1. 1.1.1 Systems and Synergy
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2. What do these, and the previous pictures, have in
common?
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3. They are all Systems
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4. What is the meaning of the word
system?
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5. A system is something that:
1. Is made up of
individual
component parts that
work together to
perform a particular
function
2. A bicycle is an
example of a system
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6. But if the parts of the bicycle are piled up in
the middle of the room, they cease to work
together and thus stop being a system.
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7. So a system could be...?
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8. •
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A building
a flower
an atom
a political party
a car
your body
furniture
an electric circuit
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9. Why use Systems Concept
Why do we use Systems?
• Useful for understanding and explaining
phenomena
• A holistic approach that can lead to a
deeper understanding and possibly to
further discoveries
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10. SYNERGY
• One of the most fascinating
characteristics of any and all structures
is the characteristic called SYNERGY
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11. WHAT IS SYNERGY?
• A state in which two or
more things work together
in a particularly fruitful
way that produces an effect
greater the sum of
their individual effects.
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12. EXAMPLE OF SYNERGY
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13. Another way to say this is :
• Even if you know all
the parts that make up
a system you still
cannot know or even
predict how the whole
system is going to
behave or work.
• Can you give an
example of this??
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14. The Human Body
1. If you take all the stuff that
makes up a person, you would
find that we are made up of:
2. Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen,
Carbon, Water, Calcium,
Sodium, Magnesium, Sulfur,
Iron and many other elements.
The total cost of all of these
things at the store is
about……????
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15. $ 1.00
• That’s right. About $ 1.00.
• You could never be able to explain YOUR
behaviour or all the things that YOU do, or
all the different aspects of you, if you
looked at just the stuff that makes you up.
Never in a million years.
• This is what we mean by SYNERGY.
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16. Even if you looked at the next
level up…the Cell
1. Even if you knew what
all the cells in your
body do, you still could
not describe YOU.
2. Something very unique
and new and
unpredictable happens
when the parts of a
system work together.
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17. What is a Model?
What is a model?
• A representation or a simulation, could be
conceptual, physical, mathematical
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18. Why Models
Why models?
• The real thing is not available or it’s
impractical
• Too rare, too complex, too big, too
expensive
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19. How to evaluate a model?
• Does it explain past observations
• Does it agree with other models
• Does it predict accurately
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20. Try this Puzzle.
• Using 6 sticks, all
the same length,
make 4 triangles,
each with sides
the length of the
stick
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• Hint #1: Think in a
new way. Synergy
has new and unique
ways of changing
things. Making them
unexpected,
unpredictable
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21. Hint #2
Think in 3-D
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22. Ready for the Answer?
• The Answer is….
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23. The Tetrahedron
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24. The Tetrahedron is the Simplest
Structural System in the Universe
1. The Tetrahedronmade of 6 sticks, 4
equilateral triangles, all
60 degrees, each vertex
is part of 3 triangles
2. the strongest structure
for its volume and
Surface area.
3. Eg; diamonds
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25. RECAP
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What is SYSTEM?
Examples of SYSTEM?
Why do we use Systems?
What is SYNERGY?
Examples of SYNERGY?
What is MODEL?
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26. Synergy
1. Even in the simple tetrahedron
we have synergy. Because until
the last stick or strut or member
or piece or whatever you call it is
added there is no structure at all.
It would collapse. Try it!!!
2. Imagine all the synergy going on
in your body which is much more
complex than a tetrahedron.
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27. Another example of synergy
• Ordinary Table Salt (NaCl, Sodium Chloride)
• Synergy: The behaviour of whole systems that is unpredicted
by knowing the behaviour of the individual parts taken
separately
•
Na (sodium) is a metal, highly reactive in water, explosive,
burns with a yellow flame.
• Cl (chlorine) is a deadly greenish gas.
• Both of these elements when taken separately are poisonous
and deadly BUT
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28. SALT
• When combined, we witness synergy.
Two deadly substances combine to
produce something that we cannot live
without.
• Something unique and new and
unpredictable happens when two or more
things come together and work together
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29. Atoms combine together to form
structural systems
1. The behaviour of the
table salt is totally
unpredictable by
simply knowing the
behaviour of the
individual parts.
2. All nature, all systems,
all structures display
synergy. The Universe
is the Synergy of
Synergies.
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30. Another interesting aspect of
Synergy
• When we understand
how the parts of a
structure interact
together to make
something new and
unique and
unpredictable, we can
also see that when we
bring together
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• Ideas from different
areas, such as math,
art, music, science they
will have a synergetic
effect. That is, they
provide the potential
for great new
discoveries.
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31. Discovery
• One great truth about
discovery is that,
“One discovery
often leads to
further
discoveries”
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32. Bring different ideas Together
• One of the best places
to find ideas for
structural systems is in
NATURE.
• Nature always uses the
most economical,
efficient and reliable
structural systems
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33. Ecosystems
Ecological Systems
• Ecological Systems follow the laws of
synergy as well.
• It is the interrelationships between the parts
that produces the behaviour of the whole.
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