Reading the signals of environmental systems
The Reasoner, www.thereasoner.org (cc FRIAM) Ive been working with an effective method for reading the signals of change within and for developing complex systems, for many years. It seems to have produced a list of apparently high quality new findings but a rather short list of people able to understand them, or the simplicity of the technique. I did a better job describing it than usual with a mixed philosophy/methodology paper for Cosmos & History, linked below. It describes the turning points of developmental learning curves as resources for learning about the individual systems producing them. When the curves change direction, the directions of learning for the systems producing them are changing direction. What could be simpler? What seems complicated to people is; how do you square that with determinism? Its done as a study of the freedoms that exist within the laws, particularly the special freedoms of accumulatively divergent processes, following the lines of reasoning of Elsaser and Rosen. This approach is a way of turning the corner to acknowledging that physical processes typically combine both deterministic and creative behavior and design. It offers that individual system creativity within the laws is a better and more consistent explanation for finding such diversity of well organized things than a principle of general disorganization in systems as a rule. Determinism applies, but outside the range of freedom within the rules for individual accumulative organizational processes. The variation on the scientific method is based on physics, but is used unlike other physics methods. Its primarily diagnostic physics, for raising better questions, not representational physics. It lets one systematically explore the relationships between the different cells of self-organization that constitute individual complex systems and their learning processes. Its a window into the animating hearts of our world, opened by a disciplined way of watching their paths of development and helping reveal both what makes life exciting and dangerous. Learning to read the signals of how your environment is changing directions helps a lot with avoiding the error of not responding to them Failing to respond with curiosity to signals of change in your whole environment is to display a deep denial and a most backward kind of response to new realities. Today the world is surrounding us with new realities of all kinds that are confusing, and dangerous, but most people have not seen them as world changing for us. Having a better way to read the signals can help. But we still need to cross the big divide to acknowledging the presence of individual complex systems in our world. We need to learn to read the individuality of their learning processes and that for us, each is different and out of control. The big expert error of determinism taken as a universal principle seems to be its implication that the universe constitutes only one system. Its also big jump, conceptually, to move from an idea that the symbolic relationships we sketch on our notepads and in our computers are not actually what the systems of nature use to operate. If they have been quite effective in giving us control over lots of things, they have also been less useful for helping us see what we cant control. They wont ever give us control over the ranges of freedom that individual systems have within the laws to develop their own independent designs and behaviors. Its a jump that many others have seen but not quite seen how to make. Stuart Kauffmans new image of the universe as being indelibly creative in its natural processes and requiring a Reinvention of the Sacred paints the problem brilliantly. We find ourselves with a deep conflict, representing the new world we now find ourselves in cant be done using the tools we developed to find it. My approach to crossing that divide is based on a way to indentify independent behaviors without loosing the connection between science and evidence, giving away only the small detail of descriptive certainty by allowing descriptive uncertainty. Thats what a diagnostic physics for reading the learning curves of individual systems has some potential to make efficient and effective, while also helping to open up the fascinating intricacy of our living world to view. Pfh Lifes Hidden Resources for Learning - http://www.cosmosandhistory.org/index.php/journal/article/view/200/259 Features of Continuity in data shapes - http://www.synapse9.com/fdcs-ph99-1.pdf Physics of Change - http://www.synapse9.com/physicsofchange.htm Learning curves & Learning limits - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_curve Other Papers - http://www.synapse9.com/phpub.htm Physics of Happening http://www.synapse9.com/drwork.htm Phil Henshaw natural systems design science ¸¸¸¸.·´ ¯ `·.¸¸¸¸ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 680 Ft. Washington Ave NY NY 10040 tel: 212-795-4844 e-mail: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [EMAIL PROTECTED] explorations: <http://www.synapse9.com/> www.synapse9.com "it's not finding what people say interesting, but finding the interest in what they say"
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