Sustainability?

Melissa Nelson

Ashley Muse

System Thinking: 301

30 Jan. 2012

1. Define Sustainability

2. What is a system?

3. what is the first system that comes to mind?

4. What is system thinking?

5. How is it similar or dissimilar to regular thinking?

6. What does system thinking have to do with sustainability?

1. Definite theories of sustainability often seem clouded, having vague outlines of rather general concepts. Fundamentally the idea of sustainability understands the function of a system and the parts that make it up. It is social, economic and environmental design that encompasses the highest form of efficiency; each piece integrating into the cycle and benefiting the whole. Sustainable systems strive for core stability, and can competently deal with influx and outflow behaviors. 2. A system is the accumulative interaction between two or more working parts. These parts work in correlation to each other, having both negative and positive feed backs. Complex in nature, a system is often nested within a larger more comprehensive set of relationships. 3. Basic systems can be viewed in a linear scale. For example, the U.S. process of legislation. Law makers draft a legislative bill. The people vote on the proposed agenda, or the president gives the go ahead. 4. Thinking in complex system takes into consideration the multiple variables and expands into a dimensional perspective. What were the components that lead to separate outcomes? System thinking is taking into consideration each individual component and identifying it’s role and function within a complex organization. 5. Instead of conventional thinking which focuses on the use of systems, like fertilizer use or harvest time, system thinking goes in depth and answers the question “why.” ST can expand perception and let one understand the cause in order to better understand the effect. 6. System thinking is at the core of sustainability because it gives the skill to understand and identify ineffective or disorganized practices. Newton’s laws, the understanding of genetics, even the creation of nuclear fission were all brought to light by a genius stroke of system thinking and understanding. In the move to a more sustainable culture and society, system thinking will give light to sustainable practices. Break down a function, and learn to understand and control it, driven by system thinking, this is the idea of sustainability.

Part Two:

There are systems within daily experiences that have become known by an instinctual basis of understanding. As young babies, we were in the very first stages of understanding. The simple role of observation was needed to make connections between one thing and another. Babies grow in their system understanding as more and more things are seen in relation to another. As young minds, things are not directly labeled as systems but the sum of their parts is understood.

When a cold front moves in, it snows and more people go snowboarding. Rather than looking at the systematic reasoning of some occurrence I just think “I want to go snowboarding” I don’t necessarily think of all the steps leading up to that conclusion.