Appendix C: A very brief history of the gestation of systems-thinking

The roots of systems-thinking go back a very long way. Aristotle (384–322 BC) wrote ‘the whole is something besides the parts’ (Cohen, 2016) – in modern terms ‘the whole is more than the sum of its parts’. The even older Chinese book I-Ching written around 1000–700 BC means ‘everything is changing’. In the book yin and yang are kinds of complementary forces leading to perpetual change. Yin opposes change, whereas yang reinforces change. Yin is identified as female and quiet, while yang is male and seeks change. Some modern thinkers have called negative feedback ‘yin feedback’, with positive feedback as ‘yang feedback’. The essence of an object derives from the changing functions of its components. The movement of sun and moon and stars is dynamic circularity (feedback loops) of dynamic balance. Followers of Confucius (551–479 BC) desire a harmonious society rather than a relationship with the supernatural – nature and humans are one whole. Central to Buddhism is the idea of constant flux – things come into being and cease to be – with no inherent or fixed nature. Phenomena arise together in a mutually interdependent web of cause and effect.