DOCUMENTS ON SYSTEMATICS
Starting in 1966, with
Systematics: a new technique of thinking (co-authored with
John Bennett) Anthony Blake has been producing documents relating to the theory
and method of systematics. This series is intended as a prelude to a
compilation to be entitled The Book of the World that covers the origins
of systematics, its relation to ancient and modern systems of thought, the associated
method of logovisual technology and the wider picture of emergent understanding
of complexity and what Bohm calls 'active information'. The documents should
also be taken in association with The Intelligent Enneagram.
Blake's main thesis is that the systematics developed by J. G. Bennett represents a small fraction of the totality of forms of thought that we can become conscious of. For the most part, 'forms of thought' operate unconsciously and any realisation of even a small part of them has great significance. In some ways, the 'systems' put forward by Bennett are similar in character to the archetypes suggested by Carl Jung. We should remember however that Jung clearly stated that we cannot know the archetypes per se but only images of them as they arise in us. There is also an association to be made with the tissue paper collage method developed by Dr Edith Wallace in which seemingly inchoate images reveal emergent insights taking place in us.
Also to be found in this section are articles on some aspect of systematics, such as David Bohm's Basic Dyads in Contemporary Physics, which is taken from the journal Systematics (1963) and J. G. Benett's talk on the Experience of Laws in an Event (1974). We also include the first booklet written on Systematics (1966) Systematics: a new technique of thinking. Ted Matchett's discussion of meta-control in Shead's General Problem-Solving Model connects us with his all important work on systems.
In this section are also links to other seminal papers by John Bennett on the fundamental principles of systematics: General Systematics, Systematics and General Systems Theory, Systematics and Systems Theories and two papers by Anthony Blake on the systematics of the study of science: A Critical Essay on the History of Science and Hazard and Scientific Advance.
PUBLICATIONS RELATED TO SYSTEMATICS
GLOBALIZATION: a Case Study in Systematics 2001
Actual case studies on the process of producing systems are next to non-existent. 'Globalization' is a first. This 185 page case study documents a three day workshop in terms of both the topic 'globalization' and the method.of systematics. It describes in both theory and pratice how to transfrom complex information into relatively simple patterns with minimum loss of content and enhanced significance. This makes use of the 'logovisual technology' which has developed over the years from John Bennett's method of structural communication. It is a unique document in showing in precisely how to compress information in such a way that it is easy to unfold the systems from it. And it documents all the procedures used, their rationale and underlying logic. With appendices including documents on the arguements surrounding globalization.
GLOBALIZATION AND THE HIGHER SYSTEMS OF SYSTEMATICS 2002
a report on an ongoing investigation into understanding complex wholes
This study develops the use of logovisual technology and explores representations of the ten and eleven term systems (decad and undecad). It includes links with TRIZ, the Russian system of innovation and the Logosynthesis of Ted Matchett. 117 pages
GATHERING IV - GLOBALIZATION OF HISTORY 2003
the struggle and emergence of global time - symbiosis and synergy
This study continues the process with particular attention to the undecad as a kind of 'board game'. It was in this event that the all-important move in understanding and practicising systematics was made: seeing systems as meaning games. 68 pages
THE READING OF EXPERIENCE 1990
The first Baltimore seminar introducing the rationale and purpose of systematic thinking. It was followed by seven other explorations:
ACTION
CONSCIOUSNESS AND COSMIC INFORMATION
INTELLIGENT UNCERTAINTY
LIVING IN THE WORLDS OF PERCEPTION
MAKING A NEW WORLD
ORIGIN OF THE PRESENT MOMENT
UNIVERSAL PROCESS
THE MONAD 1996
This essay of 90 pages explores the meaning and practice of the first 'system', which concerns basic wholeness and has the character of unity in diversity and diversity in unity. The Monad is discussed by reference to numerous authors such as Whitehead, Heidegger, Santayana and many others and various methods of visualisation and application are explained. The Monad corresponds to the state of 'diffuse contemplation' and has been largely ignored by those more concerned with external mechanisms.
THE DYAD 1997
The Dyad presents conflict and complementarity and its key exponent in western philosophy has been Kierkegaard. This system throws us into contradiction and pardox. The essay makes a case for appreciating the power of the dyad in its own right and argues that moving forward into any kind of resolution or compromise loses a significant form of understanding. The Dyad raises the question What is Reality?
THE TRIAD 1997
The Triad is one of the most well known systems. It is foundational in Christian doctrine and appears in all branches of scientific understanding. It embodies 'ratio' or relationship, which underpin reason or the 'logos'. It is a corner stone of Gurdjieff's teaching but appears in a great variety of forms. It is the basic form of understanding.
THE MEANING OF THE TRIAD - AN INTERPRETATION 2003
Though only recently made available, this 'intepretation' dates back to 1991 as one of a series of seminars held in Baltimore. This book discusses connections with both ancient metaphysics and modern physics and is an essential text for any serious student of systematics. 64 pages
THE TETRAD - work in progress
The system of four terms is ubiquitous and to be found in all cultures and all times. For that reason an adequate treatment of the tetrad is complex and wide-ranging. In the 30 pages already composed much effort is made to show that the tetrad has great diversity of expression while remaing the key way in which we 'map' experience and 'chart' our way. It represents the primordial landscape of the four directions, which are also the 'winds of change'; and its highly significant early image for western civilization was in the 'four rivers of Eden', which idea formed our sacred landscape for millenia.
SYSTEMATICS - A METHOD OF THE INTELLIGIBLE 1998
This is the first essay to attempt to lay out the underlying method of proceeding from one system to the next in a progression. It shows ways in which the 'terms' of the systems can be generated by a consistent method.
THREE ESSAYS ON SYSTEMATICS 1998
SYSTEMATICS & INSTINCTUAL TIME THINKING
This essay brings out the contrast between seeing systems externally in a 'spatial' or extensive way and seeing them internally in a 'temporal' or intensive way. The idea of instinctual time thinking is taken from Charlotte Bach
FORM AND NUMBER
This essay addrsses the issue of depicting systems in diagrams as well as by numbers. The usual geometrical forms in which systems are represented can be misleading and restrictive.
TOPONOMICS
The word 'toponmics' indicates the 'rules of placement' and opens up the study of forms of representation in a new way. This essay was key in advancing the conception of logovisual technology because this methodology relies heavily on visual arrangement of elements of meaning.
SYSTEMATICS - THE CLARIFICATION OF INTUITION 2000
This essay argues for systematics as a way of making our thinking more conscious. It deals with the ways in which a system can be structured internally; in particular with how any system can be seen as both a 'circular whole' and also as a 'linear sequence'. This was implicit in Bennett's treatment of the triad but here we apply it in a more general way and to all the systems.
THE INTELLIGENT ENNEAGRAM (Shambhala) 1995
The first comprehensive book on the 'process enneagram' as first outlined by Gurdjieff and developed by Bennett and others.
ENNEAGRAMS 1997
Various essays on the process enneagram in relation to myth and meaning.
LOGOVISUAL TECHNOLOGY
FORMS OF THOUGHT 2002
A booklet on the implications of separating form from content as independent variables.
LOGOVISUAL THINKING - A GUIDE TO MAKING SENSE with John Varney 2004 (CMC www.changeandinnovation.com)
The first published book on LVT, it gives many case studies of applications in the fields of management and community work.
MAKING MEANING - LEARNING THROUGH LOGOVISUAL THINKING with John Varney and Brin Best 2005 (Chris Kington Publishing, Cambridge)
This book explains the use of LVT in schools with numerous case studies taken from applications in the UK.
____________________________________________________________
LINKS
CMC (Centre for Management Creativity)
PAPERS