In Memory of Past Presidents of the ISSS -- Plenary, July 10, 2003

47th Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS), Hersonissos, Crete, July 10, 2003.

July 10, 2003, 9:40 a.m., Plenary Session

This digest was created in real-time during the meeting, based on the speaker's presentation(s) and comments from the audience. These should not be viewed as official transcripts of the meeting, but only as an interpretation by a single individual. Lapses, grammatical errors, and typing mistakes may not have been corrected. Questions about content should be directed to the originator. These notes have been contributed by David Ing (daviding@systemicbusiness.org) at the IBM Advanced Business Institute ( http://www.ibm.com/abi ).

[Markus Schwaninger]

Past presidents

• Heinz von Foerster, born 1911, ISSS president 1976-77
• James Grier Miller, born 1916, ISSS president 1973-74
• Ilya Prigogine, born 1917, ISSS president 1988-89
• Howard Odum, born 1924, ISSS president 1991-1992
• Stafford Beer

Speakers:

• Stuart Umpleby
• Kenneth Bailey
• Gianfranco Minati
• Roger Packum
• Markus Schwaninger

[Stuart Umpleby on Heinz von Foerster]

Primarily role in cybernetics

Norbert Wiener -- Idea to study the nervous system, and build equipment for the second industrial revolution

Warren McCulloch -- meetings in NYC, Macy Foundation

• Over 10 years, field of cybernetics founded.
• Heinz von Foerster invited on where the memory was in the brain -- at the molecular level.
• His English was bad, so assigned the task of editing the proceedings, supervised by Margaret Mead

Led the movement of second order cybernetics

• Observations independent of the chracteristics of the observer are not phyiscially possible.
• So what?
  • Witness in courtroom
  • Heisenberg uncertainty principle
  • Social construction of knowledge
• Added a dimension to science:
  • Correspondence theory:  if add previous explanation, knowledge can add a new dimension.
  • Pays attention to observer, whereas scientists believed that all scientists should be able to reproduce the same results.
  • Adds not only to science, but also the philosophy of science, which gives more leverage.
• Solving a problem in Central Europe.
  • Stuart was a graduate student under Heinz
  • Heinz was a dynamic speaker.
  • Second order cybernetics accepted in Europe but not in U.S.
  • Europe is much more deductive, whereas U.S. in inductive.
  • In Europe, tolerance is not respectable, because it means you're not certain of  your ideas.
  • Cybernetics, through physiology, means that there is no alternative, and certain isn't possible.
  • Research tradition in Europe, was guided by the idea that it's desireable to tolerate multiple ideas.
• A radical view of ethics
  • Second order cybernetics and constructivism says that my view of the world is my responsibility.
    • Each person operates in a separate reality.
    • We need others to confirm our nature of the world.

If the world that is what I see ...

[Ken Bailey (professor of sociology, UCLA) on James Grier Miller]

When Miller was 67 years old in 1983, he lived in San Diego, and could commute up to L.A. every week.

• Taught living systems course together between 1983 and 1987.

Died 8 weeks after his wife Jesse died

Started school early, because he was so smart

• His parents kept him out of school for a year when he was 15.
• Met Jesse before that.
• Learned stenography and typing -- for editorial skills, later.

Went one year to bible school, father was a minister.

Was a junior fellow at Harvard -- like being a young professor

• Discouraged from getting a higher degree, because believed that he had already achieved.
• With Paul Samuelson (economics) and George Homans (sociology), studied Pareto's thermodynamics.
• Studying homeostatis.
• Taught first year medical school course.
• Homans took instructions, and only got a M.A.
• Miller got degrees in psychology, and then medicine.

His work is similar to Parsonian functions, but not quite the same, using the idea of mathematical functions.

• Miller worked a little with Talcott Parsons, as a clinical psychologist.
• Met Alfred North Whitehead, who had retired, but was close by the area.
• When Miller published his first white in 1971, some citation to Whitehead.

Most of career in academics

• Chicago
  • Started the behavioural science group.
• Michigan
  • Continued the work there.

Publication of Living Systems in 1978 by McGraw Hill.

Became president of University of Kentucky.

Was president of ISSS in 1973, but also started the System Science foundation, that owns the journal Behavioral Science

• Had staff and facilities at Louisville, because he was the president of the university.

Founder and editor of Behavioral Science, until it merged with Systems Research.

• Strong editor of grammar and style.

Authored over 100 books and articles.

• Problem with the book:  he got upset with Living Systems as an encyclopedia, but that was how McGraw Hill published it.
• Color plates, so published by encyclopedia division.
• Good because it's complete, but bad because it's intimidating.

Paperback as U. of Colorado press

• Sad story.
• New editor at McGraw Hill, didn't know what to do with remainders, so he burned them up.

1978 book:  7 levels, with functions and processes

• Miller didn't emphasize enough combining the dimensions to give a matrix of 133 cells.
• Tried to find an example of every cell.

1982 expanded to 8 levels.

• Not every cell found, particularly at cellular level.

Process, matter, energy, information.

[Gianfranco Minati (president of Italian Society for Systems Study) on Ilya Prigogine]

Nobel prize in chemistry in 1977.

Controversial scientist.

Focus on great ideas

Introduced thermodynamics of irreversible processes

• Notation
• Equilibrium
• The role of time in physics

Study of the physics of living matter

Introduced models of formal processes

Intrinsic emergence

Competition in neural networks

• Sensitivity to initial positions

Non-linear thermodynamics:  continuous dissipation of energy

[Roger Packham, professor of agriculture, U. of West Sydney on Howard Odum]

Not a student of Howard Odum, and didn't work with him.

• Through ISSS, as a new president to the ISSS
• In his 60s, still active in research

Had come across Odum's work, in Australia, looking for an alternative approach to agriculture.

• Ecology, to study the human issues in agriculture.
• Work in the wetlands of Florida.

David Symington visited Australia, a student of Howard, spoke about energy.

• Valuable role to play.

Some facts on Howard

• Center of Wetlands at the U. of Florida, focus on environment, of which agriculture plays a large part.
• Studied ecology of south Florida in 1970s, funded by Department of Environment.
• Ph.D. in biology at Yale.
• Taught at Florida, Duke, U. Texas, U. Puerto Rico, U. of North Carolina, before returning to Florida.
• Was a prolific writer, 15 books, whereas people didn't normally publish those days.

1971 book, Environment, Power and Society -- ahead of its time, now republished in 2002

Newest book with his wife, what do we do as fossil fuels run out

• Politicians want growth, it's impossible.
• World economy will have to stop growing soon.
• "The Prosperous Way Down", for us to live with less.

Howard Odum was a gentleman, a host.

• A great supporter of ISSS.
• ISSS was recreating itself.

During presidency, negotiated taking ISSS to other countries

• Asked to help organize a meeting in Australia.
• Presidents want meetings nearby, majority view was to have the U.S.
• Howard said ISSS board had made a commitment to go to the U.S., and the incoming president had to accept this.
• Met at U. of West Sydney.
• Resulted in the birth of the Australia - New Zealand System Society.
  • Howard Odum was fundamental in this.
  • This is how he worked:  put ideas in, and let them mature.

A talk using some of his energy systems, analyzing various situations:

• First Iraqi War.
• In terms of energy, one U.S. soldier == 20 Iraqi soldiers
• Equation balanced out in oil reserves underneath.

[Markus Schwanginer (U. of St. Gallien) on Stafford Beer]

Friend and mentor

University of St. Gallien works only on social systems

• Decision in the 1970s, based on studying the literature in systems theory:  Miller, von Bertalanffy, Rapoport, Churchman, Beer
• Decided to build program based on systems theory and cybernetics.

Founder of management cybernetics

• Helped at all levels of management.
• Founded Team Syntegrity Inc., in Canada, as a practice
• International consultant, worked in 25 companies
• South America and Central America

Advocated holistic thinking

• New methods
• Trademark to consider problems in wide terms

To 1961, at United Steel, largest OR group.

• Then headhunted to SIGMA -- Science in General Management, or Stafford is gone mad again
• 1966:  International Publishing Corporation
• Proposed world wide web 30 years ahead

Life in a cottage in Wales, smoking, drinking and parties

1980s, moved to Toronto with Allena Leonard, as the Complementary Set

Visiting professor:  Manchester, Wharton, John Moores

• MBA from Manchester, Ph.D.
• Honourary Ph.D.

Not only a president of ISSS, but also Operations Research Society.

• Trustee of ASC

Conflict:  should he become a philosopher or mathematician, realized both were the same things.

Set theoretic model for the viability of any human or social system

• Became the Viable System Model.
• Transferred into the domain of management.

In 1990s, design a new process for communications:  Syntegrity

• Complementary for the VSM, System 3 and System 4
• Protocol for democratic management

Also published poems and exhibited paintings.

Zest for life.

• Loyalty for students and friends.

[A silent minute to honour the past presidents]