A new way of understanding and apprehending complexity is being sought. The major problem facing science today is to cope successfully with the increasing complexity of society. Of course, reduction is possible, but it will be the complexity that will make us see whether the reduction is pernicious or not. Complexity stands as a judge not only of the applications of the method of science, but also of its very essence. The world is like a complex being, which can be broken down into many parts, interconnected in a wide variety of ways, often difficult to pin down. Our sense of inadequacy pushes us towards fragmented knowledge; each important part generates one or more different disciplines or subjects of study. We live in a world, which in turn is a system, full of systems. To act efficiently and responsibly in this world, we need appropriate techniques and tools to help us understand and manage the systems and sub-systems that make it up. This is what systems thinking is all about. Society has problems and seeks solutions, for which it invents the Scientific Method, but this is incapable of dealing with complex problems and social issues; thinking based on systemic concepts and ideas is more adequate.

The complexity of the phenomena corresponding to the Restricted Sciences, such as Physics or Chemistry, did not call into question the validity of the scientific method, but the complexity of those corresponding to the Unrestricted Sciences (such as Biology or Geology within the field of Natural Sciences; or Anthropology or Sociology or Political Sciences from the field of Social Sciences) did. At its most abstract level, systems thinking encompasses a wide and heterogeneous range of methods, tools and principles, all aimed at examining or studying the interrelationship of forces that are part of the common process. This field includes cybernetics and chaos theory, guestaltic therapy, the work of Gregory Bateson, Russel Ackoff, Eric Trist, Ludwig Von Bertallanfy and the Santa Fe Institute, among others. These different approaches share a common guiding idea: the behaviour of all systems appears to follow certain common principles, the nature of which we are discovering and analysing. It is argued that the problem of knowledge is not to try to know the totality; it is better to change the idea of knowledge and what should be done is to try to understand systems. To understand the system, it is necessary to understand the nature of interdependence: the greater the interdependence, the greater the need for communication and cooperation. General Systems Theory would be able to integrate the abstract models and generalisations that cybernetics and related disciplines have developed, and would truly represent a rational and all-encompassing alternative that would overcome the current inadequacies of mechanicism.  The vision of the world as one big organisation would be raised.

The original Aristotelian ideas would be taken up again by considering every entity as a system, that is, as universes or sets of elements (matter) provided with structure (form); and, evidently, the elements of the universe of a system can themselves be systems (structured sets). The relationships between the various components of an organisational system, which produces desired and undesired results, must be understood. A system only exists when its components relate to each other in pursuit of a common end; without a common end, there would be no system, implying that there would be nothing more than a series of a disjointed, even individually competitive, elements or components. The systems thinker must see the patterns and structures of the organisation over time from the top or from the outside, with a (systemic or holistic) perspective without losing sight of the details of processes, resources and people.

Contributors

• Raul Espejo - University of Lincoln (UK).
• Diego González Rodríguez - The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (USA).
• Remedios Melero Melero - Spanish National Research Council (Madrid).
• Miguel C. Muñoz Feliu - Universitat Politècnica de València.
• Fatih Oguz - The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (USA).
• Rafael Soler Muñoz - Open University of Catalonia (Barcelona).

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