1.1.1

1.1.1 Systems and Synergy

5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 1

What do these, and the previous

pictures, have in common?


They are all Systems


What is the meaning of the word

system?


A system is something that:

Is made up of

individual

component parts

that work together to

perform a particular

function

A bicycle is an

example of a

system 5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 5

But if the parts of the bicycle are piled up in

the middle of the room, they cease to work

together and thus stop being a system


System according to Buckminster

Fuller (a good example of the use of language)

• A system is the first subdivision of Universe. It divides all the

Universe into six parts: first, all the universal events occurring

geometrically outside the system; second, all the universal

events occurring geometrically inside the system; third, all the

universal events occurring nonsimultaneously, remotely, and

unrelatedly prior to the system events; fourth, the Universe

events occurring nonsimultaneously, remotely, and

unrelatedly subsequent to the system events; fifth, all the

geometrically arrayed set of events constituting the system

itself; and sixth, all the Universe events occurring

synchronously and or coincidentally to and with the

systematic set of events uniquely


So a system could be...?


• A building

• a flower

• an atom

• a political party

• a car

• your body

• furniture

• an electric circuit


SYNERGY

• One of the most fascinating

characteristics of any and all structures

is the characteristic called SYNERGY


SYNERGY

• Synergy is:

• The only word in any

language that describes

the behaviour of systems

in this way:

• “The whole is

greater than the

sum of its parts”


Another way to say this is :

• Even if you know all

the parts that make up

a system you still

cannot know or even

predict how the whole

system is going to

behave or work.

• Can you give an

example of this??


The Human Body

• If you take all the stuff

that makes up a person,

you would find that we are

made up of:

• Hydrogen, Nitrogen,

Oxygen, Carbon, Water,

Calcium, Sodium,

Magnesium, Sulfur, Iron

and many other elements.

The total cost of all of

these things at the store is

about……????


$ 1.00

• That’s right. About $ 1.00.

• You could never be able to explain YOUR

behaviour or all the things that YOU do, or

all the different aspects of you, if you

looked at just the stuff that makes you up.

Never in a million years.

• This is what we mean by SYNERGY.


Even if you looked at the next

level up…the Cell

• Even if you knew

what all the cells in

your body do, you still

could not describe

YOU.

• Something very

unique and new and

unpredictable

happens when the

parts of a system work

together. 5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 15

Try this Puzzle.

• Using 6 sticks, all

the same length,

make 4 triangles,

each with sides the

length of the stick

• Hint #1: Think in a

new way. Synergy has

new and unique ways

of changing things.

Making them

unexpected,

unpredictable


Hint #2

• Think in 3-D


Ready for the Answer?

• The Answer is….


The Tetrahedron


The Tetrahedron is the Simplest

Structural System in the

Universe • The Tetrahedron-

made of 6 sticks, 4

equilateral triangles,

all 60 degrees, each

vertex is part of 3

triangles

• the strongest structure

for its volume and

Surface area.

• Eg; diamonds 5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 20

Synergy

• Even in the simple

tetrahedron we have

synergy. Because until the

last stick or strut or

member or piece or

whatever you call it is

added there is no structure

at all. It would collapse.

Try it!!!

• Imagine all the synergy

going on in your body

which is much more

complex than a

tetrahedron.


Another example of synergy

• Ordinary Table Salt (NaCl, Sodium Chloride)

• Synergy: The behaviour of whole systems that is unpredicted by knowing the behaviour of the individual parts taken separately

• Na (sodium) is a metal, highly reactive in water,

explosive, burns with a yellow flame.

• Cl (chlorine) is a deadly greenish gas.

• Both of these elements when taken separately are poisonous and deadly BUT


SALT

• When combined, we witness synergy.

Two deadly substances combine to

produce something that we cannot live

without.

• Something unique and new and

unpredictable happens when two or more

things come together and work together


Atoms combine together to form

structural systems

• The behaviour of the

table salt is totally

unpredictable by

simply knowing the

behaviour of the

individual parts.

• All nature, all systems,

all structures display

synergy. The Universe

is the Synergy of

Synergies.


Another interesting aspect of

Synergy

• When we understand

how the parts of a

structure interact

together to make

something new and

unique and

unpredictable, we can

also see that when we

bring together

• ideas from different

areas, such as math,

art, music, science

they will have a

synergetic effect. That

is, they provide the

potential for great new

discoveries.


Discovery

• One great truth about

discovery is that,

“One discovery

often leads to

further

discoveries”


Bring different ideas Together

• One of the best places

to find ideas for

structural systems is in

NATURE.

• Nature always uses the

most economical,

efficient and reliable

structural systems


Ecosystems

Ecological Systems

• Ecological Systems follow the laws of

synergy as well.

• It is the interrelationships between the parts

that produces the behaviour of the whole.


1.1.1

Education

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system events

word system

system work ibess

universe events

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simplest structural

individual parts