Acquiring knowledge
I have characterised two approaches to the way we (in the human system) acquire knowledge;
- Systems analysis can be contrasted to reductionism, which tries to isolate things so as to create solvable problems. It is widely known that point solutions can have limited application and may have (often damaging) unintended consequences. Systems thinking and multidisciplinary approaches are increasingly part of the scientific method.
- Systems Thinking uses a number of concepts: the system itself, its boundaries, its ability to maintain itself and adapt, reciprocal transactions, feedback, and throughput. Systems may contain sub-systems or be part of bigger ones. Individual systems exist within a context, the environment and other systems they interact with. A system exhibits characteristics that cannot always be predicted from its parts (emergent properties, in common parlance the whole is bigger than the sum its the parts).
For a more detailed discussion on systems thinking see Appendix: Systems Thinking an Overview
It was after reading the work of Fritjof Capra Capra and Luisi that I realised the full implications of systems thinking: the world is made up of interconnected systems, to see it properly and discern what is actually happening integrative thinking is needed. Integrative thinking brings in all relevant factors and can lead the to the solution of problems and new insights through multi-disciplinary approaches, though I would caveat this with the need for caution - there are some things that are so difficult they are referred to as "wicked problems".
It is beyond my scope to write a history of science. One important point needs to be made however – systems thinking and multi-disciplinary approaches have only come into wide spread use recently.
There may have been a brief period where the Renaissance Man could comprehend the whole of human knowledge but the sheer volume and detail of knowledge is now overwhelming with perhaps a real danger that we cannot see the wood for the trees or using another metaphor we become like frogs. If you drop a frog into boiling water it will jump out, if you heat it gently it will boil to death; it will not detect the slow fatal build up of heat. Our challenge is to leverage what we know. We can only do this through politics which means politics has to change.