Structure

Structure is the way in which parts are arranged or put together to form a whole. Also, the pattern of connections in a system.

All systems are composed of parts and connections. The connections determine how the parts work together, which is what determines how the system behaves as a whole, so the most important thing about a system is how it is structured. This is perhaps systems thinking’s deepest insight.

Above are some of the main patterns found in structures. Notice that from a systems thinking point of view it doesn't matter where a part is. It only matters what it is connected to. Connections are how one part influences another. Connections have direction. They may be one way or two way. Many connections are two way. A two way connection is actually two connections in opposite directions between two parts, such as gravity or friendship.

System dynamics views the structure of a system as consisting of feedback loops made up of stocks, auxiliary variables, and flows of influence. This allows the logical behavior of the structure to be simulated. Computer simulation allows you to draw correct insights and conclusions from your models that the unaided mind is grossly unable to do.

As an example, the diagram below shows an actual simulation model from the Dueling Loops paper. Notice how taking the time to carefully name all of your components, plus arranging the structure even more carefully, can provide a model with a high degree of readability. A stock is a type of variable and is indicated by a rectangle. An auxiliary variable has no rectangle around it. A flow of influence is indicated by an arrow. The pattern of arrows shows where the feedback loops of interest in the system are.

The above model is a hypothesis of what is causing the very strong change resistance the environmental movement has encountered in solving the sustainability problem, as well as the wall of change resistance progressives have run up against in solving problems whose solution would benefit the common good of all.

According to the structure of the model, politicians are locked in a battle of the race to the bottom versus the race to the top. Whichever loop gathers the most supporters (voters) wins. Supporters are infected by false memes (self-serving deception) in the race to the bottom and true memes (the objective truth for the good of all) in the race to the top.

Once the structure of a social system becomes visible, we can start to glean a number of insights. For example, a huge insight in the above model is the fact that the size of a false meme can be inflated, but the size of the truth cannot. This is because a corrupt politician can promise voters far more than he can or intends to deliver, but a virtuous politician cannot. There are many more types of deception that works just as well, like false enemies, pushing the fear hot button, and wrong priorities. Thus for the same amount of effort a corrupt politician can gather many more supporters than a virtuous politician can. This gives the race to the bottom a large inherent structural advantage over the race to the top. As a result the race to the bottom is the the dominant loop, which is why corruption in politics is the norm and it so impossibly hard to stamp out.

The inherent structural advantage of the race to the bottom also explains why special interests like corporations have been able to so easily control political decisions, such as resistance to environmental regulations. All corporations have to do is donate enough money (or other forms of coercion) to the right corrupt politicians, and they will do anything the corporations want, within reason, because if they don't the money will go to someone else and the politician will not get elected or reelected. In other words, the most corrupt politician is the winner. This explains why the upper loop is named the race to the bottom.

An even more important insight is there are two high leverage points in this structure. These are underlined. One in particular is quite potent, according to the simulation runs. This is the general ability to detect political deception. Currently this is low, about 20%, which causes detected false memes to be low. But if the general ability to detect political deception can be raised to a high level, say to 80%, then detected false memes becomes large. This in turn causes repulsion memes to grow large and undetected false memes to become small. The result is the degenerates infectivity rate drops like a stone and the rationalists infectivity rate soars like a dove, which causes the Supporters Due to Degeneration stock to fall and Supporters Due to Rationality to grow. The end result is loop dominance flips from the race to the bottom to the race to the top. The system will then respond correctly to the truth about the global environmental sustainability problem because it will now be in the best interests of the virtuous politicians in charge.

This model demonstrates why system dynamics is such a powerful tool. It exposes the structure of the problem to the light of day. Without such knowledge, sustainability problem solvers are forced to fall back on guesswork, which, as we have seen for the last 30 years, does not work.