The Revolution of Systems Thinking: Why It Changes Everything We Know About Reality

The parts alone do not explain the whole because billions of neurons running on chemical reactions and electrical signals cannot by themselves explain how thought, memory, or consciousness arises as something that is not contained in any single part.

“You can describe it completely. It runs on chemical reactions and the electrical signals it uses to communicate with other neurons. There's no problem at all. But, how do billions of these neurons give rise to a thought or a memory or the feeling of hearing music and getting goosebumps? Maybe something like we would call consciousness. So, the parts don't explain that. Somewhere between the parts and the interplays, something arises that isn't contained in any single part.”

Hegel attempted to systematize the fundamental mechanisms of reality itself through a metaphysics of a whole that unfolds through contradiction and change, representing an early systems philosophy approach.

“And in a broader sense, I would even trace back it to Hegel, who tried to systematize the fundamental mechanisms of reality itself. A whole that unfolds through contradiction and change.”

Fritjof Capra connects modern physics with Taoism, representing theories that bridge scientific reasoning with spiritual traditions and challenge the Western separation of science from spirituality

“Like Fritjof Capra connects physics with Taoism.”

Reductionism is one of the most successful methods humanity has ever developed, evidenced by decoding the human genome, building complex machines like the particle accelerator at CERN, and raising skyscrapers into the sky.

“And this approach worked better than anyone could have ever imagined. We decoded human genome, we built anonymous machines like the particle accelerator at CERN, we are raising skyscrapers into the sky. So, we can say reductionism is one of the most successful methods humanity has ever developed.”

Whitehead and process philosophy belong to systems philosophy because process philosophy understands reality not as a collection of fixed things but as an ongoing process of becoming, built on process and relations rather than fixed substance.

“Thinkers like Whitehead belong here quite naturally with his process philosophy. A metaphysics built on process and relations rather than fixed substance.”

On a level higher come theories discussed in science but not yet fully accepted that nonetheless find broad resonance among many established researchers, including integrated information theory (IIT), panpsychism, and process philosophy.

“On a level higher, come theories that are discussed in science, but not yet fully accepted, and that nonetheless find broad resonance among many established researchers. So, at first we have the integrated information theory, the IIT, which wants to understand information as the most fundamental event in the universe. Consciousness arises wherever a system integrates information to an especially higher degree. The more connected and integrated, the more conscious. Then we have the panpsychism, which suspects a striving towards consciousness in every single part of the universe, one that thought self-organization eventually leads to conscious living systems. And also, I want to name the process philosophy going back to Whitehead, which understands reality not as a collection of fixed things, but as an ongoing process of becoming.”

Integrated Information Theory (IIT) understands information as the most fundamental event in the universe and proposes that consciousness arises wherever a system integrates information to an especially higher degree, with the more connected and integrated systems being more conscious.

“The integrated information theory, the IIT, which wants to understand information as the most fundamental event in the universe. Consciousness arises wherever a system integrates information to an especially higher degree. The more connected and integrated, the more conscious.”

Descartes and Newton were not wrong; their approach was brilliant and remains indispensable, but they captured only one part of reality—the part that can be taken apart—and missed the patterns, connections, and relationships between parts that disappear when you decompose a system.

“So, that doesn't mean that Descartes or Newton were wrong. Their approach was brilliant and remains indispensable, but it does mean that they captured only one part of reality. The part that can be taken apart. But, what happens to the part that disappears in the taking apart, if you know what I'm trying to say? So, to the patterns, to the connections, to the relationships between the parts.”

There is an opposite, potentially evil reading of systems theory called the technocratic reading that extends mainly from cybernetics and treats humans and their environment as a machine, where whoever understands its parts can steer it at will, from which even totalitarian systems come to seem permissible.

“But, the problem is there's an opposite reading, maybe you can call it an evil reading, of the system theoretical perspective. This one is a technocratic one. It mainly extends from cybernetics and it treats humans and their environment as a machine. Whoever understanding its parts can steer it at all will. From this perspective, even totalitarian system come to seem permissible. The human as a machine part and the ruler as an engineer exercising full control over every decision.”

The self-organization of living systems is a phenomenon that appears across biology (body, ant colonies), neurology (brain), psychology (individual), sociology (human society), and economics (markets), yet each discipline handles the same core phenomenon separately, illustrating why systems perspective is valuable for lifting interdisciplinarity to another level.

“There's an even nicer example, the self-organization of living systems. Our body does it. Our brain does it. Human society does it. And so does an ant colony. They all organize and regulate themselves. So, at the core the same thing's happening everywhere and yet a different discipline takes care of each case. Biology for the body or also for the ant colony. Neurology for the brain. Psychology for the individual. Sociology for the society. And economics for the markets. These five describing at the bottom the same phenomena. And this is exactly why the system theoretical perspective is so valuable. It lifts the interdisciplinarity between the science to a whole 'nother level and maybe brings the fields that have driven further and further apart in the last few centuries a little closer together.”

From Cartesian dualism followed the practical consequence that if matter is completely separate from mind and has no soul or inner perspective, then you can take it apart, measure it, and analyze it without having to account for anything immaterial, enabling the reductionist motto that the whole is the sum of its parts.

“If matter is completely separate from mind, if it has no soul, no inner perspective, then you can take it apart, measure it, and analyze it without having account for anything immaterial. And this is exactly what we did, following the motto, the whole is the sum of its parts.”

Emergence is the first great riddle that reductionism cannot solve because patterns, connections, and relationships between parts disappear in the process of taking things apart.

“And this is called emergence. And this is the first great riddle that reductionism can solve. So, that doesn't mean that Descartes or Newton were wrong. Their approach was brilliant and remains indispensable, but it does mean that they captured only one part of reality. The part that can be taken apart. But, what happens to the part that disappears in the taking apart, if you know what I'm trying to say? So, to the patterns, to the connections, to the relationships between the parts.”

Systems perspective entails that social equality is necessary because systems work better when all of their parts are doing well, like in a human body.

“That also includes social equality. Because system works better when all of its parts are doing well, like in a human body.”

Systems perspective makes clear we shouldn't presume to fully control nature because every massive intervention can lead to chaotic tipping points that can no longer be calculated; instead we should intervene less forcefully in nature, trust in self-organization, question power structures, and live in harmony with our environment.

“And it becomes clear that we shouldn't presume to fully control nature. Every massive intervention can lead to a chaotic tripping point that can be no longer be calculated. Instead, we should intervene less forcefully in nature, trust in self-organization, question power structures, and live in harmony with our environment.”

Before continuing to push forward technological development with AI or other machines, society should first work on understanding the world and humanity's place in it.

“And perhaps, before we keep pushing forward the technological development with AI or other machines, we should first work on understanding the world and our place in it.”

Systems theory is a revolution happening quietly across multiple disciplines rather than as a single announced breakthrough like Copernican or Darwinian revolution because it doesn't happen within a single field but rather thousands of researchers slowly beginning to speak the same language across domains.

“Most revolutions we know hitting like a bomb. They have a name, they have a year, or specific person like Copernicus, Einstein, or Darwin. And then there are revolutions no one even announced. Not because they don't matter, but because they don't happen within a single field. Systems theory is the second kind. There's no manifesto, there's no headline, there's also no specific person you will name if you say systems theory. There are just thousands of researchers slowly starting to speak the same language.”

The Cartesian-Newtonian worldview is embodied in our social institutions and forms the basis of our approach to major problems of our time, using a fragmented, mechanistic, reductionistic worldview to understand and deal with the world; what we need is a holistic or ecological worldview that accounts for fundamental interdependence of all phenomena and the world as a process rather than a rigid structure.

“The Cartesian-Newtonian worldview is embodied in our social institutions and forms the basis of our approach to the major problems of our time. That we're using a fragmented, mechanistic, reductionistic worldview to understand and deal with the world around us. What we need is a holistic or ecological worldview which takes into account the fundamental interdependence of all phenomena and the world as a process rather than as a rigid structure.”

The wish to see things as a whole again is appearing across society in systematic psychotherapy, holistic medicine, growing calls for interdisciplinarity, and the increasing search for spirituality, all of which may indicate people asking about larger connections the dominant scientific perspective hasn't been able to answer.

“A wish to see things as a whole again, like in systematic psychotherapy, in holistic medicine, in the growing call for interdisciplinarity, for a way of thinking that doesn't stop at the borders of disciplines.”

The World Economic Forum represents a technocratic vision of a world steered by experts and data, a society as a system that can be optimized from top down, aligned with ideologies of technofeudalism, digital surveillance, and technical control of nature.

“You can also find the same technocratic vision within the World Economic Forum. A world steered by experts and data, which means a society as a system that can be optimized from top down. I would call it technofeudalism, digital surveillance, technical control of nature, they all follow this logic.”

Universities are organized under the belief that psychology, sociology, and anthropology are separate disciplines, and the world is made of separable items of knowledge that can be examined in isolation, but this is not how the world actually is.

“It is uh inculcated by our great universities who believe there's such a thing as psychology which is different from sociology and such a thing as anthropology which is different from both and that the world is made of separable items of knowledge by a series of disconnected questions in which if you were a student you could be examined. And the first point I want to get over to you is that the world is not like that at all. Or let us be more polite. The world in which I live is not like that at all.”

System theory refers to hard science disciplines that concretely research, measure, and describe phenomena mathematically, but these theories are incredibly numerous, sometimes contradict each other, use different words for the same phenomena, and illuminate only one aspect of the perspective.

“If we take a look at the first one, the system theory, these are all the system science refers to hard science, the disciplines that concretely research, measure it, describing it mathematically. The theories that make it up though are incredibly numerous. They sometimes contradict each other, use different words for the same phenomena or each illuminate just one aspect of the perspective. The will to describe the world in system terms is there but it's still fragmented and it comes from very different camps.”

From systems perspective it becomes clear that we cannot consider our environment as separate from ourselves because we are part of the system, and that is why we have to protect our environment.

“First of all, it becomes clear we can't consider our environment as separate from ourselves. We are part of the system and that is why we have to protect our environment.”

Peter Thiel stands for the technocratic stance of treating systems as machines to be controlled, having openly doubted that freedom and democracy are compatible and helping build infrastructure for data surveillance through companies like Palantir.

“I especially want to mention thinkers like Peter Thiel because they stand for this stance. He has openly doubt that freedom and democracy are even compatible. And with companies like Palantir, he helped building an entire infrastructure for data surveillance.”

The funnel model organizes systems theoretical and holistic theories from scientifically established at the bottom to esoteric and mystical perspectives at the top, with intentional inclusion of mystical/spiritual traditions as holistic perspectives because people long ago tried to grasp the world as a complex fabric of systems using symbolic and rudimentary non-scientific language.

“For this reason, I've tried to gather these theories into the funnel model. This model should have been viewed critically for several reasons because it simplifies a lot, but I think it gives a good visual overview of system theoretical and holistic theories. The funnel is sorts from scientific established at the bottom all the way up to esoteric and mystical perspective at the top, which I have deliberately included here as a holistic perspective too because I believe people tried long ago to grasp the world as a complex fabric of systems and using symbolic maybe rudimentary non-scientific magical language.”

The rise of reductionist science caused older holistic ways of thinking to fall into oblivion, and yet they remain fascinating because they keep reaching back toward fundamental questions of being.

“With the rise of the reductionist science we discussed earlier, these older holistic ways of thinking fell into oblivion. And yet, for me, they remain fascinating to this day because they keep reaching back towards the fundamental questions of being.”

Systems theory as an umbrella term refers to viewing the world as one complex and connected system and turning attention to the interactions between its parts, and this is the most general formulation and the perspective at the very top.

“When I talk about systems theory, I mean first and foremost the system theoretical perspective. Guessing burning the world as one complex and connected system and turning our attention to the interactions between its parts. So this is why I would put this on the very top because it's in perspective. It's the umbrella term, the most general formulation, the view of the world as one connected system.”