Reductionism, Holism and System Dynamics

摘要

Being pragmatic about it this paper does not set out to produce any startling conclusions or bring about any paradigm shifts it seeks simply to produce a little clarification on an area of SD and ST that is sometimes taken for granted. As Sterman points out "all models are wrong" and there is no attempt here to preach perfection or the 'right' way to do things, Sterman (2000, p846). Further support comes from Towill "there is an undoubted 'art' side to building a system dynamics model because establishing the 'truth' requires creativity", Towill (1993a, p206).My conclusion is therefore that SD is not an holistic means of systems modelling except that it is partly and the other part of it is reductionist and the two are inseparable. A logical extension of this is that holism and reductionism are themselves inseparable other than as subjective viewpoints.I further conclude that ST is a purer holistic modelling technique than SD and by definition I am differentiating the two.I am also concluding that the fact that SD is not a purely holistic method of systems modelling is not a problem; selling it as if it were is.I hope that I have illustrated in a meaningful and straightforward way the necessity of truly understanding the fundamental nature of SD as a blended continuum of holism and reductionism. Due to the subjective nature of both concepts neither (label) description is likely to be satisfactory on its own to cover the entire scope of options for development within SD.This has been a somewhat abstract look at the debate between holism and reductionism, though with a practical message at its heart, and several other similar topics are available for further work in the same vein. We might for instance think of the mantra that 'reinforcing loops produce exponential behaviour' as worthy of examination as it appears to be incorrect in specific cases and therefore incorrect as a rule. This and several other concepts at the heart of SD would be well worth a re-examination.The message in any further work would be the same - get it right before we sell it or it will get returned as it has been in the past.