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:
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Is made up of
individual
component parts
that work together to
perform a particular
function
A bicycle is an
example of a
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system
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. System according to Buckminster
Fuller (a good example of the use of language)
• A system is the first subdivision of Universe. It divides all the
Universe into six parts: first, all the universal events occurring
geometrically outside the system; second, all the universal
events occurring geometrically inside the system; third, all the
universal events occurring nonsimultaneously, remotely, and
unrelatedly prior to the system events; fourth, the Universe
events occurring nonsimultaneously, remotely, and
unrelatedly subsequent to the system events; fifth, all the
geometrically arrayed set of events constituting the system
itself; and sixth, all the Universe events occurring
synchronously and or coincidentally to and with the
systematic set of events uniquely
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8. So a system could be...?
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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. SYNERGY
• Synergy is:
• The only word in any
language that describes
the behaviour of systems
in this way:
• “The whole is
greater than the
sum of its parts”
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12. 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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13. The Human Body
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• If you take all the stuff
that makes up a person,
you would find that we are
made up of:
• 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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14. $ 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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15. Even if you looked at the next
level up…the Cell
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• Even if you knew
what all the cells in
your body do, you still
could not describe
YOU.
• Something very
unique and new and
unpredictable
happens when the
parts of a system work
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together.
16. 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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20. The Tetrahedron is the Simplest
Structural System in the
Universe
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• The Tetrahedronmade of 6 sticks, 4
equilateral triangles,
all 60 degrees, each
vertex is part of 3
triangles
• the strongest structure
for its volume and
Surface area.
• Eg; diamonds
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21. Synergy
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• 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!!!
• Imagine all the synergy
going on in your body
which is much more
complex than a
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tetrahedron.
22. 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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23. 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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24. Atoms combine together to form
structural systems
• The behaviour of the
table salt is totally
unpredictable by
simply knowing the
behaviour of the
individual parts.
• All nature, all systems,
all structures display
synergy. The Universe
is the Synergy ofAuthor-Guru
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Synergies.
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25. 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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26. Discovery
• One great truth about
discovery is that,
“One discovery
often leads to
further
discoveries”
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27. 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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28. 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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