Dr. Steve Eskow wrote:
> Ragnar,
>
> If you are going to be examined on your findings I would urge you to be
> cautious about citing Maturana and Varela as confirmers of the thesis that
> "social systems" are "living organisms."
>
> Here is some of what they say on pages 198-199 of "The Tree of Knowledge."
>
> "Organisms and human social systems,therefore, are opposite cases...
> Organisms and human social systems cannot be compared without distorting
> or negative the features proper to their respective components."
What it says in between the lines that you wrote here, Steve, is:
"Organisms and human social systems, therefore, are opposite cases in the
series of metasystems formed by the aggregation of cellular systems of any
order."
It goes on to differentiate between the types of systems found within this
metasystem (organisms to human social systems), and concludes, "Organisms
and human social systems cannot be compared without distorting or negating
the features proper to their respective components. Any analysis of human
social phenomenon that does not include these considerations will be
defective, for it negates the biologic roots of those phenomenon."
Their primary argument, Steve, has to do with the relative autonomy of the
components within the social system--from organisms having minimum
autonomy (the heart being unable--thankfully--to walk away from the body)
to humans in open societies having maximum autonomy.
Astonishingly enough, I'm certainly in full agreement, as they mention,
"The organism restricts the individual creativity of its component
unities, as these unities exist for that organism. The human social
system amplifies the individual creativity of its components, as that
system exists for these components." Of course, many of those who
subscribe to this list recognize organizations which operate on something
near the organism level (the text uses Sparta as an example!).
Respecting human individuality, creativity, autonomy and wholeness within
the organizational context is paramount to realizing the model of a living
human organization that I'm advocating. The intent is not to subordinate
human social systems to organisms, but to raise the awareness and behavior
of organizations and their autonomous components (us) from the context of
Sparta to something more profoundly human (and individual, creative,
autonomous and whole).
Steve--I'd really like to hear more from you . . . you've mentioned your
interest in Cartesian models, though it was hard to ascertain if that was
merely an example. You've obviously given this much reflection--and, as
Ben Compton suggested, I'm quite interested to hear your thoughts on the
evolution/growth of human organizations/societies/et al. Please share
those with us.
I'm also intrigued by your closing thoughts--
"Some of us need to believe that human groups, teams, organizations,
institutions, clubs, associations are alive and can be described by the
sciences that have been developed for living creatures: this mental model
resurrects itself regularly, is tenacious, and finds ways of moving
concepts like "creativity is entropy" into the discussion. It is, of
course, a metaphor with some utility, and properly used is of value: why
it is taken to extremes by believers is a case history in the power of
mental models to deceive. "
Despite your apparent patronization (I've always had an aversion to those
"some of us" citations), I'm quite interested in hearing more about the
history you refer to, and why you consider it tenacious and, apparently,
destructive? Where am I going wrong, in your opinion--and why?
best regards,
Doc Holloway
-- "To nurture rich insights and intuitions, a knowledge-creating company needs diversity in the pool of talents available within the company. This diversity enhances requisite variety, which is one of the enabling conditions for the organization." -Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka TakeuchiThresholds--developing critical skills for living organizations Visit us at <http://www.thresholds.com/community/learnshops/index.html> Or send your e-mail to me at <mailto:learnshops@thresholds.com> P.O. Box 2361 Phone:01 360 786 0925 Olympia, WA 98507 USA Fax: 01 360 709 4361
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