Though it is claimed that Melbourne is one of the most liveable cities in the world, a systemic examination, based not on mechanistic and utilitarian foundations but on a humanist, systemic science reveals that a variety of modalities of its social fabric are threatened and will drive the city to eventual collapse. As usual, the worst impacted are the most defenceless: the poor, the elderly and especially the young. We propose that an education that emphasises vision and ethics and that integrates the humanities with the natural sciences in a systemic approach should be the prime instrument of intervention. We describe a new Master of Arts degree designed on these principles to re-orientate young professionals towards the community and away from big business and commerce.
Many social systems in the past and in the present have evinced a lack of humanity. This may be attributed, at least in part, to the reductionistic ideas that have underpinned social design. These ideas have failed to see the multi‐modal character of human life, and as such, ignore the things that matter the most to mankind, such as love, faith and purpose. These operate in their own modalities and cannot be understood on the basis of economics, logic, physics or any other modal sphere.
An alternative approach to social design takes advantage of the homomorphism that exists between modalities, by transducing the order of one modality into another. If applied, this approach would lead to a more humane design of social systems.
The viability of a social system is dependent upon its ability to generate information and learn. This requires an appropriate arrangement of its information systems, incorporating two types of recursions and reflecting two methods of learning. The first method generates information; the second one invokes it from a higher organisational level. Notwithstanding these recursions, the system will not learn unless it is able to face a certain level of inclemency from its environment that compels it into a learning mode.
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