So, we are all one thing playing our own little role this enormous integrated system – where particles can exist in two places at the same, where we can change the way an object behaves simply observing it, where what see is not the raw data of reality, where physical things are mostly empty space, […]
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We will discuss consciousness as it relates to humans in more detail in the chapter called “Humans”. For the purposes of this chapter about nature we will discuss the possibility that some form of consciousness may exist in some surprising parts of nature. Michael Pollan, author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “The Botany of Desire,”
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Is the natural system (and the ultimate system – the universe) only made of physical stuff that can be measured or does it include other qualities? We have just spent a lot of time discussing the analysis of natural systems and the need to make holistic decisions in order to achieve MPI but, has nature
Did Nature Give You Free will? Read More »
One way to maximize your positive impact is to minimize your impact on the planet. Our impact on the system that sustains us will reach a planetary scale during the next 100 years and we will be forced to act accordingly. The natural environment has been dramatically altered as a result of the way humans
In systems theory, an open system is a system that continuously interacts with its environment or surrounding systems. The interactions can involve a flow or exchange of information, energy or materials with its surrounding systems. On the other hand, isolated or closed systems do not involve any such exchange with the surrounding systems. Generally, natural systems are open and many
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The systems thinking we introduced earlier in the chapter tells us that we need to develop and maintain a symbiotic relationship with our environment and nature more broadly. Integrated systems will not survive if one of the components is depleting another important component that contributes to the overall system. The industrial age of the 20th
So let’s commence our understanding of systems by starting with a very brief discussion of how we fit into the ultimate system – the universe. Why do we think there was a “big bang”? Direct observations made by the Hubble telescope tell us that the planets and stars that we can see are in fact
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Complexity arises from the inter-relationship, inter-action and inter-connectivity of components within a system and between a system and its environment. However, we are not only concerned with complexity. We are also concerned with complexity that results in self-regulating, self-correcting and adaptive systems. For the purposes of MPI, we’re mostly concerned with the understanding of self-correcting,
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Before discussing natural systems such as humans and plants and animals we need to understand systems. A system is composed of interrelated parts or components that cooperate in some way. Natural systems include biological entities like humans, oceans, the climate, the solar system and ecosystems. Systems that have been artificially created include cars, software systems,
The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible. – Albert Einstein Are we, humans, the apex of the universe? Is everything that you see really as it is? What is reality? Does this big picture depend on you? Do you have free will? What is the evidence for the Big Bang
Nature – An Introduction Read More »