Based on 1990 SDR Article. Control systems act to make their own input match internal standards or reference signals. Competent control systems create illusions of stimulus response causality. Stimulus-response theory can approximate the relationship between disturbance and action, but it can't predict the consequences of behavior. These consequences are maintained despite disturbances.

What do activities of these images have in common?

When endeavoring to develop an understanding of the nature of something it is generally useful to create a model of some type to aid in surfacing that understanding.

All you wanted to do was put a bird feeder in your yard to attract birds and make for a more pleasant morning. And...

All you wanted to do was put a bird feeder in your yard to attract birds and make for a more pleasant morning. And...

All you wanted to do was put a bird feeder in your yard to attract birds and make for a more pleasant morning. And...

All you wanted to do was put a bird feeder in your yard to attract birds and make for a more pleasant morning. And...

Development of a model to understand why we don't all get rich from investment accounts.

The structure responsible for rabbit population growth.

Introduce the concept of modeling and simulation.

What do activities of these images have in common?

While these pictures represent very different things there is a common essence.

Consider the following "Sustaining the Forest" model intended to provide another example of how unexpected the behavior of a web of extended interactions can be.

We create the future as a result of the manner in which we choose to engage with situations which concern us. There is a also a video for this insight.

All the following have a common characteristic.

While these pictures represent very different things there is a common essence.

The interaction of a population of Moose and Wolves.

While these pictures represent very different things there is a common essence.

This common archetype of systems that include relapse or recidivism allows exploration of the unintended effects of increasing upstream capacity and swamping downstream capacity. The increase in the relapse rate eventually returns to swamp upstream capacity as well. A social welfare example, based on a TANF case study, from How Small System Dynamics Models Can Help the Policy Process. N. Ghaffarzadegan, J. Lyneis, GP Richardson. System Dynamics Review 27,1 (2011) 22-44 Conference version at http://bit.ly/HlxtZj

All the following have a common characteristic.

The interaction of a population of Moose and Wolves.

There's actually more to filling a swimming pool with water than you might realize.

Introduce the concept of modeling and simulation.

Simplest Innovation diffusion model from Sterman's Business Dynamics Ch 9