Looking at the sound of one hand clapping is reductionist thinking. The two hands have to physically come in contact with certain force, and this generates the sound of clapping. One hand alone does not generate a “half clap” such that two hands creates a “full clap” as the sum of two “half claps”. The sound only happens when the two hands interact with each other. However, just by having two hands, there is no sound of clapping. This type of thinking leads to local optimization which ultimately results in an inferior system performance.Ĭoming back to the question – the sound of clapping only happens with two hands. This is also referred to as mechanistic thinking. The reductionist thinking is to take things apart and ignore the interactions between the parts. Sometimes these emergent properties are designed into the system and sometimes these emergent properties are not clear when the system is being designed. This ability only happens when a rider interacts with the different parts of the bicycle like the pedal, the steering, etc. An example of an emergent property is the ability of a bicycle to go from one point to another. No part taken alone can generate the emergent property. The emergent properties constitute the “wholeness”. Emergent properties are the unique characteristics of a system that are generated only from the interaction of different parts in the system. One key concept in systems thinking is the emergent properties in a system. Aristotle taught that the whole is made up of its parts but it still differs from the sum of its parts. This concept was first put forward by Aristotle. I had a curious thought recently – what is the sound of one hand clapping in light of systems thinking? Simplistically put, systems thinking is the understanding that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. I have read that the answer to the sound of one hand clapping is any sound you want it to be and also that the correct answer is silence with the gesture of one hand clapping. There is no correct answer, but there is a correct response- to think, to meditate on what you think you know so that you realize you do not truly know it all. One of my favorite koans is – what is the sound of one hand clapping?Īs a teenager, I used to make my right hand alone clap and proudly say “this is the sound of one hand clapping”. The purpose of a koan is to challenge your mental model and go beyond what you thought to have understood. These lead to questions that do not always have correct answers. Zen koans are stories that are meant to make you think.
0 kommentar(er)
