Systems Thinking (Easterbrook)

Systems thinking and Genetically Modified food

• 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?
  System 2, a system of research ethics and risk management most closely fits my understanding of GMOs, or rather the naive hope that all science operates from a system where essentially benefits of conducting a study outweigh any potential costs of the study. I think I identify most with this system, in an ideal world, this would be the system that takes into account a wide variety of stakeholders. For example, one would hope that in this Rothamsted GMO study, the risk assessment would consider all of the differing systems that Easterbrook identifies. I suppose potentially they did take them all into account, and decided it was worth the risk, but to Easterbrook’s observation, “The knowledge gain from this one trial is too small to justify creating this level of societal conflict”.

  To sum up the idea of the Principle of Complementarity, I understand this to mean that multiple things can be true at once. I appreciate system 2, because in theory, it takes that principle to heart and tries to come up with a diplomatic answer to a difficult question, and to take several different view points into account. However, I’d imagine that like most systems, this doesn’t operate without influences from other systems. So, in practice I can imagine that the idealist perspective I’m reflected on this system as being equitable and logical, is probably often skewed by influences from other systems – in this case I’m specifically thinking about capitalism.

• 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?
  1) A system of scientific research: By studying how colonial organisms came to be, science can gain a deeper understanding about evolution, different life types, and even the ocean ecosystem. This system would likely view the knowledge as worth the cost of causes damage to a small amount of these organisms.
  2) A system concerned with environmental preservation: In a similar vein as the article, there is a conflict between scientific inquiry, and preservation of the thing itself. For example with coral reefs, the process by which scientists gather specimens to study often irreparably destroy the organisms themselves.
  3)A system that is focused on tourism, and possibly education: This system may include aquariums that house colonial organisms, or companies that host tours of coral reefs with hopes of educating visitors, and making money.

Response to Q1: 

My understanding most closely aligns to stakeholders in system 3. I took an environmental studies class in high school, and we spent a couple of weeks focusing exclusively on food systems and GMOs. Invasive species can be devastating to existing ecosystems and can cause harm beyond just the replacement of existing crops. Certain plant and animal life can be rendered extinct as invasive plants come to overwhelm to the ecosystem. Another key issue is that it would be nearly impossible to contain the spread of a GMO if it were to leave containment. Even more alarming is that the GMO could spread at a pace that could quickly devastate surrounding areas. A recent example of an invasive species (nonGMO) is the cane toad in Australia which is spreading at an insane rate and completely destroying wildlife and habitats with little to no solution.

Some of the stakes for these stakeholders are: contamination, ecosystem collapse, limited ability to respond in the event of GMO escape, and the unpredictability of the consequences.

Response to Q2: 

There are a lot of stakeholders for landfills, but for the three I will choose (1) the land itself, (2) environmentalists, and (3) government officials. The first is an ecosystem that is often irreparably changed by the presence and maintenance of the landfill. Not only does the landfill require vast amounts of land, it can be difficult to contain with potential to seep chemicals into ground water and eviscerate surrounding plant life/wildlife. The second worries about the carbon and greenhouse gas emissions generated by the landfill. The third operates in a political system requiring them to balance the benefits of landfills (storing trash out of the public eye) and the environmental and economic impacts of landfills (reductions in property value etc).

• 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.

• 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

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.

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.

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.