Dear Organlearners,
Don Dwiggins < d.l.dwiggins@computer.org > writes in reply to my wish:
>> I wish I had a less obscure example to convey the importance
>> of the back action of an emergent on the substrate. I will try my
>> best to think of a better one. Maybe somebody else will succeed.
> I'll give it a try...
> How about an example from organizations that many of us are
> familiar with? I'm thinking of a chorus or orchestra (is Ray Harrell
> still listening?), with the singers or players as "components". No
> matter how good they are individually, without the back action they
> won't add up to a good ensemble. (Senge's discussion of team
> learning is appropriate here; it can't be done by individuals.)
Greetigs Dwig,
Yes, your example is great.
I was wearing blinders when I thought of NMR (or acidity) as an example. I
wanted to offer a "simple" example for which a theory already existed. I
forgot how the lack of experience and thus obscurity can complicate
things. That was foolish. A more complex example, without a matching
theory, would also do.
Another possible example, but which require some biological experience, is
the root system of a plant. It supplies by uptake the rest of the plant
with water and inorganic nutrients. In exchange it receives sugars and a
host of other organic substances produced in the upper parts of the plant
by way of emergent biochemical loops. Thus the root system receives
organic substances to sustain its own growth.
Obviously, the best experienced example in the context of this listserver,
is the Learning Organisation (LO). The LO is the emergent and the
substrate is the individuals participating in the LO. The back action of
the LO on the individuals is to enrich their own personal mastering.
>At, am I getting warm? Gray and others, does this help any,
>or have I just muddied the waters?
Dwig, you are hot. In terms of your own experiences, think of the
Operating System (OS) as the substrate and Application Software (AS) as
the emergent. Actually, the AS emerges through the mental work of the
programmer and not through the OS itself. But the programmer has to take
the OS as substrate into consideration. While programming the AS, the
programmer discover some short comings in the OS. Thus the programmer asks
the programmer of the OS to make up these short comings in a new version
of it.
Best wishes
--At de Lange <amdelange@gold.up.ac.za> Snailmail: A M de Lange Gold Fields Computer Centre Faculty of Science - University of Pretoria Pretoria 0001 - Rep of South Africa
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>