Systems Thinkers: Check Your Scotomas and Watch Your Language!

Abstract

Various belief constructs such as framing, dualisms, worldviews, paradigms, and values are discussed to understand how these might result in scotomas. The observer is not independent and objective but has purpose and values within a group with a language. This leads to an exploration of conceptual metaphor within language as a way of accessing what is largely unconscious thinking and a potential source of scotomas. Examples of the use of conceptual metaphors in systems and complexity thinking are provided illustrating that conceptual metaphors can do work that is not easily performed by other methods in systems thinking currently. Without awareness of beliefs, certain types of interactions or perspectives are neglected; patterns of behavior survive when they no longer serve; meaning is lost and marginalization continues unchecked.

Keywords:

• Complexity thinking
• conceptual metaphors
• language
• observer
• scotomas
• systems thinking

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge two of my colleagues at the CSIR for reviewing early versions of this paper.

Notes

1 A scotoma is a blind spot in what is normal vision. A person with a scotoma is not aware of the scotoma. Since readers might not be familiar with the meaning of scotoma, this obscure word becomes the symbol of a blind spot.

2 This paper will refer to an observer in keeping with the literature. Observer will include the systems thinker, inquirer, or researcher, which suggests some distance from the issue. The observer as interventionist implies observer action from within the system. Based on the audience considerations, this paper is written in third person which normally signals an objective style of writing.

3 https://www.environment.gov.za/mediarelease/molewa_onlegaltradeofrhinohornornot

4 Summary report of the Committee of Inquiry appointed by the Minister of Environmental Affairs to advise on the possibility of proposing legal international trade in rhino horn to the 17^th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), or not. Accessed https://www.environment.gov.za/sites/default/files/reports/summaryreport_committeeofinquiry.pdf

5 http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/daniel-crockett/nature-connection-will-be-the-next-big-human-trend_b_5698267.html/Nature

6 This choice is based on a teleological worldview and is not made without awareness of its limitations, for example, being could be construed as purposeless. Also, there are psychological issues that arise when a group does not have purpose – for an introduction refer to Fraher (2004). There are also multiple views of teleology, which are outside the scope of this paper (Stacey, Griffin, and Shaw 2000).

7 This paper uses the shorthand notation used in the conceptual metaphor literature: CONCEPTUAL DOMAIN A IS CONCEPTUAL DOMAIN B.

8 Metaphor as system is not a reference to the two large metaphor systems: The Great Chain of Being metaphor and the Event Structure metaphor that have been identified in the literature (Kovecses 2010).