
not determined in advance
is
drafted from
among
ences,
and
enters,
that a certain
flexible.
since
number
made more
has only been
For the system
still
on some individuals regardless of
it still
until the
a certain age group. But the mecha-
of the system
random, not more certain fate
level
drafted for military duty
—only
is
rigidity
may no
on the
full rigidity
male offspring born on a certain date
whether any given individual
nistic
defenses
at the cost of personal
Such a mechanistic system can be revised
of the society. to draft
The necessary
in another.
doubt be secured in
obtains a fixed
number
imposes a
their prefer-
of soldiers.
Full natural-system macrodetermination based on the functional
autonomy
of individuals can be achieved in re-
gard to national defense when the draft system
is
abolished
and replaced by an all-volunteer army. Of course,
abolish-
ing such a system before there are sufficient volunteers to
form an adequate army means the impairment of the defense capacities of the society, hence a malfunction on the level of the whole. it
But when the society
is
so structured that
offers channels of self-fulfillment within the ranks of
defensive forces for a sufficient proportion of
its
its
population,
then the society can exhibit macrodetermination based on the functional
Here
lies
autonomy
of individual persons.
the crux of the problem of our times.
We
are
faced with the following variables: increasing communication
—hence determination—on
the macrolevel of sociocul-
tural systems, great differentiation
tudes and
116
potentials,
among
individual apti-
and the value of individual human
The Systems View
Our humanistic
fulfillment.
goal
is
enhance individual
to
an increasingly deterministic multilevel society
fulfillment in
composed
Man
of
of greatly differentiated individuals. This
feasible endeavor.
and
institutions
Like
all
is
a
complex natural systems, human
societies function best
when
they are spon-
taneous expressions of the freely chosen activities of their interrelated
members. Such a society
is
the
norm
against
which we must measure our existing forms of
social
structure.
What
is
needed
is
in reference to the flexible
a reorientation of our cultural values
norms of individual
and dynamic
social system.
must have access both cally discovered
To
to empirical data
norms of individuals
fulfillment in
set
and
is,
we
such a goal
to the theoreti-
in society.
Empirical
data are like the readings on a thermometer. They
what the case
a
tell
us
but not whether it is desirable. Theoretically
discovered norms are comparable to finding the setting of
They tell us how closely the actual values approximate the norms intrinsic to the system. We need both the readings and the norms a knowledge of actual valuations as well as of normative values. For only if we know both where we are and where we want to go can a thermostat.
—
we
act purposively in seeing about getting there.
unlike the
if,
who didn't want to travel because she we cannot be content to stay where we
little girl
was already are,
And
there,
our knowledge of objective norms achieves paramount
importance.
The Western world tends as the
panacea for
all
to offer the values of affluence
social
superannuated. In their place
ills.
These values are now
we must propose
positive,
humanistic values. Humanistic values, discovered in the
117
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD systems perspective of
man and
nature, are not arbitrary
goals but natural norms, encoded in every natural system.
But they are overlaid by diverse cultural value objectives and hence, in times of urgency, they need to be consciously rediscovered. If they are found and adopted,
man
will again
exercise his powers of adaptive innovation in maintaining
himself and his culture within the thresholds of compatibility
with the dynamic and balanced multilevel hierarchy of terrestrial nature.
It is
time to take stock of our findings and theories.
Empirical knowledge
live in critical times.
is
We
no longer a
topic for academic discussion but an issue of public concern. Fortunately, the natural philosophy of the in the
which are meaningful for man and helpful finding the
way
anthropocentric, but
of nature it is
man
and
is
clearly norjr,
man
all that. It
one species of system
is
complex and embracing hierarchy of nature, and
same time
intrinsic worth.
and
as guideposts in
not nonhumanistic for
allows us to understand that
the
trends
to a humanistic future.
The systems view
in a
new
contemporary sciences gives us a body of theories
it
us that
tells
They
all
are goal-oriented, self-maintaining,
self-creating expressions of nature's
and adjustment. The mitting the
amoeba
at
systems have value and
status of
man
is
as his kin, nor
penchant for order
not lessened by ad-
by recognizing
that
sociocultural systems are his supersystems. Seeing himself as a connecting link in a
complex natural hierarchy cancels
man's anthropocentrism, but seeing the hierarchy
an expression of self-ordering and bolsters his self-esteem
118
and encourages
self-creating his
itself as
nature
humanism.
The Systems View
We may
not be the center of the universe and the telos
of evolution, but
processes
Man
of
in
we
are concrete
particular
their
we
albeit accidentally,
embodiments of cosmic
terrestrial
did happen to evolve a most remark-
able property: self- reflection. In virtue of this
among verse
And,
variation.
we may be
the very few species of natural systems in the uni-
which are able not only
respond to
it,
know
but to
their
to
the world and
sense
own
sensations and
come
to reasoned conclusions about the nature of the universe.
To be
a
man
of getting to lives. It is
is
thus to have the almost unique opportunity
know
oneself
and the world
in
which one
surely shortsighted to disregard this opportunity
and confine oneself
solely to the business of living.
A failure to exploit our capability for rational knowledge is,
moreover, contrary to the business of
species
may
living.
not be capable of existing for long without the
use of rational insights in guiding
its
own
destiny.
knowledge has made us increasingly autonomous and enabled us to create the worlds of us from
many
error
is
the price
own we pay for
Our
in nature,
culture. It has freed
of the bonds of biological existence
us license to determine our ity of
For our
and given
evolution. But the possibil-
freedom. The worlds
we
build for ourselves can be manifold, but they must remain
compatible with nature.
We
the
structured
hierarchy
can build worlds beyond these
our immediate
peril.
Any
of
terrestrial
limits only at
such error must be rectified by
using the same capacities which originally led to the error:
our relative autonomy in nature, conferred by conscious and rational knowledge.
Here
is
where the integrated natural philosophy of the
evolving sciences of our time becomes important.
It
locates
119
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD us within the multiple structures of nature and enables us to
make
constructive use of our large technological capa-
Immersed
cities.
we
sphere,
in the
hierarchies of the bio-
we
As we manipulate
the
have enormous control organs and
immense
are nevertheless masters of our destiny, for
cells of
capabilities.
our body through medicines and sur-
many strands of social and ecological relations around us. We know fairly clearly what constitutes organic health for our biological system; now we gery, so
we can manipulate
the
must likewise learn the norms of our manifold ecologic, economic,
and cultural systems.
political,
challenge of our age objective
to specify,
is
and
learn to respect, the
norms of existence within the complex and
cately balanced hierarchic order that
around
us.
For there
natural philosophy of the
sciences lated,
it
is
is
a systems philosophy.
our future
to
we
in the
properly articu-
is
an opportunity we
it
in determining
cannot afford to miss. For
do, another chapter of terrestrial evolution will
an end, and
its
come
unique experiment with rational con-
sciousness will be written off as a failure.
120
we
can give us both factual and normative knowledge.
Exploring such knowledge and applying
if
that
new developments
When
deli-
both in us and
no other way to make sure is viable and humanistic.
is
achieve a culture that
The
The supreme
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The View From a Distant Star: Man's Future York: Harper & Row, 1963. (P)
Press, 1958.
(P)
in the Universe.
New York: Wiley, 1957. (S) The Sciences of the Artificial. Cambridge, Mass.: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 1969. (S) Sinnott, Edmund W. The Biology of the Spirit. New York: Viking Press,
Simon, Herbert A. Models of Man. .
1955. (B)
The Problem of Organic Form. University Press, 1963. (B) .
New
Haven, Conn.:
Sorokin, Pitirim A. Sociological Theories of Today.
& Row,
New
Yale
York: Harper
1966. (So)
Stanley-Jones, D., and K. Stanley-Jones.
Systems:
A
Study
in Patterns of Control.
The Kybernetics of Natural New York: Pergamon, 1960.
(B) (ed.). Communication: General Semantics Perspectives. York: Spartan, 1970. (Cm)
Thayer, Lee
New
(ed.). Communication: The Ethical and Moral York: Gordon and Breach, in press. (Cm)
Issues.
Thorpe, W. H. Learning and Instinct in Animals. London: Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1963. (B) Tinbergen, Nikolaas. Social Behavior in Animals. London:
New
Methuen; Methuen,
1953. (B)
125
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD Waddington, C. H. (ed.). Towards a Theoretical Biology. Chicago: Aldine, 1970. (B) Walter, W. Grey. The Living Brain. London and New York: Norton, 1953. (B) Weiss, Paul A. Dynamics of Development: Experiments and Inferences. New York: Academic Press, 1968. (B) (ed.). Hierarchically Organized Systems in Theory and Practice. New York: Hafner Publishing Co., 1971. (S) Werner, Heinz. Comparative Psychology of Mental Development. New York: International Universities Press, 1957. (Ps) Whitehead, Alfred North. The Concept of Nature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1920. (Ph) Science and the Modern World. New York: Macmillan, 1925. .
(Ph) .
Symbolism,
Its
Meaning and
Effect.
New
York: Macmillan,
1927. (Ph)
Whorf, Benjamin Lee. Language, Thought and Reality: Selected Writings of B. L. Whorf. Edited by John B. Carroll. New York: Wiley, 1956. (L)
Whyte, Lancelot Law. The Next Development Mentor Books, 1950. (A) .
in
Unitary Principles in Physics and Biology.
Man. New York:
New
York: Henry
Holt, 1949. (Ph)
A. G. Wilson and D. Wilson (eds.). Hierarchical Structures. York: American Elsevier, 1969. (S) Wiener, Norbert. The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics and Society. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1954. (C) Woodger, Joseph H. Biological Principles. New York: Humanities, 1966. (B) Biology and Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1952. (B) ,
New
.
126
Index
Abstract thinking 92, 95
Business organizations 64f., 72,
Actualization of potentials 109,
110 Adaptation 41, 74, 75, 110, 120
Aging 42
Amoeba
Cannon 41 Capitalism 102
22, 70, 88
Carbon
Analysis 6
7,
31,60
Cat 92
Anthropocentric
view
84,
85,
118
Categories 21, 22, 30
Catholic Church 61, 62
Aristotle 109
Cell 31, 37, 69,70, 88, 90, 113
Art 85, 96, 101 Artificial
Chance
52, 116 Change, forms of 47
systems 93, 94
Astrophysics 53
Atom
73
Characteristics of parts 8
31, 38, 39, 52, 57, 68, 69,
83,88,89, 113
Atomic number 54 Atomic theory 30, 38, 39 Atomistic thinking
4, 5,
Atomistic view
79
3f.,
19
Attraction (gravity) 81, 82
Characteristics of wholes 8, 29,
30 Child 24, 25 Christianism 102 Civilizations 63
Closed systems 36
Communication
(human)
63,
71,72,92, 111, 116 Bees 89
Communication
Behaviorism 79
81,84, 111 Complexity 11, 13, 32, 52, 54, 58, 60, 67
Beliefs 98,
Bergson
99
1
Bertalanffy,
Biology
von 14
1
Computer
(of parts)
33,
94
93,
Consciousness 72, 79, 85f., 91f.,
Biosphere 60, 86, 120 Black hole 55f
Constancies 41
Body (human) 10
Continuum 81
103
Brain 32
Corporations
Buhler 32
Criteria of life
7, 10, 72, 73,
114
22
127
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD Cro-Magnon 96
Feeling 85, 93, 98, 99
Crystals 83
Flows 80, 81 Frankl 97
Cultural anthropology 104, 106
Culture
7, 61, 63, 97, 99f., 118f.
Freedom
51, 75, 112, 113, 119
Friendship 28
De
Function (of systems) 20, 21, 82, 114
Gaulle 10
Descriptive values 108, 109
Determinacy
vs.
Determination
freedom
1 1
culture
of
2f 99,
Functional autonomy 115, 116
Future shock 65
lOOf.
Dialectic 28
Disorganization 34, 36
Dog
89
Galileo 10 General concept 24, 25 General systems theory 14
Generalization 20, 23
Driesch 11
Genes 47 Earth-sun system 36
Global system 84
Ecology 37, 43, 71
Global village 65, 112 Goals (of systems) 105, 118
Economic systems 45, 62 Economics 8, 11,45, 102
Goldstein 32
Ecosystem 71
Gravity 54, 58
Einstein 81
Greek
Electron
31,54, 69, 83, 113 Electron bombardment 39
Group
Elements 53, 55
Group psychology 29
7,
Emergence of order vi
Energy 22, 30, 34f., 40, 43, 58, 80,83 Entropy 34, 35, 38, 52, 53 Environment (of systems) 20 34,41, 105, 110 Equilibrium 45, 46
44
Happiness 109 Healing 42, 114 Health 110 Heaps 27, 28 Heat 38, 39 Helium 5, 53 Hierarchy 61, 66, 67-74, 79, 82, 91, 115, 118f.
History 100
Euclid 53 Evolution 46f.,
80f., 97, 99, 111,
120
Homeostasis 41
Human potentials
Excitation (atomic) 39
Humanism
Exclusion principle 53, 54 Experience 10, 21, 96
Humanistic values
128
102
characteristics 7, 29, 33,
48f., 57, 74,
81
Empirical concept
civilization 101,
Hydrogen
110
108f. 1
17f.
5, 31, 53f.,
69
Index Hypothesis
vi, vii,
Magnetic
26, 27
Hypothetico-deductive method
26
56 37, 38, 42,
79-120
Marx 102 Maslow 32
Individuals 7, 25, 29, 33, 42, 51,
Materialistic values 102, 107
Mather 52
64, 109, 112, 115f.
Matter 21, 30, 31,53, 54, 57, 81
Information 41, 47, 83, 110 Innovation 49, 52, 65, 1 18
knowledge
Integrated
field 55,
5, 12, 19, 21f.,
70f.,
Individuality 6
4,
McLuhan 65 119,
120
Mechanistic determinism
1
13f.
Mechanistic systems 112
Integrated order 52, 54, 82 Integration of function 68, 70,
Interactions 11, 112
Interface
Meson 56 Method of systems
science 13,
26 Molecule 31, 68, 69, 83, 113 Monitoring capacity 9 If., 95, 98
90 Intelligence 96 73, 74,
70f.,
Man
coordination
67,
68,
Motorists 9
Mutation 49
79
Myth
Invariance 20f., 96
101
Invariance of organization 21,
22,27
Nation
Irreducibility 8, 12, 27f., 32, 58,
74
10, 23, 64,
Natural philosophy
Isolated system 35, 36
Language 71,
viii,
4,
23f., 29, 33, 34,
37, 38, 46f., 59, 91,97, 105f.,
85, 92,
96
Levels 13, 30, 53, 58, 67, 74, 79,
83 Life 21 f.
cosmos 59
Life principle
vii,
119 Natural system
Keynes 103
Life in
110
National defense 115, 116
1
113 118 Nature 12, 13, 19-75, 80f., 118, 119 Nervous system 87, 89, 90, 91 Neuron 32 Neutron 7, 31, 56 Neutron star 55, 56
Light 66
Newton 10
Living and nonliving 22
Newtonian science
11,
15,
58,
102
Lobachevsky 53 Love 28
Normative values 104, 108, 109,
Macrodeterminism 113f.
Nuclear
117f. fission 54,
89
129
THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF THE WORLD Nuclear transmutation 38, 39, 53 Nucleic acid 83 Nucleon 83
Primitive societies 63, 64
Production 102, 103 Progress 103
Proton 31, 56 Protosciences 10
Psychology 29, 32 Pulsar 56
Objective norms 104, 106
Ontogenesis 47
Open system 37, 39, 40 Organic phenomena 30, 58,69 Organism
31, 40,
Quantum
theory 11,54
Quarks 30, 83 31, 40, 41, 44, 58, 60,
71,79, 83, 87f. Organization 20, 32, 35, 36, 54,
57,67 Organizational features (of natural systems)
Organized
Reason 98, 99, 109 Reductionism
24, 25,
complexity
27-74
12,
15,
24,25,27,58, 110
20, 30
8, 9, 19,
Reform 70 Relation of parts
29
7, 8, 12, 13,
Relativity of values 104, 106
56
Relativity theory 11,
Religion 101, 107
Reproduction 42
Paradigm 4 Pareto 45 Particulars
Riemann 53 Rigorous knowledge 3,4, 19
20
Parts It, 15,
61,67,72,79, 115
Pattern-maintenance 44, 45
Science
v,
vi,
20; contemporary
Pecking order 7 Permissible energy bands 7
20,
Personality
(human) 32
Philosophy 101
71;
27,
19; classical
3, 5,
Pauli 53
102; trends in
vi, vii, 6, 8,
modern vii,
10,
11,
5
4,
Self-awareness 86, 91, 93, 119 Self-creativity 46, 47, 118
Phylogenesis 47
Self-evolving nets 48f ., 65
Physics 11, 30, 31
Self-fulfillment
109,
110,
115,
117
Piaget 95
Self-maintenance 34-46
Piecemeal analysis 6 Plan of evolution 48, 52
Self-regulation 37, 41f.
Plants 87f.
Sensations 86, 88, 90f., 96, 119
Plato 28
Sensitivity
Policy 73
Sign 92, 96
Political systems 62,
Prediction 9, 42
130
73
88
Simon 67 Simplicity 13
Index Simplification 6, 19
Technology 102
Skinner 112
Theories of science
Skepticism 104 Smith,
Adam
102
13,
34f.
Social reality 61, 62
Thermostat 109 Three-body problem 5
Social relations 71 Social systems 61f., 72, 84,
1
14f.
Society 9, 37, 45, 90, 112, 117
Spaceship earth 66
Topological theory of evolution
48 Transformation of means and ends 98
Space-time 53, 56, 80f. Specialists 3f., 13
Tropism 88
3f.,
64
Twain,
Species 42, 43, 71, 106 Stability 38, 39,
10,
Thermodynamics, second law of
Social development 64, 65
Specialization
vi,
19,26
Two
Mark
5
cultures 101
60
Star 38, 40, 55f., 82 State
Ultimate system 50
10,23,61,64
Uniformity of nature 59 United Nations 66
Steady-state 37, 43, 83 Stellar evolution 55,
Structure
8,
12,
56
13, 20, 21, 38,
Substance (philosophical) 20 Substance (physical) 31, 32, 37, 40, 43, 83 14, 36,
37
Supersystem formation 50, 74,79, 82, 110
Valence 54
Value judgment 97 Value norms 104, 108, 109, 117, 118, 120 Virus 22
60f.,
Supraorganic phenomena 30, 33,
43,44,61,71 Survival 40, 42, 97 71, 92, 95,
80f.,
Value reorientation 117
36, 38,43, 55
Symbol
53f.,
Uranium 54
Subjectivity 87f.
Suborganic phenomena 30, 38, 52, 58, 68
Sun
(cosmos)
119
39,41f., 53f., 68, 75 82
Subsystem
Universe
96
System, concept of 19f.
Systems approach 14 Systems sciences 10, 13 Systems view 3-15, 19f. 79f.
War 62 Wave 39,
82
Weaver 12 White dwarfs 55 Whitehead 13,47,91 Wholes 6f., 19, lit., 61,67, 72 World organizations 66 World view vf., 4, 27, 62 131
ERVIN LASZLO
View
Bl of the
A
pioneer of systems thinking in philosophy,
Ervin Laszlo
is
tegrator in real
Born
in
national
an interdisciplinarian and life
Budapest
fame
in-
as well as in his writings.
in
1932, he achieved inter-
as concert
pianist
in
his
early
teens, then turned to science and philosophy a few years later in his search for a better under-
man and his world. He has degrees music from the Franz Liszt Academy Budapest, and in philosophy from the Sorbonne in Paris (Docteur es-Lettres). He has been Restanding of in
ii
search Associate in
at the
University of Fribourg
Switzerland,. Visiting Fellow
Visiting Professor at Indiana universities. Currently
losophy
at
he
is
One Park A venue
New
York. N.Y. 10016
Yale,
and
Professor of Phi-
the State University of
College of Arts and Science
GEORGE BRAZILLER
at
and Northwestern
at
New
York's
Geneseo. Dr.
is the author of eight books, including most recent Introduction to Systems Philosophy which opens up the fertile field of systems research for contemporary philosophy.
Laszlo
his