Richard Holloway Died Nov. 6, 2001 and self organizing systems

[Peggy Holman]

John,

Thank you for posting noitce of Doc's death.  One of his favorite topics was
self-organizing systems.  It has been striking to me that the conversation
on this subject started about the time the note from his son about his death
arrived.  I have experienced the discussion as something of a celebration of
his life.

Since he can't bring his voice directly in, here are some of his words on
this subject from a previous round on the OS list on this topic.

>From Monday, August 23, 1999:

It's always amusing to me how we (people) grope to find the right words to
share meaning with one another...and how long a conversation may go on (in a
self-organizing way, one might say) where people continue to say the same
things without synthesizing the meanings that are being shared.

Just a couple of thoughts...

there are many people (and I'll include myself in this category) who find
spirit in all living things...and in the mystery of everything.  it's not
surprising that we find spirit in Open Space, is it?

can we say that open space is alive?  that it manifests body, spirit, mind
and heart?  are these just more symbolic words that mean the same as the
systems words we use?  or is there something "divine" about using
"spiritual" words rather than "scientific" words?

one of the first collection of thoughts on systems thinking can be found in
the I Ching.  I think we find the patterns of spirit and science connecting
in this Book of Changes...and that it reflects and refracts the diverse ways
in which we see and perceive our life and world.  perhaps open space serves
us the same way?

regards,

------------------
". . .it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what
life expected from us. . .Our answer must consist, not in talk and
meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means
taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to
fulfill the task which is constantly set for each individual." -Viktor
Frankl


_____________________________________________________________
>From Thursday, March 4, 1999:

Ralph...

you are a self-organizing system.  you don't need to go beyond your "self"
to find a complex adaptive system either.  I won't write about CAS
here...perhaps I can just say that the terms CAS and living systems are
nearly synonymous, just not quite.

About living systems, two cognitive scientists, named Humberto Maturana and
Francisco Varela, put together a very readable book (the Tree of Knowledge)
that presents the work that they've done in this area.

 Fritjof Capra's "Web of Life" explores the development of scientific
thought up to our present time (late 90's), and synthesizes the scientific
contributions of Maturana, Varela, Ilya Prigogine and many others and
applies that synthesis to formulate his definition of living systems.  Capra
is a physicist.

Meg Wheatley synthesizes scientific information from an OD perspective.  Her
capstone work "Leadership & the new science" was inspired by Capra's earlier
effort, "The Turning Point."  Like many, I read and was impressed by
Wheatley's book...I then read Capra's 3 books (those mentioned, plus the Tao
of Phsyics), which led me back to Maturana/Varela, Prigogine, etc.  I simply
mention this to put Wheatley's timely and influential book into perspective
as a very narrow synthetical application of very elegant and important
scientific discovery.

Maturana and Varela define organisms and societies as "metasystems," and
suggest that the different degrees of metasystems can be determined by their
degrees of autonomy within their components.  For instance, within a human
body, a heart has no autonomy to act as a kidney or bladder.  So, organisms
like you and I are metasystems of components with little or no autonomy.
Human societies (an open space is a subset of that metasystem) have maximum
autonomy of components.

On a different scale...let's say of how people organize themselves to make
decisions about what's important to them...lectures and seminars might be at
one end of that scale (less autonomy) and open space would be at the other
end (more autonomy of individual participants).

 Capra takes Maturana's concept a bit further and suggests that communities
may exhibit the characteristics of living systems.  Wheatley says (or
implies) that communities/organizations may be developing as organic
entities.  That's probably simplifying an elegant concept and turning it
into a metaphor.

While it doesn't really matter to many people about the "way" we model what
we observe, thinking about organizations and communities as living systems
presents some interesting insights.

Capra posits 3 criteria of life.  Here, in a nutshell, are those critieria
(by the way, "autopoiesis" is a term coined by Maturana; Prigogine coined
the term, "dissipative structures"):

The pattern of life, or autopoiesis: a self-making network pattern in which
the function of each component is to participate in the production or
transformation of other components in the network.  The network is
organizationally closed, though it is open to the flow of energy and matter.
Its order and behavior are not imposed but established by the system itself.
It is autonomous, while interactive with its environment through a continual
exchange of energy and matter.  Their continual self-making includes the
ability to form new structures or patterns of behavior.  The network is a
set of relations among processes of production of components.  They must
continuously regenerate themselves to maintain their organization. (This is
the self-organizing criteria)

Dissipative structure-the structure of living systems: a system that is
structurally open but organizationally closed.  Matter continuously flows
through it, but the system maintains a stable form, and does so through
self-organization.  The structure's stability relies on the catalytic loops
in the system's autopoietic network that act as self-balancing feedback
loops.  These catalytic cycles may also act as self-amplifying feedback
loops, which may push the system away from equilibrium until it reaches a
threshold of stability.  Beyond this threshold is the bifurcation point-a
point of instability at which new forms of order may emerge spontaneously,
resulting in development and evolution.  A living dissipative structure
needs a continual flow of air, water and food from the environment
through the system in order to stay alive and maintain its order.  The
network of processes keeps the system far from equilibrium and through the
feedback loops gives rise to bifurcations, and thus to development and
evolution. (This is the criteria that integrates change--or chaos--and
stability.  The vortex funnel of the whirlpool in the bathtub is the example
that Prigogine used to illustrate a dissipative structure).

Cognition-the process of life: the organizing activity of a living organism
is mental activity.  The interactions of a living organism with its
environment are cognitive, or mental, interactions.  Life and cognition are
inseparably connected.  Mind is the essence of being alive.  Cognition
includes perception, emotion, action, thinking, language, conceptual
thinking and all the other attributes of human consciousness.  The entire
dissipative structure participates in the cognition process.  The soul, or
spirit, is the breath of life.  Cognition is a continual bringing forth of a
world through the process of living.  To live is to know.  Cognition (the
life process) consists of all activities involved in the continual
embodiment of the system's (autopoietic) pattern of organization in a
physical (dissipative) structure.  (This is the connectivity criteria)


So...without the ability to offer scientific proof for my choice, I have
chosen to consider communities and complex organizations within the context
of these 3 criteria.  I choose to think in terms of how I can facilitate the
integration of this autonomous entity (you or I) within a living metasystem
(community or organization).

As an autonomous individual involved with organizational change, I look to
influence pattern, structure and process -- specifically to facilitate a
process which engages a set of purposes that others and I might find
personally meaningful.  This core purpose set, when shared with the others
(process or cognitive development) can generate a self-making network
(pattern) if there is a structure within which we can sustain ourselves.
The structure allows maximum autonomy...the pattern generates and
regenerates our relationships around our activities...the process keeps us
aligned and on purpose.

well... this was longer than I had intended.  I hope it was helpful or
informative...it always helps me tell this story again.

regards,

Doc Holloway
an OS List lurker

--
"If you pay attention at every moment, you form a new relationship to time.
In some magical way, by slowing down, you become more efficient, productive,
and energetic, focusing without distraction directly on the task in front of
you.  Not only do you become immersed in the moment, you become that
moment."  -Michael Ray

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Dicus" <jdicus at OURFUTURE.COM>
To: <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2001 7:54 AM
Subject: Richard Holloway Died Nov. 6, 2001


> Dear OS Community,
>
> This email was sent to the LO list concerning "Doc" Holloway.  Since he
has
> frequently written here and was known by many, I thought you would like to
> know.  He was a practicing believer in the OS process.
>
> John
>
>
>
> >
> >I apologize for the frankness of this email and that such an impersonal
> >contact must be used to get this sad news to everyone.  My father had
many
> >contacts by e-mail, and we wanted to make sure all his friends, family,
> >and associates were contacted.
> >
> >Richard C. Holloway, my father, passed away due to a heart attack on
> >Tuesday November 6th in Ocean Shores, WA.  He was at the community club
> >exercising when the attack came on.  Medical response was nearby and was
> >able to get to him in minutes.  After an hour of resuscitation measures,
> >he passed on at Grays Harbor Medical center in Aberdeen, WA.
> >
> >There will be a graveside memorial service on Tuesday November 13th, 2001
> >- 11:00am at Mount Tahoma National Cemetery (18600 SE 240th St, Kent, WA
> >98042 phone:(425) 413-9614).  We encourage all that are available to
> >attend.
> >
> >My father was a warm and caring person.  He was my hero and will be
sorely
> >missed.  He leaves behind his wife (Luz-Azalia), daughter
> >(Clarissa-Mercedes), one grandchild (Tyson Charles), and myself.
> >
> >If you would like to mail correspondence please send it to:
> >
> >Holloway Family
> >7420 Kittiwake Dr SE
> >Olympia, WA 98513
> >
> >Please keep him in your thoughts.
> >
> >Thank you,
> >
> >Juan-Marcos Holloway
> >H: (360) 491-4739
>
> *
> *
> ==========================================================
> OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> ------------------------------
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
> view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu,
> Visit:
>
> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>

*
*
==========================================================
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu,
Visit:

http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html