The systemic problem of global change requires a complete revision of the human systems that are driving this rapid change of Earth’s natural systems, the systems that support life. This brings a great many questions to mind. What would a revision of the human system look like? How can the system be revised? How can people know how to change it? How can they design a different system, a different form of existence for humans in this world? The answer to all of these questions begins with systems thinking and systems analysis.
Systems Thinking and Systems Analysis
Systems thinking is a way of seeing the world as one huge system that has countless smaller systems within it. All of the smaller systems overlap and interact with each other in very intricate ways. In order to understand the way these systems interact with each other, we must be able to think and see the world holistically.
The word holistic comes from the word whole (Harper). Therefore, to think holistically means to think about the whole picture. It refers to thinking in a way that takes into consideration the short-term as well as the long-term; the local as well as the global; the overlap of all sectors, disciplines and segments of society; and the interactions of different systems. It requires a person to acknowledge that all ideas of separation and distinction are a product of the human mind’s tendency to categorize and label.
