CSC551 Systems Theory Living Systems Theory

1. Tony Mazzola Dawn Nelson CSC551 Systems TheoryLiving Systems Theory

2. By definition, living systems are open, self-organizing systems that have the special characteristics of life. They interact with their environment. This interaction takes place by means of information and material-energy exchanges. A system can be conceptual, concrete or abstracted Definition of Living systems

3. Living systems use significant inputs, throughputs, and outputs of various matter-energy and information. With altering fluxes of matter/energy and information, many of their equilibria are dynamic situations identified as steady states or flux equilibria Definition: continued

4. Miller received his A.B. summa cum laude in 1937, an A.M. in psychology in 1938, an M.D. cum laude in 1942, and Ph.D. in psychology in 1943 all from Harvard University, Following military service in World War II, he served as Chief of the newly formed Clinical Psychology section of the Veteran's Administration central office in Washington. He has served on the faculty at Harvard. In 1948, he accepted the position of Chairman of the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago until 1955. From 1955 to 1967 he directed the multi-disciplinary Mental Health Research Institute At Michigan. In 1967 to pursue an administrative career, first as provost of the newly founded Cleveland State University, and then in 1973 as president of the University of Louisville, from which position he retired in 1980. He served as president of the Society for General Systems Research (SGSR) He was a founder and the first head of EDUCOM (the Interuniversity Communications Council). For more than 30 years Miller was editor of the Journal "Behavioral Science". He died in November of 2002. James grier miller

5. A general theory about all living systems, their structure, interaction, behavior and development A magnus opus of James Grier Miller, where he formalizes the theory into a massive book of 1000 + pages. (we will only cover 999 of them today) Miller says the concepts of space, time, matter, energy, and information are essential to his theory because the living systems exist in space and are made of matter and energy organized by information. Living Systems Theory by jamesgrier miller

6. Miller’s theory states that the mutual interrelationship of the components of a system extends across the hierarchical levels. Miller says that his eclectic theory “ties together past discoveries from many disciplines and provides an outline into which new findings can be fitted”. More miller

7. The essence of life is process. All processes are intermingled and somehow dependent on each other. Every living system is made up of subsystems and in turn holds membership in one or more larger systems, forming a kind of “nested hierarchy”-- systems within systems, circuits within circuits, fields within fields. More miller

8. Example of millers interconnectedness Mufasa: Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance and respect all the creatures, from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope. Young Simba: But, Dad, don't we eat the antelope? Mufasa: Yes, Simba, but let me explain. When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected in the great Circle of Life.

9. Some of these processes deal with material and energy for the metabolic processes of the system Other subsystems process information for the coordination, guidance and control of the system. Eight different levels of system are defined; each level must have processes of the nineteen critical subsystems in order to survive Systems and subsystems

10. 1 cells 2 organs 3 organisms 4 groups 5 organizations 6 communities 7 societies 8 supranational systems eight levels of living systems

11. 2 process both matter/energy and information. 8 process only matter/energy. 9 process information only The nineteen subsystems

12. Reproducer: carries out the instructions in the genetic information or charter of a system and mobilizes matter and energy to produce one or more similar systems. • The human reproductive system. • Boundary: the perimeter of a system that holds together the components which make up the system, protects them from environmental stresses, and excludes or permits entry to various sorts of matter-energy and information. • Human skin, a building (artifact). Subsystems which process matter-energy and Information

13. Ingestor: brings matter-energy across the system boundary from the environment. • Mouth and nostrils. • Distributor: carries inputs from outside the system, or outputs from its subsystems around the system to each component. • The heart and vascular system. • Converter: changes certain inputs to the system into forms more useful for the special processes of that particular system. • The stomach. • Producer: forms stable associations that endure for significant periods among matter-energy inputs to the system or outputs from its converter, the material synthesized being for growth, damage repair, or replacement of components of the system, or for providing energy for moving or constituting the system’s outputs of products or information markers to its suprasystem. • A cook in a restaurant. Eight Subsystems which process matter- energy (1-4)

14. Matter-energy storage: places matter or energy at some location in the system, retains it over time, and retrieves it. • The liver and bladder. • Extruder: transmits matter-energy out of the system in the forms of products or wastes. • Lungs, kidneys and rectum. • Motor: moves the system or parts of it in relation to part or all of its environment or moves components of its environment in relation to each other. • Muscles. • Supporter: maintains the proper spatial relationships among components of the system, so that they can interact without weighting each other down or crowding each other. • Skeleton. Eight Subsystems which process matter- energy (4-8)

15. Input transducer, the sensory subsystem which brings markers bearing information into the system, changing them to other matter-energy forms suitable for transmission within it. • Eyes and ears. • Internal transducer, the sensory subsystem which receives, from subsystems or components within the system, markers bearing information about significant alterations in those subsystems or components, changing them to other matter-energy forms of a sort which can be transmitted within it. • Receptor cells in central nervous system. • Channel and net, the subsystem composed of a single route in physical space or multiple interconnected routes over which markers bearing information are transmitted to all parts of the system. • Found in the central nervous system. • Decoder, the subsystem which alters the code of information input to it through the input transducer or internal transducer into a “private” code that can be used internally by the system. • Found in the human brain. 9 subSystems which process info (1-4)

16. Associator, the subsystem which carries out the first stage of the learning process, forming enduring associations among items of information in the system. • Found in the human brain. • Memory, the subsystem which carries out the second stage of the learning process, storing information in the system for different periods of time, and then retrieving it. • Banks • Decider, the executive subsystem which receives information inputs from all other subsystems and transmits to them outputs for guidance, coordination, and control of the system. • Found in the human brain, calculator (artifact). • Encoder, the subsystem which alters the code of information input to it from other information processing subsystems, from a “private” code used internally by the system into a “public” code which can be interpreted by other systems in its environment. • Found in the human brain. • Output transducer, the subsystem which puts out markers bearing information from the system, changing markers within the system into other matter-energy forms which can be transmitted over channels in the system’s environment. • Larynx, pen (artifact) 9 subSystems which process info (5-9)

17. . interaction of the information processing sub-systems

18. A basic building block of all organs Cells and organs of a living system thrive on the food the organism obtains from its suprasystem. cells

19. Comprised of cells Organized into multi-cellular systems Differentiated structures consisting of tissues and performing some specific function in an organism organs

20. An assembly of molecules that have the properties of life. organisms

21. Two or more organisms, Fungi plants and animals that carry out life processes Groups

22. Systems with multiechelon deciders whose components and subsystems may be subsidiary organizations, groups, and sometimes single persons. • A minimum organization may comprise a business with a single owner and a few employees. • An example of a more complicated organization would be a space station. organizations

23. Example of a living system

24. Contain both individual persons and groups, as well as groups which are formed and responsible for governing or providing services to them. • A city or even a state with banks, stores, schools, etc. would be an example of a system at this level. • According to Miller, communities do not seem enough unlike other organizations to be classified as a different level. communities

25. A large, living, concrete system with organizations (communities) and lower levels of living systems as subsystems and components. • The United States is an example of this system. • Are totipotenital (they have a complete set of matter-energy and information processing subsystems). • May be dependent on other societies to fulfill certain processes. The U.S. is dependent on other societies for its oil needs. • Typically the highest level of totipotential living system. societies

26. Comprised of two or more societies, some or all of whose processes are under the control of a decider who is superordinate to their highest echelons. • Probably the closest modern day example is the European Union. • The member countries of a supranational system reap the benefits accrued from the communal activities to which each one contributes. • This system is concrete only of a superordinate decider is in control. Supranational systems

27. Thank you for listening! Any questions or comments? The End

28. James Grier Miller, (1978). Living systems. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-87081-363-3 http://projects.isss.org/the_living_systems_theory_of_james_grier_miller http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110357/quotes?qt0371434 http://www.hns.org.uk/2/s12/vl/CellsTissuesS.png http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_systems_theory#Living_systems http://www.mollyyoungbrown.com/systems_article.htm http://www.owensdesign.co.uk/class/?p=35 http://www.mgtaylor.com/mgtaylor/jotm/winter97/millerls.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Grier_Miller http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Basic_Open_System_Model.gif references