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September 2022

Systems mapping – plantation

This is the concept map I made for the topic plantation.

This is a casual loop map.

This is a borderline map.

When I’m making the concept map based on my researches, I started to think in a more systematic way, especially inside each branches. Every branch forms a smaller system, and when thinking about the connections between each nodes, it became easier for me to find missing pieces in the system. If there was something I missed, the system would not be complete, driving me to do more research to fill up the gap. What’s more, my mind become clearer. Last time, my thought was mostly driven by the research results. I took down what I gathered from my researches and put them there. Now that I’m looking at the topic in a more systematic way, the processes of finding the connections in the system, completing the systems provide me with directions and smaller topics for me to research on.

Systems Thinking

  • Which system (type of stakeholder) that Easterbrook identified did you find your own understanding of GMOs most aligned with? Why? What are some of the stakes of these stakeholders?

I am the supporter of “a system of scientists doing research”. In this system, the stakeholders are scientists who purely pursued the applied research of GMOs which is expected to have practical function for agriculture. I am more understandable for these scientists as their research might bring huge financial and food supply’s benefits. For those stakeholders who are worried food safety issue, their worries had been considered by scientists and they had trials at Rothamsted for testing the new GMO. For stakeholders who are ethnical review board member, their stakes are “beneficence”(value versus risk). For stakeholders who are advocate for ecosystem health, their stakes are protecting the balance of ecosystem in the specific area. For stakeholders who are the members of corporations, their stakes are how to make more profit from the intellectual property rights they controlled. 

  • Using your own topic for research, can you Identify 3 stakeholders (groups or phenomenon) with different perspectives, and then describe the system (the stakes) from which they are operating? For instance, if the subject is “Safari Parks”, 3 stakeholders could be (1) Animal Rights activists, (2) the region’s Board of Tourism, and (3) the local land itself. The first operates in a system of ethics around the treatment of animals; the second in a networked system of economic benefits for the community (hotels, food, and attractions), and the third, in an ecosystem that the safari park may put at risk, by introducing pollutants from animal waste and fertilizer, and ecological competitors such as escaped non-indigenous plant products used in the landscaping of the Safari Park.

My topic is kinship & quilting, 3 stakeholders could be (1) female in poor family (2) user(consumer)’s satisfaction of objects that are made by quilting and (3) quilters’ community.

The first operates in the expression of value and important family role of female, because in some area’s poor family, women take the role of quilters in order to make warm clothes for their family. Also quilting could be their unique language to express their thought and aesthetics.

The second operates in whether the function of quilting object has good quality(thickness, material of cloth, etc). Also, users care about whether the quilting object has good looking. 

For the last one’s operation, quilters’ community could gain benefit from quilters(saving money by using leftover cloths, and increasing affinity and cohesion with neighbour). Besides, quilters could also gain a positive feedback from their community. They could gain a sense of achievement and be respectable by family and friends.

System Thinking

  • Which system (type of stakeholder) that Easterbrook identified did you find your own understanding of GMOs most aligned with? Why? What are some of the stakes of these stakeholders?

 

I think I’m more aligned with system 1: A system of scientists doing research; system 6: A system of global food supply and demand; and system 7: A system of potential threats to human health and well-being. I’ve learned about GMOs during high school and college, I’ve even conducted scientific research and experiments on GMOs. I understand that to scientists, GMOs are their research projects, aiming to gain more knowledge of GMOs and create better gene-modified plants. And I believe one of the greater goals for creating better crops lies in system 6, producing more and better food for people in this world. Although the main cause of hunger and poverty is the unequal redistribution of resources, but increasing food production is also important. However I also picked a opposing system, system 7, because I think gene-modified crops is not a fully developed technology, we haven’t understand everything about gene and its modification, thus there are still potential risks in GMOs.

 

  • Using your own topic for research, can you Identify 3 stakeholders (groups or phenomenon) with different perspectives, and then describe the system (the stakes) from which they are operating? For instance, if the subject is “Safari Parks”, 3 stakeholders could be (1) Animal Rights activists, (2) the region’s Board of Tourism, and (3) the local land itself. The first operates in a system of ethics around the treatment of animals; the second in a networked system of economic benefits for the community (hotels, food, and attractions), and the third, in an ecosystem that the safari park may put at risk, by introducing pollutants from animal waste and fertilizer, and ecological competitors such as escaped non-indigenous plant products used in the landscaping of the Safari Park.

There are several systems that could be taken into consideration about “plantation”.

  1. The local economic system.

This system includes the landowner, the workers in the plantation, the workers family, local villagers, etc. The owner of the plantation pays money to hire workers to take care of the plantation. The workers earn money for themselves and families. After they have money, the workers and their families would buy things, benefiting more people in the village, increasing local economy.

  1. The world market system.

One key feature of plantations is that they only grow one kind of crops in order to increase the efficiency of the production. Each country or region has a particular type of plantation. So in order for us to get different foods and crops, countries trade for different kinds of crops in the world market. There are sellers who sell crops they grew in their plantations. And there are also sellers who want certain types of crops. The sellers can also be the buyers.

  1. The economic system

Plantations are all artificial, meaning that the area of plantation was not naturally that way. Manmade plantations cause changes to the original environment and ecosystems. For example, some native species might not able to survive in artificial plantations; the original animal habitats would be destroyed; animals and plants would die, decreasing the biodiversity.

Topic I Development: Bored and Migratory Birds

Initial Approach

         When I got my topic, which is Migrated bird.  It reminds me of my first years when I stepped into this country, I have been invited to a Christmas party by one of the professor’s houses in Washington state. I saw a lot of birds out of the window, landing on the ground. Two birds were always vigilant watching around, I asked the professor, and she told me they are from Canada, and they visited her place every Christmas. That’s the very first time, I realized this is one of a kind of Migrating bird, and we are so close.  They cross the bored all the way to travel to the destination that they used to. Splendid nature.

Just like the short story that I have mentioned before, bored and Migratory birds always meet up, and faded away from each other, but will make the essential connection again.

I think those two topics are very good demonstrations for us because I never thought about those two topics can be related, but after I dinged deeper, I just related most of everything that can be related, remark, and re-definition again. and remind people to think about nothing related topics. for example, my topic is the border and migratory bird, after research, I just know about 40% of birds are faded away from people’s sight. people need to pay attention to it.

Personal Definition:

Bored: The edge, line, or boundary of something to make a piece in different parts and near each other.

Migratory bird: A great creature that constantly changes itself in order to adapt to an unfavorable environment.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/the-basics-how-why-and-where-of-bird-migration/

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/border

Week2_maps

From the map, I find that ancient Indian yoga is actually quite different from modern yoga. Ancient Indian yoga mainly focuses on practice, and there are many different branches in ancient yoga, but its core idea is to achieve the goal of harmony between heaven and man and secularization. However, modern yoga has basically shifted its focus to physical exercise and added many modern fitness poses. Gradually, it has become a commercial sport. Yoga has developed into a business worth billions of dollars worldwide, involving courses, teacher certification, clothing, books, videos, equipment and holidays. The United Nations General Assembly designated June 21 as the International Yoga Day. On December 1, 2016, yoga was listed as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO.

Borders Assigned Reading

All of these readings pointed to the fascinating connection and disconnection between digital space and physical space, and the limbo of living in interstitial space.

A couple of general thoughts:

It’s so easy to forget that “the cloud” does have a real touch-it hold-it physicality, and that because of that, there are legal and material considerations involved. It’s easy to forget what keeps “the cloud” up and running, and how fragile that system is. And that it has a location, a place where it is based, a place where there are laws and regulations. And in many ways, this feels right. Ideally, an elected official should have a say in what happens online, because the consequences of online actions manifest in the real world. But the international nature of “online” makes it nearly impossible. Is it a world-wide elected official? A representative council of worldwide leaders? The UN’s job? And how do we get people that actually UNDERSTAND the cloud and tech to want to go into that role. I don’t want facebook, google, twitter, etc to  be deciding how they should behave.

In some ways, this reminds me of the duality that is playing out across the world with remote work right now. Where are employees, what can employers ask and demand. What can employees ask and demand. What are the responsibilities and rights of each, how does pay scale differ based on where employees physically live, how much privacy, autonomy, oversight should they have… it’s all fascinating.
And both the cloud readings and la frontera bring into focus the people who find themselves in the interstitial spaces. The people who fall into the cracks but do not fall through to somewhere else. In La Frontera, there are geo-political “cracks” or borders between political entities, where entire populations are trapped. These interstices create other cracks and dualities — between culture, ideology, language, and belonging. It speaks to the stabilizing force of identity, home, and belonging, and the turmoil without it. The Cloud readings discusses those cracks as possible places where the system can be either strengthened or exploited. Where the laws of specific areas do not apply, are not iron clad, and therefore there is room for creating the kind of internet space that would be either equitable and desirable, or lawless and independent.

week2_system thinking

Which system (type of stakeholder) that Easterbrook identified did you find your own understanding of GMOs most aligned with? Why? What are some of the stakes of these stakeholders?

I find my own understanding of GMOs most aligned with the system of ecosystems and contaminants that weaken them. Because I am not the scientist or businessman. I live in Shanghai, and I don’t worry about food shortage. I also doubt that GM will affect the ability of the global agricultural system to withstand the impact of climate change. So, for me, what I can feel is the threat of alien species or new species to the existing local ecosystem. When I was young, China introduced many snails. As a result, the snails multiplied in large numbers. Many Chinese local field snails were squeezed. As a result, the snails could not be eaten because they would carry many parasites. Finally, the government spent a lot of time, energy and money to eliminate them. It has caused very bad consequences.

Using your own topic for research, can you Identify 3 stakeholders (groups or phenomenon) with different perspectives, and then describe the system (the stakes) from which they are operating?

My research topic is yoga. I think there are three types of yoga stakeholders. One is missionary, the other is fitness related practitioners (such as clothing manufacturers, fitness bloggers, fitness coaches), and the other is fitness enthusiasts. The missionaries can better spread the teachings of yoga through the fitness effect of yoga, so that more people can understand yoga. For fitness related practitioners, yoga is a relatively simple exercise, which can attract a lot of people to participate and obtain a lot of income and traffic. For the majority of fitness enthusiasts, because of the low threshold, many actions can be done at home with videos, and it does not require too much core training. Moreover, yoga has really improved the body and mind. Therefore, these three systems are complementary. Fitness related practitioners make great efforts in marketing, which just helps missionaries preach, and the enthusiasm of the majority of fitness consumers also makes fitness related practitioners profitable. The three systems complement each other and form a positive cycle.

 

week_2_”System Thinking”

prompt 1.

  • Which system (type of stakeholder) that Easterbrook identified did you find your own understanding of GMOs most aligned with? Why? What are some of the stakes of these stakeholders?

Within eight types of systems, I am most aligned with system 8, the system “of sustainable agriculture, with long time horizons. ”

Speaking from my experiences, as we go into the capital markets nowadays, we usually get one kind of single type of vegetable. We might consider that a certain type that has been provided is grown locally to save distribution costs and once we check the tag finding out is all the way transported from the other side of your country. Instead, when going into farmer’s markets, we find all types of wicked-looking vegetables that are grown locally. The possible action of inserting a centralized, diversity-eliminating agricultural solution into a complex system is an underestimation of our ecosystem.

the stakes of system 8 holders might include the pursuit of eco-sustainability, diversity in seed stocks, and organic farming that request fewer artificial inputs.

prompt 2.

  • Using your own topic for research, can you Identify 3 stakeholders (groups or phenomenon) with different perspectives, and then describe the system (the stakes) from which they are operating? For instance, if the subject is “Safari Parks”, 3 stakeholders could be (1) Animal Rights activists, (2) the region’s Board of Tourism, and (3) the local land itself.   The first operates in a system of ethics around the treatment of animals; the second in a networked system of economic benefits for the community (hotels, food, and attractions), and the third, in an ecosystem that the safari park may put at risk, by introducing pollutants from animal waste and fertilizer, and ecological competitors such as escaped non-indigenous plant products used in the landscaping of the Safari Park.

Kinship | Grafting

3 stakeholders could be (1) domestication of plants (crops),  (2) botanists, and  (3) family farming.
The first operates in a system of human food source supply and sufficiency; the second in the field of plant genetic engineering, and the third, in a small unit of the local food supply chain, which may have less access to advanced grafting techniques.

System Thinking and Salt

Q: Which system (type of stakeholder) that Easterbrook identified did you find your own understanding of GMOs most aligned with? Why? What are some of the stakes of these stakeholders?

A:

At first, I thought it should be “A system of scientists doing research”. Since I’m not a GMO opponent. But after reading the eight systems, I’ll choose system 6: “A system of global food supply and demand”. GMOs are just one of the solutions to solve the problem. The stakeholders here are researchers, protesters, and people, especially people in famine. Researchers care about whether GM trials increase food production. The stakes for protesters in this system are not clear, maybe ethics and risks. And people need food, no matter where it comes from.

 

Q: Using your own topic for research, can you Identify 3 stakeholders (groups or phenomenon) with different perspectives, and then describe the system (the stakes) from which they are operating?

A:

  1. People: Operates in a system of health and daily diet. Humans need salt to meet physical needs and improve dish taste.
  2. Traders: An economic system. Businessman focus on their profit. How to sell and deliver the goods to the destination.
  3. Government: In a country’s system of tax, border management, license to sell, etc.

week_1_”Emergent Strategy”

prompt 1.

  • Q: Have you felt trapped inside of someone else’s imagination? How have you broken free?

Constantly, I feel trapped inside people’s imaginations or expectations. Speaking from my experience, to be able to identify others’ wrong impressions and re-situate oneself takes practice. There are two types of other’s imagination to be trapped within. Growing up, Brown had to cope with white supremacists and racism. The vision loaded on her being aimed for no good within her. She speaks of her younger self looking for other options “where she wasn’t dismissed as an idealist or an inferior.” There may also be an opposite kind of imagination where people firmly believe in others’ potential, which also causes burden.

I don’t think either of those imaginations is psychologically healthy. Some might find maroon space, some just have to confront the problem.

 

prompt 2. 

  • Q: Do artists, designers, and technology have that same or similar responsibility? What are the nuances between those roles?

Indeed, all creators and inventors bear the similar responsibilities of imaging alternatives.

To think writers, artists, designers, architects, etc speak independently from their own field, I would better imagine working collectively as part of world-running systems. Think of any today’s product, simple as a water bottle, which is designed, manufactured, tested, commercialized, and consumed, engages multiple areas of specialists working collectively to bring out. As mentioned in Brown’s article “critical relationships, the strength of collective is more important in a long-term transformation process.”

Artists, designers, and technology, in regard to alternatives’ emergence, are all responsible for thorough research, experiments, and bias elimination. Living in the industrial age, I think some fields are required to be more specified than others. The artist sometimes can be really abstract about their idea, the designer in other words has to make sure the deliverables are more accessible to users.