Systems Processes Theory has been under development for many decades, led by Len Troncale, a past president of the International Society for the Ssytems Sciences. Many have found getting a grip on the science to be a demanding task, both in scope and in depth.
Over many decades, Lynn Rasmussen was a collaborator, refining and clarifying Systems Processes Theory. Having already published previous books related to her professional coaching, Lynn turned her attention over the past few years to making the theory more accessible. Thus, on September 4, 2024, Seeing: A Field Guide to the Patterns and Processes of Nature, Culture, and Consciousness was released.
Systems Thinking Ontario was privileged to celebrate the launch of her book. Lynn joined us in conversation online from Hawaii, with her colleague Laura Civitello from the Maui Institute.
The conversation flowed quite easily with participants. Some of the concepts were made more concrete by reference to the 2023 Maui Wildfires.
This video recording available for download, on Youtube, and also on the Internet Archive .
| Video | H.264 MP4 |
| Sept. 9 (1h38m) |
[20240909_ST-ON_LynnRasmussen_LauraCivitello SeeingFieldGuide.m4v (1920×900 1162kbps 906MB) [on the Internet Archive] |
The only visual was the table of contents of the book. A standalone audio was also created during the meeting.
| Audio | |
| Sept. 9 (1h38m) |
[20240909_ST-ON_LynnRasmussen_LauraCivitello SeeingFieldGuide.m4a] (128kbps, 89 MB) [on the Internet Archive] |
A brief decription follows below. Links to historical content (e.g. lectures by Len Troncale) are provided with the original abstract.
— begin excerpt —
We’re honoured to host an online launch for a new book to be released by the Maui Institute in Hawaii, on September 4, 2024.
From https://www.seeingfieldguide.com:
This introduction to systems science, also known as complexity science, awakens new perceptions and illuminates a universal way to observe and interact with everything. The science of atoms, stars, and ecosystems, of politics, economics, and technology, and of the Golden Rule, the Middle Way, and karma describes how all is using energy and information to organize into networks within networks, cycling and syncing, evolving and emerging.
Seeing, the first field guide to these patterns and processes, offers a world alive with change and possibility for ourselves, families, communities, technologies, and environment.
From the first chapter excerpted at https://mauiinstitute.substack.com/p/seeing-the-first-part-of-chapter:
Systems science observes the regularities—the patterns of interactivity—that organize all things and all activities.
This field guide models these regularities as systems processes. Examples are networks, feedback, boundary, bond, cycle, evolution, and more. Most of these systems processes can be modeled using simple computer applications.
Systems Processes Theory, the brainchild of evolutionary biologist and systems theorist Lenard Troncale, tells the story of how the regularities—the systems processes—interact to emerge as nature’s systems.
— end excerpt —
