aClassReflection

When I first started out following this course I had no idea what it would entail as system’s theory did not ring a particular bell in my mind. And to be honest, at first I only accidentally stumbled upon this course since the other course which was offered at the same time was not quite as I expected it to be and I felt like it did not challenge me at all, the answers to all questions were very obvious. Thus, I went to the class which is officially called “Systems Theory, Psychology and Social Media” and I was pleasantly surprised by the environment which was created for pleasant discussions between students. The questions were always not the easiest to grasp however, this is what actually made the classes interesting. At first the group discussions were great ways of getting to know more fellow Erasmus students and even at the end of the period it was still very fun getting to interact so much with peers in the classroom. A key factor which created this environment for discussion was the professor’s attitude towards the class: easygoing and getting everyone involved. But the most important thing he introduced was the concept that there is no right or wrong and not involving his personal opinion in the group discussion. In another class we have I feel like all students just say what the professor wants to hear instead of what they actually think and this harms the discussion just as in the same class there are no follow up questions which makes for very dull conversations. All these factors made me really enjoy the class, even though like I said before I had no clue what kind of course it would be and what systems theory would mean and how we would get lessons about. Yet, Gradually through the course I would understand more and more about what systems theory is about. 

As in the first week of classes I attended the other course at the same time as this course, my first lesson of systems theory was the second lesson for most other students. It was about the literal definitions of a system and about a video of wolves which aided the understanding of systems. A system is a structure, where if you take one part away or you add another part from the structure it becomes a new, different system. This is shown in the video by the addition of wolves causing the ecosystem to become completely different. In the third lesson the central idea was the notion of self sacrifice. Using the slime molds as an example the lesson showed how a system can save itself by sacrificing individual parts. For me this was interesting as for us humans self sacrifice is an odd concept yet it might just be what we need to solve certain global problems. The fourth lesson was about complexity and how some things can not be predicted and thus have consequences that might prove harmful to the general environment and processes of human life. This where ad hoc solutions were mentioned: solutions created for a particular purpose considered necessary. The problem of complexity and with it complex problems is that you can not predict the outcome of the solution because it can go so many ways. This leads to thinking about which ad hoc solutions which we are now thinking about and consider just as groundbreaking as necessary are actually going to cause us major problems in the future because of unwanted and unpredicted outcomes. The fifth lesson was about the concept of singularity, which is a hypothetical moment in which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseen changes in human civilization. The biggest fear that many people share is that artificial intelligence will take our place in the system. If you replace a part in a system it is not the same system anymore as we learned in the second week. However, maybe our fears are based on the grounds of AI having the ability to function perfectly instead of us in the system of earth and even possibly improve the system because they will most likely be similar to us yet more intelligent. The sixth lesson was where we all put a marker on a map at the position of our hometown and write a short description of the places we all come from. This showed us that even in the classroom we are a system with many different components yet all interacting in the same context of our university. The process of commenting on each other’s hometown locations made it even more connected. Looking back on all the classes we had, this was my favorite one as we got to know more things about each other which we would have never learned otherwise. The concept of connectedness continued in the seventh lesson that we had, which was about rhizomes, the horizontal roots of plants which connect them with other plants above the surface. This lesson made me think of how in our system earth everything is connected. In the beginning Athens felt like a huge city, especially coming from a city of 300,000 inhabitants and before that a village with a population of only 5000 people. However, after having been here for a while you notice that a lot of international students which you might not know have common friends and with a lot of the neighbourhoods you have a connection. This interconnectedness makes the city feel smaller than I first considered. You feel like you are part of the system of Athens and thus it is easier to get a grasp on the size. For the eighth lesson we had to watch the movie Mindwalk which was about a discussion between three persons about perspective in what seems like a perfect introduction to systems theory. Of Course we already had six lessons about systems theory, however it was still showing us new ways to perceive and experience the world around us through systems theory. Here interconnectedness was a key concept as well and played a major role in the argumentation that the movie presented. The final lesson was to read an article about the shipwreck of two different crews on the same island at the same time. One had a crew of 19 who made it to the island of which 3 survived and the other had a crew of 5 who all survived. It is argued by the paper and also by the captain of the better crew that the difference in leadership is the major factor why the one crew did so much better than the other. However, the mate of the better crew literally said “the death of any one of us, in our present circumstances, would more injuriously affect the morale of the others, and perhaps be attended with fatal consequences for all of us”. As already six men died on the other crew before reaching the beach this might have ruined the morale and thus the solidarity of the other crew. This is for me the key reason why the one crew did way better than the other.  

When I think about what I will use later on in my life is the notion that everything is connected and you can not see things apart from each other. This connects very well with the notion of duality that I already live by. With duality you always look at things from two directions and it is this nuanced view of life which helps control yourself as you also consider the other’s perspective before you get angry. Generally, it also causes you to have more empathy. Just like duality the concept of interconnectedness in systems theory helps you see the bigger picture instead of only focusing on the parts and in this way both help to make rational, nuanced decisions.

Because most people went back for the christmas break instead of a physical class we had to watch a movie at home. The movie we had to watch was called “mindwalk” and it follows a talk or rather a discussion between three persons with conflicting opinions. First, a physician who is on a hiatus because her breakthroughs in the field of x-ray laser technology were used to develop new weapons for the military of the United States of America. Second, a losing candidate for the presidency of the United States of America who feels the need to reflect on his loss and is looking for new insights for a next run for presidency. Finally, a poet who is a friend of the aforementioned politician and used to write political speeches but is now in some sort of midlife crisis.   

The interesting thing about the discussion is that it does not focus so much on the problems and solutions that will solve them but rather the perspective of the three persons and how first changing your perspective might lead to clarity in dealing with problems. The general outcome of the discussion is that you should not split up objects and organisms in its parts to understand the whole but instead focus on the relationships that the object or organism has and see that everything is connected. It advocates system theory and is in my opinion the perfect introduction for anyone who has not heard of it yet as it explains it very well. 

The last in person lesson we had before the Christmas holiday break was about Rhizomes. Rhizomes are the horizontal roots of plants which connect them with other plants above the surface. However, you can also use the rhizome as a metaphor in the way that sometimes people have connections between each other which can not be seen on the surface. I would even go as far as to say that you have a connection with every person there is even though you think you have nothing in common with the person you are talking to. I personally experienced this in my Erasmus program here in Greece. If you try hard enough you can find the ‘rhizome’ between you and the other person, that one thing that you are both very passionate about and like to talk about more. If you can connect with everyone that you talk to this will help bridge the gap between the different cultures and opinions that might be there by inviting a discussion without grudges or prejudice of the other person.

In class we also had to draw something with the still being theme rhizomes. This was a welcome surprise as it was again something totally different from a normal class. I never was good at drawing and thus I never enjoyed doing it but the fact that we had to draw it together in a group made it so much fun. In the end we decided to portray the connections that the metaphorical rhizomes cause, because we believe that everyone ánd everything is connected. 

Last week Thursday we had a class where we had to place a marker on a map where our home city is. I found it funny as most people actually had a home city whereas I only had a home village with a very small population compared to the others. But this was exactly the strength of the lesson, we were able to really grasp the different environments that we all grew up in and even more importantly, we got to know each other even better than before. Furthermore, I got an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia when I wrote about my home village. This was because I wrote about places which have a special place in my memory. Moreover, writing about these nostalgic places also made me remember more good memories of my youth. For example, my dad teaching me to ride a bicycle for the first time is still something which makes me smile. So there I was, in class having a really happy moment unconsciously reflecting on my amazing childhood, of which I can say I was lucky to have. 

Back again to the viewing of the places of other people, it was very interesting to see that my village could have a lot in common with a village on the other side of Europe or even with a city that is way larger than my small village. Yet our ‘places of origin’ can also be so different which makes it amazing that we can all be in the same classroom having discussions with each other and can all connect.

Last week we had a class about artificial intelligence and the concept of singularity. Singularity is a hypothetical moment in which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseen changes in human civilization. An upgradeable intelligent agent will eventually introduce a “runaway response” of self-improvement cycles, with each new and intelligent generation appearing faster and faster, causing an exponential rise in intelligence. The singularity would mean computer programs become so advanced that artificial intelligence transcends human intelligence, potentially erasing the line between humanity and computers. This intelligence explosion will have a significant impact on human civilization. These computer programs and AI will become super-intelligent machines with cognitive capabilities beyond human capabilities.

An important question is what the purpose of humans would be if the singularity were to become a real phenomenon and not only a theory. Would humans still be in control of the ‘species’ that are artificial intelligence? And if that were to be the case, what kind of purpose would humans have if AI takes over all the jobs that there are? If no one works and people only consume it will be hard to indicate en limit how much everyone is allowed to consume as no one deserves getting currency in traditional way without a job

Some jobs can not be taken over by AI, at least not in the future. It is still very hard to make a computer understand human emotion so Psychologists will not have to fear for their job in the foreseeable future. Only when computers begin to understand human emotions it is possible for robots to take over all the jobs

Last Thursday we had a class about complexity and different types of causality. Complexity is when you can not predict something, the outcome is unknown.  There was also a distinction between linear causality and complex causality. Linear causality is when one factor has a certain outcome and if you increase the one factor you get the same outcome but larger. Complex causality is when one factor also has a certain outcome however, when you increase the one factor there is a totally different outcome.

This links to the unpredictability of complex issues. An example of a complex situation is the use of DDT to kill the insects that harmed the production of food in the agriculture sector. This was done in order to produce more food for the growing world population. However, these insects became immune to DDT through the process of natural selection and the animals that would eat these insects were exterminated instead. There was also no going back to food production without DDT as there was a vast industrial commitment to producing DDT and the world population already grew too large to sustain with normal food production. This relates to the innovation paradox that we talked about the week before. Our innovations to problems cause other problems that will need even more innovations to be dealt with. This leads to the thought of which decisions we are making now which will eventually turn out to be wrong for the world and our population as a whole.

Last Thursday we had a class about the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene is the proposed name of the era when Earth’s climate and atmosphere are affected by human activity. You could say that humans went from being only part of the system of the earth to also looking over the system and changing the system. More specifically, because of the dominance of the human species the biosphere and multiple individual ecosystems have been drastically affected. 

In class we watched a video which stated that this problem contains a paradox. It was our own innovations and inventions which caused the climate problem and it will be our own innovations and inventions that will have to turn around the problem and guide the human species to a more sustainable way of living in regards to the planet. This is interesting as these past innovations were also a solution to a specific problem in the corresponding era. Does that mean that even when we find new innovations to solve the problem of climate change, new problems will be created that will need even more innovations?

In the same video a solution is offered in terms of a theory presented in a video. We need to change the education system in order to become more creative and more capable of problem solving as now there is only room for knowledge improvement. It is also stated that we should not look at how intelligent you are but rather how you are intelligent. This raises some questions as well: When do we perceive one as intelligent? What type of skills make you intelligent?

In the class last thursday we were shown videos of slime molds in order to further grasp the meaning of self organisation. A slime mold is a collection of many amoebas who join up together in order to gain extra benefits or survive. Sometimes a part of the slime mold sacrifices themselves in order for the rest of the group to be able to get further. In the group discussion we noticed how many did not comprehend why the amoebas would sacrifice themselves for others. This is perhaps because as humans we tend to reason as individuals rather than as a collective. Naturally, to give your life for someone else is an extreme idea we don’t come across in our everyday life and only see happen in nature, in our lives survival (of the group) is not issue number one anymore. Yet it can be comparable in a different way, as generally, we do not like the idea of giving up something in order for the population as a whole to benefit. In my opinion this is the most important cause of climate goals not having been met so far, as people are not willing to face stronger taxes or restrictions on heavy polluting factors to benefit the population. Consequently, politicians do not enact the right laws and measures in fear of losing votes. This way of thinking raises two questions. Will climate change ever get so bad that we actually dó have to think about survival? Moreover, will we then think collectively instead of individually and finally make the sacrifices that are needed?

The lesson of last Thursday (4th of November) was about the defining what a system is. Overall I would say that it was very interesting to see this point of view. I had never thought about the fact that a system has to have a purpose to count for a system.

I want to talk about the wolf video shown in class as well. I felt surprised that wolves can change the course of the river. I had biology in high school so I know how complex ecosystems can be. So, to see it change so much only because of one factor (the wolves) is amazing. For me there was a lesson to be learnt here: one change can alter the outcome in a larger way than you would think. This lesson leads to thinking better and more deeply about consequences that your actions may have.

Furthermore, the video about the wolves can also symbolize group projects or other forms of cooperation where people work together with other people. More specifically in the sense that adding one more person (for example, a new group member) can change the outcome of the cooperation very distinctively. Moreover, if you add the right person to the cooperation this can lead the project into a more straightforward path just like the river, which stopped alternating the course of flow because of the snowball effect that the entrance of wolves into the territory initiated.

This also leads to the thought of what would happen if you were to remove a part of a system like the one in the video instead of adding one. According two the lecture the system either fails or a totally new system is formed. Perhaps this is also something for further discussion.

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