Jon
> I have heard it said (mostly anecdotally) that the systems approach
> generally
> and more specifically systems thinking, were to some degree and in some
> fashion, influenced by the political and philosophical climate of the
> Cold
> War.
I have not heard of this particular attribution before. It may be
related to a particular strain of systems that emerged during the
Second World War. Certain approaches to managing complex situations
emerged because of the nature of the conflict and the technical
munitions used then. Complex technology like radar used technical
systems theories in its development. Methods of management resulting in
approaches like Operations (or Operational) research was also developed
at this time.
Technologically complex weapons systems continued to be developed in
the Cold War era as did methods for managing them. American programs
like NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) could not
have landed men on the moon in this era without the assistance of
complex systems (technical and management) approaches. Most of these
systems approaches had their start during the Second World War.
More generally, systems thinking and the systems approach, has a much
older history. West Churchman makes the case that the 'I Ching' is the
oldest written record of a systems approach and that the great
religious traditions, utopian literature etc. are examples of systems
approaches.
Harold
Harold G. Nelson, Ph.D., M. Arch.
President; Advanced Design Institute
www.advanceddesign.org
Past-President; International Society for Systems Science
www.isss.org
Affiliated faculty, Engineering, U. Wash.
new book—The Design Way: http://BooksToRead.com/etp/nelsonad.pdf
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