18 Sep The limits of systemic thinking
The history of knowledge acquisition (what and how we know) can be characterised by a swing between reductionist and holistic systems, depending on whether they focus on the parts or the whole. This swing translates into a predominant model that does not definitively exclude the other and into a positioning of social actors and processes around it.
Systemic thinking is the name given to the holistic perspective on knowledge since the mid-20th century. And, despite not being the majority paradigm today, it opens up new avenues in the way we know and act that can be very useful in addressing current and future challenges.
After a brief historical review and an initial characterisation of systemic thinking, possible attitudes towards a complex reality are addressed. Three possible attitudes are described (the stunned, the linear and the contingent), with systemic thinking and the tools and methods it proposes falling into the latter group.
This characterisation allows us to define its scope: what it is useful for and what it is not useful for, as well as the main limitations in its application in a social paradigm still fully recognised with reductionism and linearity.
To conclude the article, the basic issues that need to be resolved in order to achieve an integrative, contingent and creative vision such as that proposed by systemic thinking are raised.
Published in Spanish in Medium starting in October 2021 Read online