SUBVERSIVE INTELLECT

WHAT THE FVCK ARE SYSTEMS?

A system is a whole
consisting of multiple interconnected or interacting elements,
which produces a functioning outcome or a unified structure
through the relationships of its components.

Systems are distinguished from their environment, with system boundaries being either physical or symbolic.

Complex systems are often self-organizing* and self-referential**,

which makes interventions difficult and potentially causing unforeseen effects.

Examples of Systems:
Social - Family, Friends, Teams
Technical - Computer, Internet, Smart Home
Education - Schools, Universities, Libraries
Political - Democracy, Government, Countries
Legal - Laws, Courts, Police

*self-organizing

A system develops its structure, rules, or patterns from the interactions of its elements itself, without everything being dictated from the outside.

Core Idea: Order emerges from within.

Example:Political structures and decisions form through actors who already hold power. Those with influence implicitly set the rules for everyone else, causing the system to organize itself independently of external directives.
**self-referential

A system refers to its own rules and norms, evaluating and regulating the behavior of its elements based on these internal standards.

Core Idea: The system controls itself according to its own criteria.

Example:In communities, members assess whether new behaviour or ideas fit, based on already established group norms and internal rules.

BASIC ELEMENTS OF A SYSTEM

Elements

The individual parts that make up the system.
e.g. Humans, cells, planets, stars, data points, atoms
Structure

The pattern or order that emerges from the relationships.
e. g. Hierarchy, network, orbit, spiral galaxy, cycle
Relationships

How the elements interact with each other.
e. g. Communication, gravity, magnetism, trade, energy flow
Environment

No system exists in isolation, every system interacts with its environment.
e. g. Society, ecosystem, galaxy, multiverse, planetary system
Boundaries

What belongs inside and what stays outside.
e.g. Door, national border, cell membrane, magnetic field, speed of light
Output

What the system produces.
e. g. Products, decisions,
radiation, movement, results
Input

What flows into the system
from the outside.
e.g. Energy, information, light, resources, matter
Feedback

The system reacts to its own outputs.
e. g. Adjustment, self-regulation, evolution, orbit correction
Dynamic / Change

Systems are not static, they evolve.
e. g. Adjustment, self-regulation, evolution, orbit correction
Goal / Function

Why the system exists.
e.g. Survival, energy conservation, stability, learning, expansion

SUBVERSIVE INTELLECT