Book review in slide format of the remarkable book by Capra & Luisi: The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision. Full review at www.silashruparell.com

1. Slideshow Reviews
The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision
Fritjof Capra and Pier Luigi Luisi
A new format of book review for the time poor but literalily-curious

2. 2
In a nutshell…
My one liner:
Astounding breadth of coverage
of philosophical, scientific and
economic systems and processes
guiding humanity towards a more
sustainable existence
It’s the kind of book I wish I could
write:
• The 21st century presents humanity
with an amazing opportunity to
move from a linear to a systemic
mindset
• The Enlightenment ushered in the
machine age of rationalist thought
• We now have the tools to
understand complexity and chaos
• Bringing us back to our original
roots within ecological systems
• Allowing us to set sustainability as a
core goal of our societies

3. 3
What the Physicists say…
An electron is neither a particle
nor a wave, but it may show
particle-like aspects in some
situations and wave-like aspects
in others. While it acts like a
particle, it is capable of
developing its wave nature at the
expense of its particle nature, and
vice versa, thus undergoing
continual transformations from
particle to wave and from wave
to particle…
The dual aspect of matter:
• The discovery of the dual aspect of
matter and of the fundamental role
of probability has demolished the
classical notion of solid objects
• The laws of atomic physics are
statistical laws, according to which
the probabilities for atomic events
are determined by the dynamics of
the whole system

4. 4
…and the Mathematicians
The recently evolving discipline of
fractal geometry (invented by
Benoit Mandelbrot) provides us
with the basis to extend this
principle of interconnectedness
and probability both upwards
and downwards
Fractal Geometry gives us the concept
of self-similarity:
• Mandelbrot demonstrates this by
breaking a piece of a cauliflower
and showing that it looks just like a
small cauliflower
• Every part looks like the whole
vegetable at every level of scale
• Hence we can extend the principle
of interconnectedness and both
upwards and downwards
• The functioning of the human body;
the development of societies and
economies; ecological phenomena;
the space-time of the universe. All
are self similar at every level

5. 5
…Giving us a current anomaly
So if such interconnectedness
and self-similarity exists at the
quantum level, why have we
organised our societies in such a
compartmentalised, non-holistic
way ?
Two reasons stand out:
• First, the focus on responding to,
and treating, observed outcomes
rather than rather than
understanding the underlying
processes that lead to those
outcomes
• The second is the sense of
connection that humans once had
with the physical world, the land,
nature and eco-systems, and which
has been lost through in the
industrial society that we inhabit

6. 6
Here are some examples
Darwinian connection to the earth:
• The sense of connection that
humans once had with the physical
world, the land, nature and eco-
systems, has been lost through in
the industrial society that we
inhabit
• All living organisms share a common
ancestor. Organic and inorganic
matter evolved to produce living
cells which then evolved to produce
water, air and land-borne species, of
which we are but one
• “There is nothing more holistic and
systemic than this notion of
Darwinian biological evolution”
In Medicine:
• “ [T]he conceptual problem at the
center of contemporary
healthcare is the confusion
between the origins of disease
and the processes through which
it manifests itself…”
• “A systemic approach, by
contrast, would broaden the
scope from the levels of organs
and cells to the whole person – to
the patient's body and mind, as
well as his or her interactions
with a particular natural and
social environment”

7. 7
Resolving the science-religion dichotomy
Spiritual connection to the earth:
• As physicists delve deeper into the
material world they come to realise
that their own consciousness is part
of the unity of all natural
phenomena. Mystics arrive there
from the opposite direction, with an
understanding that outer world is
essentially one and the same as the
inner world which is their starting
point. Thus there is an increasing
recognition, observable as we move
into a new century that we are
“part of a great order, a grand
symphony of life”
Moving to the realm of spirituality:
• “The apparent dichotomy
dissolves when we move from
organized religion to the broader
realm of spirituality
• [S]cientists [such as
Oppenheimer, Bohr and
Heisenberg] published popular
books about the history and
philosophy of quantum physics, in
which they hinted at remarkable
parallels between the worldview
implied by modern physics and
the views of Eastern spiritual and
philosophical traditions”

8. 8
From the systemic to the ecological
Examples of the holistic way:
• Therapies connecting physical well-
being to mental well-being
• Recognition that an individual’s
well-being is determined by diet,
and environment and social
interaction
• Understanding the self-healing
properties of many systems,
including the human body and its
surrounding ecology
• Importance of human and
ecological well-being for any
corporate entity, arguably over and
above its financial and profitability
measure
• The true sense of “ecology”
(derived from the Greek “oikos”
meaning “Earth Household”) is a
oneness with the natural world
around us, being a member of a
“global community of living
beings”, and not interfering with
ability of the earth to sustain life
• Modern social networks have the
ability to achieve this: a means of
empowerment, dissipating
common views about the
importance of sustainability, and
a systemic or holistic way of
thinking

9. 9
The policy prescriptions
The key strategies for transitions to a
systems view of the world:
• Corporate reform to take into
account sustainability
• Poverty alleviation and stabilisation
of population growth
• Transition to renewable energy
• So, the network, technological
and philosophical ingredients are
in place in the 21st century
• What are the policy implications?
• Is there some new world order
that needs to be created ?
• The book concludes with a
number of possible visions for a
more sustainable future, and
presents a number of
overlapping strategies

10. 10
Corporate Reform and Redefining Ownership
Reforming fiduciary duties:
• The obligation to maximise
shareholder return is etched into
the contractual structure of a
company
• Social costs, resource ownership,
ecological sustainability are not
taken into account
• Hence extend fiduciary duty to
include the well-being of the
corporation’s employees, of local
communities and of future
generations
• Arguably this need not be in conflict
with a market-based economy
The Plan:
• Economic globalisation, which
has accelerated in the last 100
years or so, is now essentially
characterised by a global
network of machines that are
pre-programmed to maximise
profit
• It would not be too much of a
leap of imagination to re-
programme the machines to
have other values built into them
• And also move from quantitative
measures of economic growth,
such as GDP, to what may be
termed “qualitative growth”

11. 11
Alleviating Poverty & Limiting Population Growth
Is this achievable:
• I am sceptical
• Not because these aims are not
highly laudable
• But surely in the less industrialised
countries, the quickest way to
eliminate poverty is rapid
industrialisation
• Their time for an ecological
approach will come, and it will
come within decades rather than
centuries, but they will have to
learn the hard way !
The Plan
• Poverty irradication in the
poorest countries of the world
• Limit population growth,
particularly in South Asia and
Sub-Saharan Africa, since
resources are becoming ever
more scarce
• Empowering women (more yin
less yang):
• tempering the male, power-
based, private ownership-
based, accumulative cultures
• more feminine approach:
conservation, co-operation,
and community

12. 12
Transitioning to Energy Efficiency
The outcome:
• This can be achieved with a market
economy generating viable returns
for investors. And we can save up to
90% of energy and materials
currently used in industrial design
• “Imagine fuel without fear. No
climate change. No oil spills, dead
coal miners, dirty air, devastated
lands, lost wildlife. No energy
poverty. No oil-fed wars, tyrannies,
or terrorists. Nothing to run out.
Nothing to cut off. Nothing to worry
about. Just energy abundance,
benign and affordable, for all, for
ever !”
The Plan
• Shifting to renewables (solar,
wind, hydro)
• Transforming building stock into
power plants, collecting energy
on-site
• Deploying hydrogen and other
storage technologies
• Using the internet to transform
electricity grids into “inter-grids”
• Transforming automobiles to
electric plug in and fuel cell
vehicles

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Conclusion
This is a great book and will get a 5* rating from me:
• Provides a coherent scientific, philosophical and technological
underpinning for the ideas presented
• We are seeing signs of systemic rather than linear phenomena
• Current conditions can provide the impetus for this transition
• The only question not really addressed is is whether this transition will be
itself a systemic process, or whether some top-down “policies” or “new
forms of government” will be required to push the process