What does it mean to be human?

 James Grier Miller’s Living Systems Theory  Are we systems? Are we part of systems?

• System - a group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent elements forming a complex whole (digestive, circulatory)   All living systems share similar characteristics, such as inputs, outputs and processes, with other living systems Miller eight nested hierarchical levels:         cells organs (composed of cells) organisms (independent life forms) groups (families, committees, work groups) organizations (universities, corporations) communities societies (nations) supranational system 1

What does it mean to be human?

  Three central concepts of LST theory:  space and time   matter and energy information Space - set of elements which conform to certain postulates  A system may exist in two sorts of spaces  • Physical space (Euclidean space – 3D) • Conceptual space (e.g., internet) Physical space is subject to various constraints that can affect the action of the subjects • People interact more with persons who live near to them than with persons who live far away. This physical constraint limits the number of interactions  Time “particular instant at which a structure exists or a process occurs, or the measured or measurable period over which a structure endures or a process continues” (Miller, 1995). 2

What does it mean to be human?

 Matter

energy

“anything which has mass and occupies physical space” and as “the ability to do work” (Miller, 1995).  Systems sustain themselves by ingesting matter and converting it to energy (e.g., air, food, water)  Matter-energy helps a system function, perform processes and regulate entropy levels.  If a system is unable to import matter-energy across its boundaries, it will turn chaotic and cease to exist.  All systems must stay in equilibrium • Homeostasis - Cannon 1939,

Wisdom of the Body

) • Defense Mechanisms - Freud 3

What does it mean to be human?

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What does it mean to be human?

  Information means “the degree of freedom that exists in a given situation to choose among signals, symbols, messages, or patterns to be transmitted” (Miller, 1995). The system must find “ meaning ” as the significance, or the usefulness, a given system places on information.   Information directs a system in its use of matter-energy. The information selected determines what a system will do with the input, how it will be processed, and what its output will be.

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What does it mean to be human?

 Living system 1995). - an open, self organizing system that “exists in space and is made of matter and energy organized by information” (Miller,  We are open systems that need both living and non-living matter from our environment in order to survive (e.g., food, heat) 6

What does it mean to be human?

 Seven specific criteria of a concrete system must meet to be defined as a living system: 1. Organizationally open, but energetically closed – Allow matter, energy and information to flow through their permeable boundaries to be processed as inputs from their environment. » As closed systems, they refrain from accepting anything alien that could possibly infect the system. » If a living system is too closed off to inputs from the environment it will dissolve into chaos and disorder and will eventually die.

2. Maintains equilibrium – Living systems must be able to repair internal breakdown. – Living systems have a narrow range of stability. If the system is under much stress, then it will lose stability. If the system cannot revert itself to stable conditions, then it will not survive. » Maintain a blood pH of 7.0 and a core body temperature of 98.5°F » Stress related mental illness 7

What does it mean to be human?

 Seven specific criteria of a concrete system must meet to be defined as a living system: 3. Combats entropy – Living systems have to convert energy and resist entropy » Living systems are considered

negentropic

. » They tend to “resist the entropy breakdown predicted by the second law of thermodynamics (irreversibility in nature) 4. Possesses a template – A specialized form of information processing – Template defines its purpose and outlines its organizational structure. (Biology:

DNA

; Social systems the charters and constitutions) 8

What does it mean to be human?

 Seven specific criteria of a concrete system must meet to be defined as a living system: 5. Possesses subsystems – All subsystems must work together to achieve the goals and objectives of the system. – Twenty critical subsystems processes must be carried out and can process information, matter-energy, or both.

6. Contains a decider – Decision-making unit that controls the entire system.

– Surveys the internal state of the system and the relationship between the system and its environment based on information passed by the subsystems. – makes the necessary adjustments to the systems’ subsystems and components in order to maintain internal equilibrium. – If a living system is totally dependent on another system to make decisions then it cannot be considered a living system 9

What does it mean to be human?

 Seven specific criteria of a concrete system must meet to be defined as a living system: 7. Possesses integrated subsystems – They must have the capability of development and reproduction. – A subsystem cannot work alone. It must work with other subsystems to act as a whole with a purpose and goal.

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What does it mean to be human?



SUBSYSTEMS WHICH PROCESS BOTH MATTER-ENERGY AND INFORMATION

1.

Reproducer - genetic information or charter of a system and mobilizes matter and energy to produce one or more similar systems (eggs, sperm) 2.

Boundary - at the perimeter of a system that holds together the components which make up the system, protects them from environmental stresses 11

What does it mean to be human?



SUBSYSTEMS WHICH PROCESS MATTER-ENERGY

1. Ingestor - brings matter-energy across the system boundary (mouth, nostrils) 12 2. Distributor - carries inputs from outside the system, or outputs from its subsystems around the system to each component (blood and lymph vascular systems) 3. Converter - changes certain inputs to the system into forms more useful for the special processes of that particular system teeth, liver) 4. Producer - forms stable associations that endure for significant periods among matter-energy inputs to the system or outputs from its converter, the material synthesized being for growth and damage repair (none for human)

What does it mean to be human?



SUBSYSTEMS WHICH PROCESS MATTER-ENERGY

5. Matter-energy storage - places matter or energy at some location in the system, retains it over time, and retrieves it (muscles, spleen) 6. Extruder - transmits matter-energy out of the system in the forms of products or wastes (kidneys, lungs) 7. Motor - moves the system or parts of it in relation to its environment or moves components of its environment in relation to each other (legs, joints, muscles) 8. Supporter - maintains the proper spatial relationships among components of the system, so that they can interact without weighting each other down or crowding each other. (skeleton) 13

What does it mean to be human?



SUBSYSTEMS WHICH PROCESS MATTER-ENERGY

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What does it mean to be human?



SUBSYSTEMS WHICH PROCESS INFORMATION

1. Input transducer - sensory subsystem which brings markers bearing information into the system, changing them to other matter-energy forms suitable for transmission within it. (eyes, nerve endings) 2.Internal transducer - sensory subsystem which receives, from subsystems or components within the system, markers bearing information about significant alterations in those subsystems or components, changing them to other matter energy forms of a sort which can be transmitted within it (receptor cells, rods, cones) 15

What does it mean to be human?



SUBSYSTEMS WHICH PROCESS INFORMATION

3.Channel and net - subsystem composed of a single route in physical space or multiple interconnected routes over which markers bearing information are transmitted to all parts of the system (central and peripheral nervous systems) 4.Timer - the clock, set by information from the input transducer about states of the environment, which uses information about processes in the system to measure the passage of time, and transmits to the decider signals that facilitate coordination of the system’s processes in time (cerebral cortex, cerebellum , , basal ganglia, subcortical process) .

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What does it mean to be human?



SUBSYSTEMS WHICH PROCESS INFORMATION

5. Decoder - subsystem which alters the code of information input to it through the input transducer or internal transducer into a “private” code that can be used internally by the system (retinal bipolar and ganglion cells, where afferent neurons synapse).

6. Associator, the subsystem which carries out the first stage of the learning process, forming enduring associations among items of information in the system.

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What does it mean to be human?



SUBSYSTEMS WHICH PROCESS INFORMATION

 17.

Memory - carries out the second stage of the learning process, storing information in the system for different periods of time, and then retrieving it (Hippocampus) 18  18.

Decider - the executive subsystem which receives information inputs from all other subsystems and transmits to them outputs for guidance, coordination, and control of the system (parietal cortex)

What does it mean to be human?



SUBSYSTEMS WHICH PROCESS INFORMATION

19. Encoder, alters the code of information input to it from other information processing subsystems, from a “private” code used internally by the system into a “public” code which can be interpreted by other systems in its environment (temporoparietal area - integrates sensory information from different modalities) 19

What does it mean to be human?



SUBSYSTEMS WHICH PROCESS INFORMATION

 20.

Output transducer, the subsystem which puts out markers bearing information from the system, changing markers within the system into other matter energy forms which can be transmitted over channels in the system’s environment. (Laryngeal Motor Cortex - motor control of speech) 20

What does it mean to be human?

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What does it mean to be human?

 A living system can be described as using one of the following three kinds of systems: • Conceptual – Comprised of non-physical objects or thoughts. • Concrete – operate or exist in a physical space ( measured in space/time dimensions) – Non-random accumulations of matter-energy in a region in physical space-time organized into interacting, interrelated subsystems or components • Abstract – composed of units and relationships chosen by an investigator I(IQ) 22

What does it mean to be human?

 Elements of living systems: • Structure - “arrangement of the systems’ subsystems and components in three dimensional space at a given moment in time”. – Example is organizational chart.

• Processes - “change over time of matter-energy or information in a system” – Can be an activity or action » moving resources from one place to another, making decisions » Converting the organization’s inputs into outputs to be consumed by the environment or other organizations as inputs.

– A process includes two elements. » Function - an ongoing, reversible action. History is irreversible action, such as a mutation, aging and death. » A living system carries its history with it in the form of altered structure, and consequently of altered function also 23

What does it mean to be human?

 Elements of living systems: • Relationships – two types of interactions: – Internal relationships » Structural relationships - the arrangement among subsystems or components of concrete systems are all spatial in character » Temporal relationships - spatiotemporal relationships are focused on the actions performed among the subsystems. (e.g., number of times a group interacts with another group). » Third type of relationship relates to “meaning” (the significance of information to a system which it processes it). Example interpretation of a comment 24

What does it mean to be human?

 Elements of living systems: • System Processes – process relationships between inputs and outputs – adjustment processes among subsystems or components, used in maintain variable in steady states – evolution – growth, cohesiveness, and integration – pathology – decay and termination.

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What does it mean to be a living system?

    Boundary (outside circle) Processes (arrow on outside circle Nervous System (inner arrow with arrows Communications (two arrows outside the circle) pathology – decay and termination.

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What is a social system?

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What is an individual within a social system?

   

The Boundary

 How well is the individual’s the Identity and Reputation defined and maintained? Newsgroups  How well can the individual manage both their Private space and their different kinds of Open Space (to the rest of the group) - Facebook

The Processes

 What are the processes which are available to each individual within the social system – Facebook Status

The Nervous System

 What are the events the individual wants to be notified about plus any automated processes this should trigger - Twitter

The Communication Channels

 What are the channels by which the individual can communicate with the other individuals both within and outside their groups – Group Chat

What is a group within a social system?

 

The Boundary

 the Identity of the Group and the rules by which individuals may participate in the group (e.g. categories of membership with their rights and obligations) Processes  The roles in social networks and the interaction between them.

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What is a group within a social system?

 

The Boundary

 the Identity of the Group and the rules by which individuals may participate in the group (e.g. categories of membership with their rights and obligations) Processes  The roles in social networks and the interaction between them.

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What does it mean to be human?



Human Information Capabilities

    

Input – Output Memory Processing Problem Solving Learning

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Human Capabilities



Input – Output Channels



Vision

• • •

Receives light and transforms into electrical energy The cornea and lens focus light onto the retina Rods and cones serves as photoreceptors

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Human Capabilities



Input – Output Channels



Vision - Rods

• • • •

Largely responsible for peripheral vision Unable to resolve fine detail Very sensitive to light and permit seeing in low levels of illumination Can become light saturated when moving from dark to light environments



Vision - Cones

• • •

Can tolerate more light that rods Allows for color vision Mostly concentrated in the fovea

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Human Capabilities



Input – Output Channels



Vision – Ganglion Cells

• •

X-Cells

–

Concentrated in the fovea

–

Responsible for early detection of patterns Y-Cells

–

Concentrated throughout the retina

–

Responsible for early detection of movements

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Human Capabilities



Input – Output Channels



Visual Perception

• • • •

Perceiving size, depth and relative distances Visual angle is the size of the image on the retina Visual angle indicates the how much the field of view is taken up by the object Visual angle calculator http://www.psypress.com/mather/resources/swf/Demo6_3.swf

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Human Capabilities



Input – Output Channels



Visual Acuity

• • • • •

The ability to perceive detail Visual angle is not the sole factor in determining size and distance As a object increases its distance from the viewer the perception of the object remains constant even though the visual angle decreases Law of size constancy If objects overlap the object in front is perceived as closer

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Human Capabilities



Input – Output Channels



Perception of Brightness

• • • • • •

Luminance is the amount of light reflected by an object A photometer is used to measure light Contrast = luminance of the object / luminance of the background Visual acuity increases with increased luminance As luminance increases flicker increases and is more noticeable in the periphery Larger display sizes may result in more flicker

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Human Capabilities



Input – Output Channels



Perception of Color

• • • • • •

Hue = spectral wavelength of the light Humans can discern 150 different hues Intensity = brightness of the color Saturation = amount of whiteness in the color Humans can perceive 7 million different colors The average human can identify only 10

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