0:04 → 0:09
This course is an overview of the foundational concepts within system theory.
0:09 → 0:13
In particular, it is focused on conveying what we call the system's paradigm,
0:13 → 0:20
that is the basic overarching principles that are common to all areas of systems thinking and theory.
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Systems thinking has been defined as an approach that attempts to balance holistic and analytical reasoning.
0:28 → 0:35
In systems theory it is argued that the only way to fully understand something is to understand the parts in relation to the whole.
0:35 → 0:43
System's thinking concerns an understanding of a system by examining the linkages and interactions between the elements that compose the entire system.
0:44 → 0:47
By taking the overall system as well as its parts into account,
0:47 → 0:53
this paradigm offers us fresh insight that is not accessible through the more traditional reductionist approach.
0:55 → 1:03
This course explores the foundations to systems theory, the process of reasoning called synthesis and its counterpart, analysis.
1:04 → 1:11
The central theme throughout the course will be on understanding these two basic processes of reasoning and how they relate to each other.
1:11 → 1:15
Thus, enabling the student to become more effective in their reasoning and modeling.
1:17 → 1:22
In the first section of the course, we start off by taking an overview to the systems paradigm.
1:22 → 1:31
We will talk about how systems thinking helps us to gain an awareness to our processes of reasoning, their assumptions, strengths and limitations.
1:31 → 1:39
We will try to understand what paradigms in general are before going on to talk about theories and the development of formal models.
1:40 → 1:48
In the second section we explore the two basic approaches of holism and reductionism and their counterparts: synthesis and analysis,
1:49 → 1:53
which are the two processes of reasoning that form the foundations of systems thinking.
1:54 → 2:02
In this section we give a clear distinction between the two different approaches, how they interrelate and the consequences of using each approach.
2:04 → 2:10
The third section covers the theme of nonlinear causality, a recurring theme across all of the system science.
2:11 → 2:18
A major distinction between the analytical and synthetic approach is that between linear and nonlinear causality.
2:18 → 2:25
In this section we explore each and how they give very different conceptions to our understanding of cause and effect.
2:27 → 2:33
In the next section we explore the relational paradigm, a way of looking at the world in terms of the connections between things,
2:34 → 2:39
the networked patterns they form, and how these shape and define the overall system.
2:39 → 2:45
We go on to talk about the importance of interdependence and integration within systems thinking.
2:46 → 2:50
The final section of the course is dedicated to process thinking.
2:51 → 2:59
Systems Theory sees the world in terms of constant change and macro level processes that shape events through what are called systems archetypes likewise.
3:00 → 3:09
Likewise, we will talk about the key structural process of differentiation and integration that drives evolution and change within all forms of systems.
3:10 → 3:17
This course is designed for anyone with an interest in systems thinking and theory and should be accessible to all.
3:18 → 3:24
By the end of the course students will have gained a new way of looking at the world, what we call the system's paradigm
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that can offer fresh insight and a new approach to looking at virtually any domain of interest.