Introduction
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(highlight:: Ours is a world of paradox.
Why is this? How does it come about that things turn out so differently from what common sense would expect?
The religious person may blame it on Original Sin. The historian may cite the force of trends such as population growth and industrialization. The Sociologist offers reasons rooted in the peculiarities of human associations. Reformers blame everything on “the system” and propose new systems that would—they assert—guarantee a brave new world of justice, peace, and abundance. Everyone, it seems, has his own idea of what the problem is and how it can be corrected. But all agree on one point—that their own System would work very well if only it were universally adopted.
The point of view espoused in this essay is more radical and at the same time more pessimistic. Stated as succinctly as possible: the fundamental problem does not lie in any particular System but rather in Systems As Such (Das System an und fuer sich)[a.|a.] . Salvation, if it is attainable at all, even partially, is to be sought in a deeper understanding of the ways of all Systems, not simply in a criticism of the errors of a particular System.)
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Because of its central role in all that follows (being the fundamental observation upon which all further research into Systems has been based it is known as the Primal Scenario. We give it here in full:
THINGS (THINGS GENERALLY/ ALL THINGS/THE WHOLE WORKS) ARE INDEED NOT WORKING VERY WELL. IN FACT, THEY NEVER DID
In more formal terminology:
SYSTEMS IN GENERAL WORK POORLY OR NOT AT ALL
More technically stated:[c. |c. ][xiii|xiii]
COMPLICATED SYSTEMS SELDOM EXCEED FIVE PERCENT EFFICIENCY)
- View Highlight
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(highlight:: We begin at the beginning, with the Fundamental Theorem:
NEW SYSTEMS MEAN NEW PROBLEMS
When a system is set up to accomplish some goal, a new entity has come into being—the system itself. No matter what the “goal” of the system, it immediately begins to exhibit systems-behavior, that is, to act according to the general laws that govern the operation of all systems. Now the system itself has to be dealt with. Whereas before there was only the Problem—such as warfare between nations, or garbage collection—there is now an additional universe of problems associated with the functioning or merely the presence of the new system.
In the case of Garbage Collection, the original problem could be stated briefly as “What do we do with all this garbage?” After setting up a garbage-collection system, we find ourselves faced with a new Universe of Problems. These include questions of collective bargaining with the garbage collectors’ union, rates and hours, collection on very cold or rainy days, purchase and maintenance of garbage trucks, millage and bond issues, voter apathy, regulations regarding separation of garbage from trash, etc., etc.)
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ANERGY. ANERGY-STATE. Any state or condition of the Universe, or of any portion of it, that requires the expenditure of human effort or ingenuity to bring it into line with human desires, needs, or pleasures is defined as an ANERGY-STATE. Anergy is measured in units of effort required to bring about the desired change.
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SYSTEMS OPERATE BY REDISTRIBUTING ANERGY INTO DIFFERENT FORMS AND INTO ACCUMULATIONS OF DIFFERENT SIZES
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(highlight:: But what Parkinson failed to perceive, we now enunciate—the General Systems analogue of Parkinson’s Law:
THE SYSTEM ITSELF (DAS SYSTEM AN UND FUER SICH) TENDS TO GROW AT 5-6% PER ANNUM)
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In a recent scholarly study,[xix|xix] Mr. Russell Baker has drawn attention to the development of the self-service gas station, the self-service supermarket, and the self-service salad bar in restaurants, thus demonstrating that the phenomenon of Encroachment has itself tended in recent years to encroach.[d. |d. ] Mr. Baker somewhat nostalgically recalls the era when: “You didn’t have to work for the grocery industry; the grocery industry worked for you.” Painting a picture of future developments that might well include self-service funerals, he comments, “Industry’s discovery that the buyer could be made to do its work for it promises to blight the lives of . . . generations to come . . .”
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(highlight:: COMPLEX SYSTEMS EXHIBIT UNEXPECTED BEHAVIOR
One is merely a pessimistic feeling; the other conveys the exhilaration that accompanies recognition of a Law of Nature. Because of its fundamental importance for all that follows, we have termed this Law the Generalized Uncertainty Principle.)
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(highlight:: We are accustomed to thinking that a System acts like amachine,[b. |b. ] and that if we only knew its mechanism, we could understand, even predict, its behavior. This is wrong. The correct orientation is:
A MACHINE ACTS LIKE A SYSTEM
—and if the machine is large and complex enough, it will act like a large System. We simply have our metaphors backwards.)
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Only one step remains to be taken to complete Trillium’s shackling in the chains he himself has helped to forge. On advice of the University administrators, the legislators of his State establish by law the number of hours a Professor of Botany must spend on each phase of his professional activities. Trillium may feel impelled to protest, but how can he? The lawmakers are only formalizing what he himself has told them he wants to do! The System of Management by Goals and Objectives, designed to measure Trillium’s performance as a botanist and to improve his efficiency, has kicked back, gotten in the way, and opposed its own proper function.[xxiv|xxiv] Once more the universal validity of Le Chatelier’s Law has been demonstrated.
- View Highlight
- campbell's law, perverse incentives, goodhart's law,
- [note::Nice illustration of Campbell's/Goodhart's Law]

Introduction
- View Highlight
-

(highlight:: Ours is a world of paradox.
Why is this? How does it come about that things turn out so differently from what common sense would expect?
The religious person may blame it on Original Sin. The historian may cite the force of trends such as population growth and industrialization. The Sociologist offers reasons rooted in the peculiarities of human associations. Reformers blame everything on “the system” and propose new systems that would—they assert—guarantee a brave new world of justice, peace, and abundance. Everyone, it seems, has his own idea of what the problem is and how it can be corrected. But all agree on one point—that their own System would work very well if only it were universally adopted.
The point of view espoused in this essay is more radical and at the same time more pessimistic. Stated as succinctly as possible: the fundamental problem does not lie in any particular System but rather in Systems As Such (Das System an und fuer sich)[a.|a.] . Salvation, if it is attainable at all, even partially, is to be sought in a deeper understanding of the ways of all Systems, not simply in a criticism of the errors of a particular System.)
- View Highlight
-

Because of its central role in all that follows (being the fundamental observation upon which all further research into Systems has been based it is known as the Primal Scenario. We give it here in full:
THINGS (THINGS GENERALLY/ ALL THINGS/THE WHOLE WORKS) ARE INDEED NOT WORKING VERY WELL. IN FACT, THEY NEVER DID
In more formal terminology:
SYSTEMS IN GENERAL WORK POORLY OR NOT AT ALL
More technically stated:[c. |c. ][xiii|xiii]
COMPLICATED SYSTEMS SELDOM EXCEED FIVE PERCENT EFFICIENCY)
- View Highlight
-

(highlight:: We begin at the beginning, with the Fundamental Theorem:
NEW SYSTEMS MEAN NEW PROBLEMS
When a system is set up to accomplish some goal, a new entity has come into being—the system itself. No matter what the “goal” of the system, it immediately begins to exhibit systems-behavior, that is, to act according to the general laws that govern the operation of all systems. Now the system itself has to be dealt with. Whereas before there was only the Problem—such as warfare between nations, or garbage collection—there is now an additional universe of problems associated with the functioning or merely the presence of the new system.
In the case of Garbage Collection, the original problem could be stated briefly as “What do we do with all this garbage?” After setting up a garbage-collection system, we find ourselves faced with a new Universe of Problems. These include questions of collective bargaining with the garbage collectors’ union, rates and hours, collection on very cold or rainy days, purchase and maintenance of garbage trucks, millage and bond issues, voter apathy, regulations regarding separation of garbage from trash, etc., etc.)
- View Highlight
-

ANERGY. ANERGY-STATE. Any state or condition of the Universe, or of any portion of it, that requires the expenditure of human effort or ingenuity to bring it into line with human desires, needs, or pleasures is defined as an ANERGY-STATE. Anergy is measured in units of effort required to bring about the desired change.
- View Highlight
-

SYSTEMS OPERATE BY REDISTRIBUTING ANERGY INTO DIFFERENT FORMS AND INTO ACCUMULATIONS OF DIFFERENT SIZES
- View Highlight
-

(highlight:: But what Parkinson failed to perceive, we now enunciate—the General Systems analogue of Parkinson’s Law:
THE SYSTEM ITSELF (DAS SYSTEM AN UND FUER SICH) TENDS TO GROW AT 5-6% PER ANNUM)
- View Highlight
-

In a recent scholarly study,[xix|xix] Mr. Russell Baker has drawn attention to the development of the self-service gas station, the self-service supermarket, and the self-service salad bar in restaurants, thus demonstrating that the phenomenon of Encroachment has itself tended in recent years to encroach.[d. |d. ] Mr. Baker somewhat nostalgically recalls the era when: “You didn’t have to work for the grocery industry; the grocery industry worked for you.” Painting a picture of future developments that might well include self-service funerals, he comments, “Industry’s discovery that the buyer could be made to do its work for it promises to blight the lives of . . . generations to come . . .”
- View Highlight
-

(highlight:: COMPLEX SYSTEMS EXHIBIT UNEXPECTED BEHAVIOR
One is merely a pessimistic feeling; the other conveys the exhilaration that accompanies recognition of a Law of Nature. Because of its fundamental importance for all that follows, we have termed this Law the Generalized Uncertainty Principle.)
- View Highlight
-

(highlight:: We are accustomed to thinking that a System acts like amachine,[b. |b. ] and that if we only knew its mechanism, we could understand, even predict, its behavior. This is wrong. The correct orientation is:
A MACHINE ACTS LIKE A SYSTEM
—and if the machine is large and complex enough, it will act like a large System. We simply have our metaphors backwards.)
- View Highlight
-

Only one step remains to be taken to complete Trillium’s shackling in the chains he himself has helped to forge. On advice of the University administrators, the legislators of his State establish by law the number of hours a Professor of Botany must spend on each phase of his professional activities. Trillium may feel impelled to protest, but how can he? The lawmakers are only formalizing what he himself has told them he wants to do! The System of Management by Goals and Objectives, designed to measure Trillium’s performance as a botanist and to improve his efficiency, has kicked back, gotten in the way, and opposed its own proper function.[xxiv|xxiv] Once more the universal validity of Le Chatelier’s Law has been demonstrated.
- View Highlight
- campbell's law, perverse incentives, goodhart's law,
- [note::Nice illustration of Campbell's/Goodhart's Law]