The Happiness PhD Project (Encyclopedia)
This resource is a summary of systems thinking based on the works of Fritjof Capra.
Systems thinking is best explained as an approach or worldview. It is not exclusive to any one discipline. Rather it is a way of approaching any discipline from a perspective that focuses on wholes, connectedness, patterns, and synthesis (rather than purely parts, components, matter, and analysis). So it is a perspective that can be used to think about economics, natural sciences, psychology, business, leadership, and of course happiness…
Capra writes — I have called my synthesis "the systems view of life" because the new conception of life requires a new kind of thinking - thinking in terms of relationships, patterns, connectedness, context. In science, this kind of thinking is known as "systems thinking," or "systemic thinking." It emerged in the 1920s and 1930s from a series of interdisciplinary dialogues involving biologists, psychologists, and ecologists. In all these fields, scientists realized that a living system - an organism, a social system, or an ecosystem - is an integrated whole whose properties cannot be reduced to those of smaller parts.
This resources summarizes and expands upon his approach. It draws from his textbook — The Systems View of Life and his Capra Course.
Below is a map of this perspective shared by Capra.
The systemic conception of life begins in appreciating that living things are not machines. Every level of the system is a cognitive system and certain properties emerge at the level of whole systems. 9B. Emergence occurs when a system exhibits properties or behaviors that the parts do not have on their own.
Take the example of sugar. Sugar tastes sweet but where does sweetness come from? Sugar is a compound of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. None of those taste sweet. Sweetness emerges out of the relation between the atoms and our tongues. Systems thinking is going from parts to wholes.
This is often summarized as “the whole is more than the sum of the parts”.
You can imagine networks nesting within networks where each network is it’s own distinct system (cells to tissues to organs to individuals to groups to societies…). This way, systems thinking integrates the biological, cognitive, social, and ecological dimensions of life. This holds true for other domains as well (such as economics or organizational theory).
A final hallmark of the systems approach is that it is grounded in nonlinear dynamics. This is best understood with an example. Imagine water flowing down a man-made river with no obstacles. It more or less flows in a straight line. Now imagine placing a big boulder in the middle that creates whirlpools, waterfalls, and waves. The flow of the water is now governed by nonlinear dynamics. In pretty much every dimension of real life - financial markets, cellular function, neuroscience — we find things are governed by nonlinear dynamics. Reality is inherently complex.
Another way to understand this shift in causation — what happens if you kick a ball? The reaction is linear, cause and effect and fairly predictable… What happens if you kick a dog? The reaction is nonlinear, governed by numerous factors and rather unpredictable…
Now what are the applications for today?
Most of our problems are systemic (and highly complex) — things like climate change, poverty, violence, mental illness, etc. are interrelated phenomena. A fundamental challenge in solving such problems is that most of our leaders have an outdated worldview. Capra calls this a crisis of perception — they see a nonlinear, systemic world in terms of linear, disconnected solutions. Take an example — economics. Most fundamental assumptions and theories are based on economic production growing every year indefinitely. But how can there be infinite growth on a finite planet with finite resources? Take the standard economic value chain with raw materials turned into components which are turned into goods which are sold, used and eventually disposed of. This is sort of a linear chain as opposed to natural systems were waste is turned into the raw materials for other organisms to use.
So in order to create effective solutions to our current crises we need a fundamental shift from the quantitative, linear, and reductionist to to the qualitative, sustainable, and holistic.
The basic building block of life is the cell. But that is not enough to distinguish between living and nonliving things because a 100,000 year old skull will still have bone cells. So there must be something more.