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1.1.1 Systems and Synergy
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 1
What do these, and the previous
pictures, have in common?
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 2
They are all Systems
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 3
What is the meaning of the word
system?
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 4
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
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 6
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
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 7
So a system could be...?
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 8
• A building
• a flower
• an atom
• a political party
• a car
• your body
• furniture
• an electric circuit
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 9
SYNERGY
• One of the most fascinating
characteristics of any and all structures
is the characteristic called SYNERGY
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 10
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”
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 11
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??
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 12
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……????
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 13
$ 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.
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 14
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
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 16
Hint #2
• Think in 3-D
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 17
Ready for the Answer?
• The Answer is….
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 18
The Tetrahedron
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 19
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.
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 21
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
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 22
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
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 23
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.
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 24
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.
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 25
Discovery
• One great truth about
discovery is that,
“One discovery
often leads to
further
discoveries”
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 26
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
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 27
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.
5/12/2013 Author-Guru IB/ESS 28
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