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Month: June 2024

TB871: Systemic and unsystemic metaphors

Posted on by Doug Belshaw

Note: this is a post reflecting on one of the modules of my MSc in Systems Thinking in Practice. You can see all of the related posts in this category. 

An image of a hand grasping what looks like flowers, but which are actually books

Some metaphors that we use in everyday discourse are reductionist, static, and imply linear thinking. When I asked GPT-4o for a list of 10 of these it came up with:

  1. Chain of Command: Implies a linear and hierarchical structure.
  2. Assembly Line: Suggests a step-by-step, linear process.
  3. Building Blocks: Indicates individual, separate components that form a whole.
  4. Blueprint: A detailed plan implying a static, fixed outcome.
  5. Machine: Each part has a specific, unchanging role within the system.
  6. Recipe: Following exact steps to achieve a predictable outcome.
  7. Tree Diagram: Hierarchical structure with clear, linear branches.
  8. Domino Effect: A sequential, cause-and-effect relationship.
  9. Ladder of Success: Implies a linear progression from one step to the next.
  10. Puzzle Pieces: Each piece fits into a predetermined spot to form a complete picture.

Other metaphors that we may choose to use, especially as systems thinkers are more focused on growth, learning, and complexity. Again, when I asked GPT-4o it came up with:

  1. Web of Life: Emphasizes interconnectedness and interdependence.
  2. Ecosystem: Highlights complex interactions and mutual dependencies.
  3. Network: A dynamic system with nodes and connections.
  4. Feedback Loop: A process where outputs are fed back into the system as inputs.
  5. Rhizome: A non-hierarchical structure with multiple entry and exit points.
  6. Flowing River: Represents continuous change and adaptation.
  7. Spider Web: Delicate balance and interconnectedness, sensitive to changes.
  8. Cloud: A dynamic, ever-changing system without fixed boundaries.
  9. Complex Adaptive System: A system that evolves and adapts in response to changes.
  10. Living Organism: Emphasizes growth, adaptation, and interdependent processes.

The danger is thinking that just because you’re using a metaphor such as an ecosystem that you’re doing so systemically:

It can be valuable to keep in mind some of the ways in which situations of complexity are framed in an overtly unsystemic way. But it is important to recognise that there are potential traps in the use of metaphors which cannot provide ‘answers’ in themselves. It is possible to use an apparently systemic metaphor in a very reductionist way. Equally, it is possible to use a reductionist metaphor in a way that widens understanding of connection, invites perspectives and encourages reflective discussion on boundaries.

(The Open University, 2020)

Metaphors can be powerful tools to reframe situations, but we need to be careful that we don’t use them unthinkingly. Also, using the same metaphor multiple times might mean that it loses its explanatory power, so looking for new things to use as a metaphor for others helps keep us ‘on our toes’ (as it were).

References

Illustration(s) from absurd.design

TB871: Framing and reframing

Posted on by Doug Belshaw

Note: this is a post reflecting on one of the modules of my MSc in Systems Thinking in Practice. You can see all of the related posts in this category. 

As an historian by training, one of the things I’m always aware of when reading about the past is historiography. That is to say, the methods used by historians when writing their accounts. It’s always worth reading as many different versions of the same events as possible if you want to really understand how something happened; not only do some people naturally focus on different things, but it’s also quite likely that whoever is telling the story has a reason for telling it.

The same is true when talking about the present-day. We know that different media outlets are biased in different ways, and so there’s a reason that I subscribe to The Guardian Weekly as opposed to, say, The Daily Express. More recently, as the majority of people access the news through social media, the ‘frame’ through which they access even realtime events is shaped by people trying, consciously or otherwise, to fit those events into a wider narrative.

The use of the metaphor, by relying on an underlying set of premises then, informs, drives and impels the reinforcement of frames. Attention to certain aspects of the situation are filtered, crowded out or focused upon. And the sense of validity about the underlying frame upon which the metaphor is drawing increases by that crowding out. That stronger validation can then reinforce the use of the metaphor.

(The Open University, 2020)

Understanding that your view of the world is framed by your source(s) of information is an important part of what it means to be ‘literate’ in the 21st century. In fact, as a parent, one of the most important things I can do with our two teenagers, is to point out this framing so they learn to spot it for themselves.

Drawing on the idea (metaphor!) of a picture frame, Bateson (1972) notes that frames separate communications of different logical types. The outer frame lets you know something about the type of communication that is contained in the message that exists within the frame. The frame itself indicates that you ought to interpret what is inside the picture frame in a different way from how you interpret the wallpaper. Both Lakoff and Bateson are saying that frames influence what we see by the way that they affect our acts of interpretation. The meaning given to things is highly influenced by how they are framed – is that shop full of charming antiques or second-hand furniture? The meaning of a problem or strategy is affected in just the same way – is losing my job a paralysing disaster or an opportunity for a career change?

(The Open University, 2020)

Taking this to my area of interest for this module, I think public libraries are ripe for reframing. What are they for in 2024? How should we think of them, access them, fund them? There will always be people on both sides who staunchly defend libraries from a traditionalist point of view, and those who attack them from a cost/benefit analysis. But what about the majority of people in the middle?

References

Illustration from absurd.design

TB871: Sending people off on the wrong plane

Posted on by Doug Belshaw

Note: this is a post reflecting on one of the modules of my MSc in Systems Thinking in Practice. You can see all of the related posts in this category. 

Here are the front pages of some newspapers published in England this morning, with most of them covering the 80th anniversary of ‘D-Day’:

The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Mirror
METRO
Daily Express
The Sun
The Guardian

As you can see, metaphorical language abounds: “grasp,” “flinch,” “ditches,” “bails out,” “pressure on,” and of course “going down of the sun.” As a football fan, the photo of a face next to the words “JACK OUT” conveys quickly and succinctly that Jack Grealish hasn’t made “the cut” for the England squad to play in the upcoming EURO 2024 Championships.

There are many metaphors that have evolved over time to become such a part of everyday language that the roots are lost. Some of these lost conceptual metaphors are deeply embedded in our embodied experiences. For instance, why do people talk of being ‘in’ time, ‘in’ position, ‘out of’ favour, ‘out of’ luck, or ‘in’ love? These all use what Lakoff and Johnson (1980) call the container metaphor. Love, luck, favour, and position in space or time are states, and states are often described as if they were, metaphorically speaking, containers which someone can be inside or outside. The very notion of ‘being inside’ or ‘being outside’ has potentially much deeper roots in our embodied experiences, such as that of being inside the womb rather than outside of it.

[…]

We live embodied lives and so metaphors that involve tangible objects can be quite helpful in making sense of that physicality.

[…]

However, for situations where information plays a significant but often unclear role in the ways that people think, feel, perceive and judge, it may be problematic to rely on physical metaphors. There are situations where perception, sense-making and emotion, and not physical movement, are of prime concern. And, following Gregory Bateson (1972)… not everything that we might want to communicate is accessible to the conscious mind. Is it possible that in such situations, physical metaphors may lack the variety to deal with the phenomenon of interest? Could they be misleading and sending people off, as it were, on the wrong plane?

(The Open University, 2020)

This is really interesting to me, especially as we start to interact with un-embodied ‘consciousnesses’ such as AI. Reflecting on my interactions with LLMs such as ChatGPT, when I ask for a metaphor the most common examples tend to be one of a garden, the solar system, or an orchestra. Even though LLMs are trained on data created by humans, because they are not embodied, I suppose they’re less likely to use physical metaphors.

Given the above quotation, I’m not sure if this will be more or less useful in terms of human development? If we use physical metaphors unthinkingly, then perhaps being more intentional about them could be useful. Or will using fewer physical metaphors make things feel less human?

References

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