Reflections at 100--# 26

Masud Sheikh masheikh at COGECO.CA
Sun Jun 5 07:51:23 PDT 2005


On Fri, 27 May 2005 06:31:09 -0600, Masud Sheikh <masheikh at COGECO.CA>
wrote:

>Where another sees the "whole system", I see a "holed system"
>Together, we may be able see the simplicity at the other side of
>complexity.
>Masud
>
While Doug Germann was kind enough to say that the above words were
profound, something I was reading today made me realize that I should
explain my cryptic comments a bit more.

I view all "systems" as "wholes". Without a "wholeness", a system would
not perform its functions i.e. the goals of the system. So, for instance,
there are many systems in the body, each "whole" in itself, but to
participate in the larger and more complex "whole" which is the human, it
has to interact with other systems, and accept the "goals" of the larger
system (maintaining healthy life) as super-ordinate goal.

So, the only difference between "systems" is how people view them - hence
one person's "whole system" is another person's "holed system". The way to
bridge these differences is through dialogue, where one is willing to go
below the surface, so that the group becomes a larger (and healthy)
system. And only in a larger and healthy system can the whole be more than
the "sum of the parts". In an unhealthy system, it is less than the sum,
when the smaller (sub)system should use its two feet and walk away

Put simply, I think "whole system" is an oxymoron. Also I believe that
many words should be used more sparingly than they are. One of these words
is "whole", another is "transformation/al", to name two of them

The above are my views on June 5, 2005 at about 10:54 AM (North American)
Eastern Daylight time.
Masud

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