Are there reinforcing processes in human beings that are healthy?
I was re-reading the nice article by Mitchel Resnick "Changing the
Centralized Mind" Technology Review July 1994. The article is more about
the kind of theme that Meg Wheatly talks about, that there can be order
without centralized control.
But, a couple of the examples show healthy reinforcing processes. Here's
one: "In ant colonies, trail patterns are determined by interactions
among worker ants, such as when they follow a scent that their fellow
ants emit upon finding a source of food." Did you ever wonder where all
the ants come from when you spill something sweet in the kitchen. They
follow other ants!
Humans are not evenly distributed over the surface of the earth. Even when
you ignore the inhospitable sites, there's clear evidence that humans find
it valuable to cluster together. I think this is evidence of increasing
returns with increased density (up to a point).
So, I propose humans gathering together (for a great variety of benefits)
as a healthy reinforcing process.
Richard Karash ("Rick") | (o) 508-879-8301 | Mac * Flying
Innovation Associates, Inc. | (fax) 508-626-2205 | Systems Thinking
3 Speen St, Framingham MA 01701 | rkarash@world.std.com | Std. Disclaimer
On Fri, 24 Mar 1995, Richard Karash wrote:
> One of my recently certified instructors for our Systems Thinking course
> asked,
>
> "I'm thinking that in the human body and in nature, Balancing processes
> are healthy and reinforcing processes are sickness and disease."