Download or read book Understanding Systems written by Heinz Von Foerster and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How real is reality? Are our images of the world mere inventions, or does an external reality correspond to them? Is it possible to know truth? These are the questions that physicist and philosopher Heinz von Foerster and journalist Bernhard Poerksen debate about in their conversations. Together, they explore the borders of our capacity for knowledge. They discuss the seeming objectivity of our sensual perception, the consequences of "truth terrorism" and the connections between knowledge and ethics, sight and insight.

Download or read book Truth is the invention of a liar written by Heinz von Foerster and published by Carl-Auer Verlag. This book was released on 2024-09-02 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book is so rich with insights, sparkling dialogue, and wisdom that one would love to distribute it like a leaflet around town." Südwestrundfunk (German radio station) "The intellectual dance that the two dare to dance is intelligent, light, humorous, and enchanting." Süddeutsche Zeitung (German daily) "I recommend this book not only to the cybernetics and systems community, but to anyone." Ranulph Glanville, Cybernetics and Human Knowing "Easy and enjoyable to read, without loss of scientific and philosophical depth and rigor. ... The reader will find the book difficult to put down." Bernd R. Hornung, Journal of Sociocybernetics Conversations for skeptics How real is reality? Are our images of the world mere inventions or do they correspond to an external reality? Is it possible to know the truth? These are some of the questions that are discussed in this book by physicist and philosopher Heinz von Foerster and media studies scholar Bernhard Poerksen. Together they explore the limits of our cognitive capacities; they debate the apparent objectivity of our sensual perception and the consequences of "truth terrorism"; and they talk about the relationship between knowledge and ethics, sight and insight. The authors: Heinz von Foerster (1911–2002) completed his studies of physics in Vienna and worked at different research labs before emigrating to the United States in 1949. In 1957, at the University of Illinois, he established the Biological Computer Lab (BCL) – the cradle of the epistemology that would later cause a stir under the label of "constructivism." The focus was on analyzing the logical and methodological problems that in evitably arise when one seeks to know knowledge. He is the author of numerous books, including Understanding Understanding: Essays on Cybernetics and Cognition. Bernhard Poerksen is professor of media studies at the University of Tübingen with a particular research interest in the new media age. His books about systemic thinking have been translated into many languages. In 2008 he was voted "Professor of the Year" in honor of his teaching. His most recent book publications in English include From Being to Doing: The Origins of the Biology of Cognition (with Humberto Maturana), The Unleashed Scandal: The End of Control in the Digital Age (with Hanne Detel), and Digital Fever: Taming the Big Business of Disinformation.

Download or read book Heinz Von Foerster 1911 2002 written by Soren Brier and published by Imprint Academic. This book was released on 2004 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dedicated to the life and work of Heinz Von Foerster, this is a double issue of the journal "Cybernetics and Human Knowing".

Download or read book Understanding Systems Conversations on Epistemology and Ethics written by Heinz Von Foerster and published by Springer. This book was released on 2003-07-24 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How real is reality? Are our images of the world mere inventions, or does an external reality correspond to them? Is it possible to know the truth? These are questions that physicist and philosopher Heinz von Foerster and journalist Bernhard Poerksen debate about in their conversations. Together, they explore the borders of our capacity for knowledge. They discuss the seeming objectivity of our sensual perception, the consequences of "truth terrorism" and the connections between knowledge and ethics, sight and insight.

Download or read book The Certainty of Uncertainty written by Bernhard Poerksen and published by Andrews UK Limited. This book was released on 2013-05-15 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nothing that can be said is independent of us. Whatever can be said is coloured by our dreams and aspirations, by the way our brain works, by human nature and human culture. Whoever claims to know or to observe is - according to the central constructivist assumption - inescapably biased. This book presents the views of the founders of constructivism and modern systems theory, who are still providing stimulating cues for international scientific debate. The conversations of Heinz von Foerster, Ernst von Glasersfeld, Humberto R. Maturana, Francisco J. Varela, Gerhard Roth, Siegfried J. Schmidt, Helm Stierlin, and Paul Watzlawick with Bernhard Poerksen, display a kind of thinking that steers clear of rigid fixation and reveals the ideal of objectivity to be a myth. The conversations turn on the results of brain research, the breaks through of cybernetics, the linguistic determination of thought, and the intrinsic connection between epistemology and ethical practice. Throughout, the central figure of the observer is examined with sophisticated wit and just enough irritating grit to create the pearl in the oyster. Constructivism thus emerges as a philosophy of possibilities that keeps generating new points of view, insists on fundamental scepticism with regard to certainties and dogmas, and provides the foundation for an ethics of perception: Each and every one of us is responsible for their view of things.

Download or read book Systems Practice How to Act written by Ray Ison and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-08-10 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book shows how to do systems thinking and translate that thinking into praxis (theory informed practical action). It will be welcomed by those managing or governing in situations of complexity and uncertainty across all domains of professional and personal life. The development of capabilities to think and act systemically is an urgent priority. Humans are now a force of nature, affecting whole-earth dynamics including the earth's climate - we live in an Anthropocene or Capitalocene and are confronted by the emergence of a ‘post-truth’, ‘big data’ world. What we have developed, organisationally and institutionally, seems very fragile. An imperative exists to recover whatever systemic sensibilities we still retain, to foster systems literacy and to invest in systems thinking in practice capability. This will be needed in future at personal, group, community, regional, national and international levels, all at the same time. Systems Practice: How to Act is structured into four parts. Part I introduces the societal need to invest in systems thinking in practice, in contexts of uncertainty and complexity epitomised by the challenges of responding to human-induced climate change. Part II unpacks what is involved in systems practice by means of a juggler isophor; examining situations where systems thinking offers useful understanding and opportunities for change. Part III identifies the main factors that constrain the uptake of systems practice and makes the case for innovation in practice by means of systemic inquiry, systemic action research and systemic intervention. The book concludes with Part IV, which critically examines how systems practice is, or might be, utilised at different levels from the personal to the societal./div

Download or read book The SAGE Handbook of Action Research written by Peter Reason and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2013-03-26 with total page 753 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ′For anyone seeking to create meaning out of life, inspire others with publication of research discoveries and insights, and help the world become a better place within which to live and work, action research holds great promise as an approach. The challenge is to do it well and with rigor. The Handbook is a magnificent collection of articles that will help the reader do all of that′ - Richard E. Boyatzis, Case Western Reserve University and ESADE ′This second volume will be a welcome extension of the landmark first volume of the SAGE Handbook of Action Research. It effectively secures the field′s ′second wave′ in a particularly powerful and creative articulation of well-theorised practice. It could not be more timely for a fast-growing field that has attracted recent appreciation from parties as disparate as Shell, 3M, Australian Aboriginal women in outback Australia working to prevent harm to children and the Secretary General of the UN′ - Yoland Wadsworth ′For anyone thinking about or doing action research, this book is an obligatory point of reference. If any one text both maps the action research paradigm, and at the same time moves it on, this is it′ - Bill Cooke, Manchester Business School Building on the strength of the seminal first edition, the The SAGE Handbook of Action Research has been completley updated to bring chapters in line with the latest qualitative and quantitative approaches in this field of social inquiry. Peter Reason and Hilary Bradbury have introduced new part commentaries that draw links between different contributions and show their interrelations. Throughout, the contributing authors really engage with the pragmatics of doing action research and demonstrate how this can be a rich and rewarding reflective practice. They tackle questions of how to integrate knowledge with action, how to collaborate with co-researchers in the field, and how to present the necessarily ′messy′ components in a coherent fashion. The organization of the volume reflects the many different issues and levels of analysis represented. This volume is an essential resource for scholars and professionals engaged in social and political inquiry, organizational research and education.

Download or read book Critical Complexity written by Rika Preiser and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2016-01-15 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a collection of all the single authored essays by Paul Cilliers, published between 1990-2011. Being one of few authors who approached the study of complexity from a philosophical perspective, the main themes in these papers explore: - Qualitative characterization of complexity and the normative implications of studying complex adaptive systems, - the philosophical and conceptual similarity to post-structural approaches - how any engagement with complexity leads to a critical engagement with how we do science and design interventions - critical and normative implications for how to engage with complex socio-political concerns in the world. What makes this book unique is that it consolidates a body of work that is distributed over a wide range of academic journals. Although his book "Complexity and Postmodernism" (Routledge, 1998) remains a cornerstone in the field of complexity studies, Cilliers’ journal essays really explore the application of the theoretical concepts in more depth. His ground-breaking ideas conceptualized in these essays have served as a continual source of novelty and inspiration in the process of applying complexity thinking to other fields of study.

Download or read book Research on Project Programme and Portfolio Management written by Ronggui Ding and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-01-24 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume brings together selected and extended papers representative of work presented at the 8th IPMA Research Conference, which was held online between 9th and 11th September 2020. It explores the topics of project, programme and portfolio management, and self-organizing in and through projects. Offering international and multidisciplinary perspectives, this book answers questions such as: What is the impact of self-organization on organizational structures, processes, cultures and leadership? How can we define the transformative power of self-organization? What is the motivation of individuals to perform activities, to engage with others and organizations in order to get things done? Which kinds of leadership best support self-organizing in projects? What have disciplines like natural science, psychology, philosophy, sociology and management to offer in this respect? What are the cultural limitations and potentials regarding self-organization in projects and how do we deal with them? Research on Project, Programme and Portfolio Management is a valuable resource for all researchers and project management professionals interested in autonomous working and self-organizing.

Download or read book Managing in a VUCA World written by Oliver Mack and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-07-15 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) and addresses the need for broader knowledge and application of new concepts and frameworks to deal with unpredictable and rapid changing situations. The premises of VUCA can shape all aspects of an organization. To cover all areas, the book is divided into six sections. Section 1 acts as an introduction to VUCA and complexity. It reviews ways to manage complexity, while providing examples for tools and approaches that can be applied. The main focus of Section 2 is on leadership, strategy and planning. The chapters in this section create new approaches to handle VUCA environments pertaining to these areas including using the Tetralemma logics, tools from systemic structural constellation (SySt) approach of psychotherapy and organizational development, to provide new ideas for the management of large strategic programs in organizations. Section 3 considers how marketing and sales are affected by VUCA, from social media’s influence to customer value management. Operations and cost management are highlighted in Section 4. This section covers VUCA challenges within global supply chains and decision-oriented controlling. In Section 5 organizational structure and process management are showcased, while Section 6 is dedicated to addressing the effects of VUCA in IT, technology and data management. The VUCA forces present businesses with the need to move from linear modes of thought to problem solving with synthetic and simultaneous thinking. This book should help to provide some starting points and ideas to deal with the next era. It should not be understood as the end of the road, but as the beginning of a journey exploring and developing new concepts for a new way of management.

Download or read book The Unleashed Scandal written by Bernhard Poerksen and published by Andrews UK Limited. This book was released on 2014-06-23 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In an age of ubiquitous digital media and permanent mutual observation scandals are omnipresent. Everybody can release them, everybody can become their victim. Videos on mobile phones terminate careers, Twitter messages generate outrage, and SMS messages turn into evidence. Documents of embarrassment and public disgrace today display a novel kind of lightness and agility. They can be copied in no time, spread very quickly, resist all censorship - and in the extreme case stir up worldwide indignation. The consequence: the reputation of the powerful and the powerless, of enterprises and states, can be destroyed in record time. In order to illustrate these considerations the books describes recent case-(hi)stories, discussing public figures such as Tiger Woods and Anthony Weiner, the powerful and the helpless that suddenly find themselves in a worldwide pillory.

Download or read book The Changing Paradigm of Consulting written by Anthony F. Buono and published by IAP. This book was released on 2011-05-01 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 13th volume in the RMC series, The Changing Paradigm of Consulting, is based on the best papers presented at the Academy of Management’s Management Consulting Division’s fourth international conference (2009) on the underlying dynamics within the fast-paced world of business and management consulting. Held in Vienna, Austria, the conference brought together academicians, consultants and organizational practitioners to examine the changes taking place within the consulting field. The book’s 19 chapters are divided into five sections that explore the emergence and implications of this new paradigm, delineating and illustrating the paradigm shift taking placing within consulting, exploring the ramifications for global consulting, examining the challenges inherent in attempts to capture collaboration and cooperation in inter-organizational networks, analyzing the push toward the professionalization – and professionalism – of consultancy, and assessing new approaches to management consulting, focusing on innovative instruments, tools and intervention frameworks. The book captures the myriad complexities and uncertainties faced by consultants and their clients and the concomitant search for appropriate mindsets, attitudes and orientations as well as methods, tools and techniques. As each of the chapters indicates, while there are significant challenges facing the consulting industry, there are also a number of promising frameworks and approaches that can help us successfully meet these challenges.

Download or read book The Films of Konrad Wolf written by Larson Powell and published by Screen Cultures: German Film a. This book was released on 2020 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first book in any language on the films of Konrad Wolf (1925-1982), East Germany's greatest filmmaker, and puts Wolf in a larger European filmic and historical context.

Download or read book Connect and Involve written by Robert J. Martin and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-09-15 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Connect and Involve: How to Connect with Students and Involve Them in Learning is a practical handbook of strategies and procedures for teaching at all grade levels—elementary, middle, and high school. The secret to increasing teaching effectiveness is to make small changes in what teachers think and do—and to get their students to make small changes in what they think and do. Every time teachers connect with students and involve them in learning, teachers engage them in powerful ways that make it more likely that they will choose to learn and to do quality work. This book shows how to be a more effective teacher through small changes in planning and classroom procedures. Each chapter focuses on a key strategy, and each chapter head and its subheads are an outline of how to put the strategy into practice. Teachers can preview all the ideas by reading the chapter titles, heads, and subheads. There are no prescriptions here; teachers bring their expertise on the age group, the subjects they teach, and the big ideas and key skills students need to achieve on high-stakes testing. The strategies and procedures provide ways for teachers to evaluate where small changes can make a difference in achievement for their students.

Download or read book Oxford Handbook of Psychotherapy Ethics written by Manuel Trachsel and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-08-27 with total page 900 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Psychotherapy is an indispensable approach in the treatment of mental disorders and, for some mental disorders, it is the most effective treatment. Yet, psychotherapy is abound with ethical issues. In psychotherapy ethics, numerous fundamental ethical issues converge, including self-determination/autonomy, decision-making capacity and freedom of choice, coercion and constraint, medical paternalism, the fine line between healthiness and illness, insight into illness and need of therapy, dignity, under- and overtreatment, and much more. The Oxford Handbook of Psychotherapy Ethics explores a whole range of ethical issues in the heterogenous field of psychotherapy thereby closing a widespread perceived gap between ethical sensitivity, technical language, and knowledge among psychotherapists. The book is intended not only for a clinical audience, but also for a philosophical/ethical audience - linking the two disciplines by fostering a productive dialogue between them, thereby enriching both the psychotherapeutic encounter and the ethical analysis and sensitivity in and outside the clinic. An essential book for psychotherapists in clinical practice, it will also be valuable for those professionals providing mental health services beyond psychology and medicine, including counsellors, social workers, nurses, and ministers.

Download or read book The Ethics of Belief and Beyond written by Sebastian Schmidt and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-04-03 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume provides a framework for approaching and understanding mental normativity. It presents cutting-edge research on the ethics of belief as well as innovative research beyond the normativity of belief—and towards an ethics of mind. By moving beyond traditional issues of epistemology the contributors discuss the most current ideas revolving around rationality, responsibility, and normativity. The book’s chapters are divided into two main parts. Part I discusses contemporary issues surrounding the normativity of belief. The essays here cover topics such as control over belief and its implication for the ethics of belief, the role of the epistemic community for the possibility of epistemic normativity, responsibility for believing, doxastic partiality in friendship, the structure and content of epistemic norms, and the norms for suspension of judgment. In Part II the focus shifts from the practical dimensions of belief to the normativity and rationality of other mental states—especially blame, passing thoughts, fantasies, decisions, and emotions. These essays illustrate how we might approach an ethics of mind by focusing not only on belief, but also more generally on debates about responsibility and rationality, as well as on normative questions concerning other mental states or attitudes. The Ethics of Belief and Beyond paves the way towards an ethics of mind by building on and contributing to recent philosophical discussions in the ethics of belief and the normativity of other mental phenomena. It will be of interest to upper-level students and researchers working in epistemology, ethics, philosophy of action, philosophy of mind, and moral psychology.

Download or read book Faith in Democracy written by Fabrizio Elefante and published by Ipoc Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Populist - mediatic - democracy is...totalitarianism compatible with democracy...The irreducibility of intellectuals to masses is the disjunctive element or function of the totalitarian mental field." This is, in brief, the path that awaits the reader: an instructive - at times even painful - "journey" through our cultural koine, which gradually proves to be an economic koine, monopolized and debased by publicity and consensus logic. The form of democracy that we are experiencing today is mediatic, a form unknown in the past but now in need of fresh criticism and, as a result, foreign to theoretical developments of former centuries. The Greek etymon "power of the people" has no longer value. It is replaced by "power of the media," which is at the same time an area of discussion and social interaction. The principle of majority, peculiar to democracy, becomes the instrumentum regni of mediatic power: a fictitious majority earned from TV shares is presented according to the canons of democratic rhetoric, and commercial logic takes over democratic rhetoric. "Consumption is democratic expression; discourse is aristocratic privilege... imaginary gratification and the resumption of illiteracy spurred on by spectacular society." The only option available to augment democracy consists in reducing the asymmetry of knowledge among citizens, until we allow democratic participation only to those who will have the necessary cultural qualifications. "Democratic form, debased and turned clownish by business and populist folklore, will be able to recover vital lymph through the work of its artists, through the drafting of new forms of relationship between the proper and the common." With a literary style that resembles both that of Heraclitus and Debord, this book captivates, draws enthusiasm, "demoralizes" and destructures cliches in which we are immersed, thus revealing at the same time new paths of enquiry so we can give meaning to our lives of individuals belonging to a community."