UNBOUNDED SYSTEMS THINKING (UST)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3668 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Human sciences |
An Inquiry System in which “everything interacts with everything” (I.I. MITROFF and H.A. LINSTONE, 1993, p.91).
In Template:Ency entity “all branches of inquiry depend fundamentally on one another, and… the widest possible array of disciplines, professions, and branches of knowledge — capturing distinctly different paradigms of thought — must be consciously brought to bear on our problems.
- “In UST, the traditional hierarchical ordering of the sciences and the professions — as well as the pejorative bifurcation of the sciences into ”hard“ versus ”soft“ is replaced by a circular concept of relationship between them. In UST, everyone of the sciences and professions is considered fundamental; none is superior to or better than any other” (p.91).
UST introduces a Multiple Perspective Method (see corresponding heading), characterized by a triple perspective:
- “T. The Technical Perspective
O. The Organizational or Societal Perspective
P. The Personal or Individual Perspective“ (p.99).
The authors insist on the following aspects in using the method:
“- Strive for a balance among T, O and P perspectives
- Use “good” judgment in selecting perspectives
- In obtaining information, recognize that O and P require greatly different methods than T
- Pay particular attention to the mutual impact, interdependencies, and integration of perspectives
- Beware of thinking statically in dynamic environments“ (p.107-8).
And “UST is fundamentally a transdisciplinary Inquiry System. That is, UST does not believe that we can ”solve“ important problems within the current structure of the disciplines, professions, or the modern university. The various sciences and professions are the product of human organization. In this sense they are artifacts, not natural entities. As such, in working on every problem, we are also simultaneously working on how we organize ourselves to solve our problems” (p.109).
UST is yet one more example of the new focus on a transdisciplinary approach in order to avoid what WARFIELD call underconceptualization and de ZEEUW, invisibility.