§1. The Three Elements of a System
The concept of a system can be defined only by understanding the three fundamental elements that constitute it.
These three elements are Being, Interaction, and Protocol.
Any given being cannot perceive its own existence until interaction occurs.
Only through interaction with something other than itself can a being truly become
—that is, existence becomes aware of itself through relation.
It is interaction that transforms beings with latent potentiality into subjects and objects,
and thus, within the framework of system theory, interaction stands on an equal ontological footing with being itself.
Yet, in the absence of protocol, every being within interaction is ultimately destined to vanish.
Only through protocol can being and interaction persist.
Therefore, protocol, together with being and interaction, forms the necessary and sufficient conditions of any system.
§2. The Systema
What follows is a discussion on the meaning and scope of system theory—what it signifies, and how it should be used.
System theory was conceived in sociology and the social sciences as an attempt to bridge the micro and the macro,
not unlike how physics seeks a theory of everything that reconciles quantum mechanics and relativity.
Beyond that, as a paradigm—indeed, as a mode of thought—originating from sociology,
it grants sociology the capacity to encompass all domains of knowledge.
This is not the kind of baseless self-serving claim that says “philosophy is the root of all disciplines.”
Rather, it carries the hope that diverse fields of inquiry,
each having crossed its own historical watershed, will ultimately converge into a vast ocean of understanding.
We can discover a systema in anything.
To search for it—to perceive the systemic structure inherent in things—is what I call Systema.
This is, at once, Kant’s faculty of understanding and Hume’s empiricism.
For much of history, humankind did not know that the human body was composed of minute cells,
and thus could do nothing but perish helplessly before disease.
But once the microscopic world became observable,
we were able to perceive its systema—and to master it.
So what are the three elements of the living system?
Cells correspond to Being, chemical reactions and electrical signals correspond to Interaction,
and DNA or hormonal mechanisms serve as the Protocol.
Thus, Systema is not limited to the artificial domain we call “society.”
It is a framework through which we may comprehend any structure in nature—
and even extend our reach toward the spiritual and transcendent realms.
Existence, phenomena, and the laws formulated for causal reasoning—
all of these share the same triadic architecture invented to articulate the Systema
that underlies every dimension of reality.
※ Note
The Metasociology and System Theory introduced here are developed from the author’s own framework
and have not been formally verified within academia.
Please cite or reference them with discretion.
Upcoming lectures:
- Metasociology I-2 — The Three Elements of a System: Being
- Metasociology I-3 — The Three Elements of a System: Interaction
- Metasociology I-4 — The Three Elements of a System: Protocol
…
원문 > Metasociology I-1 — What Is a “System”?
한글 번역 > https://blog.naver.com/man_from_us/224059018176
