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Created September 9, 2020 15:37
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Systemantics.md

Fundamental Principle

Systems in general work poorly or not at all.

First Principles

  1. New Systems mean new problems.
  2. The total amount of anergy in the universe is fixed.
  3. Systems tend to expand to fill the known universe.

Le Chatelier's Principle, applied to systems:

Systems tend to oppose their own proper function.

Systems operations

  • Functionary's Falacy: People in systems do not actually do what the system says they are doing.
  • The Operational Falacy: The system itself does not actually do what it says it is doing.

Elementary systems functions

  • A complex system cannot be "made" to work. It either works or it doesn't.
  • A simple system, designed from scratch, sometimes works.
  • Some complex systems actually work.
  • A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that works.
  • A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work. You have to start over, beginning with a working simple system.

Miscellaneous

  • The Fundamental Failure-Mode Theorem: Complex systems usually operate in failure mode.
  • The Vector Theory of Systems: Systems run better when designed to run downhill.
  • Colossal systems foster colossal errors.
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