Source: [[Book - No bad Parts]] - [[Systemic Thinking]] Thinking. Focus on the patterns: recurring patterns of interaction. - [[202310252006 In System Thinking, look out for recurring patterns of interactions]] # The Growth of Systems Thinking - "The behavior of the whole system couldn't be understood from the study of each part in isolation; i.e., outside the context of the whole system. Hence the famous saying that "whole is greater than the sum of the parts"." - System view spread to [[Ecology]], [[Cybernetics]] - [[Paradoxically labelling an individual with a psychiatric diagnosis and seeing that as the sole cause of symptoms can become self-reinforcing]] - We cannot ignore the larger context in which their symptoms make sense. - [[Function of illness]] # Context is Everything - ![[Context is everything]] - **Underlying beliefs and extreme emotions shape the structures of interactions. Unless underlying beliefs are reevaluated, the behaviour remains.** - "*I also found that these family structures were often maintained by extreme beliefs or emotions that were not necessarily overt but were constantly felt. For example, some of the bulimic patients’ families held the belief that conflict was dangerous and the parents would become frightened whenever it arose. There was often a general disdain for neediness or vulnerability, too, and a belief that the family needed to present a perfect image to the outside world. Whatever the set of beliefs and emotions, it became a family paradigm that organized the ways the members related to each other—showing contempt when the patient was hurt, angry, or wanted attention, for example.*" # Negative (and Mistaken) Views of Human Nature - Many views about the nature of the world and of human nature are taken for granted and assumed to be reality. How we think affects how we behave. - **How we relate to our inner worlds translates directly to how we relate to the outside world. Suppose I need to control certain parts of myself or fear parts of myself. I will fear others and want to control other people.** - "*One theme of this book is that how we think about and relate to the inhabitants of our inner worlds translates directly to how we think about and relate to people. If we live in fear of and strive to control certain parts of us, we will do the same to people who resemble those parts*." - The author challenges us to think: what if we believe that human is naturally good.. instead of the veneer theory that says that human nature is bad and we need to control it? How will that change the way we relate with ourselves and one another? # Why the negative view doesn't work - Going to war against any social problem has the potential to destroy the system because it will escalate over time. - This is the circularity process - the stronger the reaction, the more you push against it. - This tic-for-tat approach escalates the conflicts. (The western psyche matches exactly the other devastation it has wreaked upon the planet) - " *If you believe that within you are dangerous, bestial, or sinful impulses that need to be constantly monitored, controlled, and, if necessary, battled against (the veneer theory adopted for the inside world), then it makes sense that you would see other people that way, and your approach to social problems will invariably involve controlling tactics and war*" - ==This passage explores the systemic impact of individuals beliefs on society. Suppose everyone believes that they have a "sinful" and aggressive nature. In that case, we disconnect from ourselves and one another --- [[On Loneliness MOC]]/ Isolation problem because we believe we can't trust ourselves and others. So "everyone is out for themselves, then you should be too." == # Feedback Loops - Reinforcing feedback loop - [[Book - Thinking in Systems - A primer]] (it contains notes on the different feedback loops) - We have lost our ability to feel the Earth viscerally. # Everything is Connected - Everything is connected. [[Interconnected]] # The Shift - Start to shift the mindset. A new way of relating with ourselves, and with each other and with the world. - Reconnect and re-relate with the different parts within. [[Mindfulness]]