Studovna Systemiky

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An Introduction to “Maturana’s” Biology / Fell, Lloyd

In: Seized by Agreement, Swamped by Understanding. Lloyd Fell, David Russell & Alan Stewart (Eds.) A collection of papers to celebrate the visit to Australia in August 1994 by Humberto Maturana. - - 1994

Our passion for this work arose in very different histories of living, but these histories converged some years ago around the writings of Humberto Maturana. There were other reasons for us getting together, but it was the ideas of Maturana which inspired us both to take another look at the way we were doing things in our research and education, respectively. One of us (Lloyd) was grappling with basic biological questions which arose from research on the physiology of stress. Maturana's ideas provided a new way of thinking about the relationship between living things and their environment. David, in psychology and education, sought from Maturana a more solid scientific grounding for the extraordinary richness of the experiential learning environment in which he worked.

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The Fuzziness of Communication A Catalyst for Seeking Consensus / Fell, Lloyd -- Dimitrov, Vladimir

Human beings differ in ways of understanding, interpreting, describing or sharing experience. On the basis of experience we construct our own conceptual systems (beliefs and values) that are neither consistent nor monolithic. "Alternative conceptual systems exist, whether one likes it or not. They are not likely to go away, since they arise from a fundamental human capacity to conceptualise experience...A refusal to recognise conceptual relativism where it exists does have ethical consequences. It leads directly to conceptual elitism and imperialism - to the assumption that our behaviour is rational and that of other people is not, and to attempts to impose our way of thinking on others" (Lakoff, 1987; p.337).

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Living Systems - Autonomous Unities / Fell, Lloyd -- Russell, David

The question which is never entirely resolved is: what is life? Biology, claims to stand for the study of life and living things, yet we would say that it cannot make a thoroughly clear distinction between living and non-living, except in some very obvious cases. There are textbook definitions, of course, based on certain notable properties such as the ability to metabolize or reproduce, but these are arbitrary. If we are familiar with the characteristics of a particular animal or plant, we know enough to be able to pronounce that it is dead when certain internal and external behaviours are no longer evident. Even this has difficulties - such as revealed in the arguments about whether to switch off a human life-support system or not. When you find a squishy object on the seashore, can you be sure if it is alive or dead - or never living? The same dilemma confronts medical scientists and microbiologists trying to decide, for example, whether viruses are living, or quasi-living, or intermittently living, or what.

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Stress, Epistemology and Feedlot Cattle / Fell, Lloyd

You don't have to like feedlot cattle to read this. Come to think of it, you don't even have to like epistemology. I could probably have called it: An Attempt to Cope with Problems which Arise when You are Doing Applied Research - or even: Trying to Cope with Life.

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Biology’s Room With a View / Fell, Lloyd -- Russell, David

The diverse papers which make up this book are variations on a theme which is based in biological science - yet none of the contributors is really a biologist. Our metaphor for describing what we are doing here is that we have gathered together in a room because that particular room provides us with a certain view of our individual areas of interest - a view that may have been previously obscured. We are visiting the house of biology in the hope that we may see more clearly things that we each find baffling about our particular field of work in education, research, or daily living.

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Non-Traditional R & D / Fell, Lloyd -- Russell, David

Uncertainty about funding; difficulty in determining research priorities; and concern about technology transfer (the lack of application of research results): these words stand out in the language of scientific/industrial research and development, today. So-called technology transfer seems to be the central issue because the criteria for determining research priorities and funding decisions are mostly based on the expected "pay off", i.e. the economic benefits which will result from the research findings being put into use within the industry. This applies, not only in situations where the industry is providing a proportion of the funding, as in most agricultural research, but to scientific research generally which is intended for the "public good."

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The Dance of Understanding / Fell, Lloyd -- Russell, David

We subscribe to the view, expressed by Maturana and others, that a satisfying experience of understanding does not result from invoking objectivity, the truth, or a compelling argument, to achieve agreement by the force of reason, nor from a process of information exchange, but from some other qualities of the biological interaction itself. We find a simple explanation of these qualities to be elusive and therefore we try to combine scientific explanation with a poetic metaphor which likens understanding to a dance.

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Ancient Wisdom and Contemporary Ecological Problems / Fell, Lloyd -- Dimitrov, Vladimir -- Russell, David

The Australian Aborigines' environmental culture and the "double bind" approach used in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous are considered as a source for the generation of a new strategy for dealing with the ecological problems of our day. The strategy aims at achieving a negotiated outcome in issues of high societal risk related to waste management in the Hawkesbury region of Sydney, Australia.thinking on others" (Lakoff, 1987; p.337).

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The Dance of Understanding / Fell, Lloyd -- Steward, Alan -- Russell, David

We subscribe to the view, expressed by Maturana and others, that satisfying experience of understanding does not result from invoking objectivity, the truth, or compelling argument, to achieve agreement by the force of reason, nor from a process of informative exchange, but from some other qualities, to be elusive and therefore we try to combine scientific explanation with a poetic mataphor which likens understanding to dance

Viz též: http://www.pnc.com.au/~lfell{dance.pdf

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