A forgotten message? von Bertalanffy's puzzle

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to celebrate Felix Geyer's many contributions to the systems movement. He participated from the beginning, with the energy that has become his hallmark. The area of systems studies was introduced in The Netherlands in about 1970, mainly through the activities of the Systeemgroep Nederland or Dutch Systems Group, initiated by Ab Hanken. The paper aims to unearth the original message that made the field of systems attractive.

Design/methodology/approach

The aim is achieved on the basis of a re‐analysis of von Bertalanffy's systems papers, which he published under the title of “General System Theory”.

Findings

von Bertalanffy's message was not what is usually thought – that many political leaders treat their problems incompetently and hence make them less solvable or even create messes. He answered a general question about knowledge acquisition, in an area where an answer was sorely needed.

Practical implications

von Bertalanffy's answer inspired hope that one day one would be able to acquire the knowledge needed to solve the politicians' problems. He even identified a number of methods to do so.

Originality/value

The claim of the paper is that von Bertalanffy intended systems thinking to extend methods of knowing. This intention has been obscured by the limited methods he introduced. This claim is argued in an original way.

Citation

de Zeeuw, G. (2006), "A forgotten message? von Bertalanffy's puzzle", Kybernetes, Vol. 35 No. 3/4, pp. 433-440. https://doi.org/10.1108/03684920610653728