Unifying Paradigm Versus Adaptive Ecology
Deliberating the Futures of Systems Thinking
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7169293 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Zhichang Zhu (0000-0003-2037-2701, Centre for Systems Studies University of Hull Hull UK, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 1339-1352 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Systems Research and Behavioral Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1092-7026 • E-ISSN: 1099-1743 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/sres.3199 |
| OpenAlex | W4415620390 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 46 |
In this paper, I deliberate on two visions for the future of systems thinking: unifying paradigm versus adaptive ecology. Drawing on a wide range of literatures as well as the past century experience of modern systems thinking, I shall posit: (1) unconstrained proliferation and autonomy of intellectual specialisation is indispensable for enriching humankind's problem‐solving capacity, which is incompatible with ‘legitimate universality’ or ‘first principle’; (2) encompassing mechanisms across ‘systems of all types’ are limited in number and primitive in character, which sets severe limits to isomorphism, the foundational block of the ‘unity’ ambition; (3) driven by a problem‐solving teleology and enabled by distributed agency, responsive emergence and causation web mechanisms, systems thinking has, over the past decades, evolved into an adaptive intellectual ecology full of recursive diversity, which defies one‐paradigm pluralism à la ‘unification’ attempts; and (4) solutions to global problems come not from grand ‘unity’ in the abstract but from contingent interdisciplinary cooperations at the point of action. My conclusion: In comparison with unifying paradigm, adaptive ecology appears to be an inspiring and realistic vision for the future of systems thinking
Adaptive system · Causation · Complex adaptive system · Futures contract · Systems thinking · Teleology · Vision · Chaos, Complexity, and Education · Complex Systems and Decision Making · Embodied and Extended Cognition
Making Social Science Matter
Systemic Intervention
Engaging Science
The Dappled World
Alexander Bogdanov and the question of unity
Rebooting the systems approach by applying the thinking of Bogdanov and the pragmatists
Paradigm, specialty, pragmatism
WSR 2.0 (1)
Complexity A Guided Tour
The Essential Tension
Autopoiesis and Cognition
Special sciences (or
Pragmatic ontology—Enhancing the philosophical foundation of critical systems thinking/practice
A Life of Systems Thinking
Theoretical Systems Thinking and Its Research Mode
An introduction to cybernetics
The Strength of Weak Ties
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |