Midterm Flashcards
What is a system?
it is an interconnected set of element that is coherently organized in a way that achieves something
What is a stock?
stock are element of the system that you can see, feel, count or measure at any given time
What is a flow
it is an action that change the stock over time
what is a dynamic equilibrium
when a loop/ inflow become equal to the outflow so it level does not change can also be encounter with balancing and reinforcing feedback loop
what is a feedback loop
it is form when change in a stock affect the flow into or out of that same stock
what is a discrapency
it is the gaps btw your actual and desired level of stock
What are balancing feedback loop
they are goal seeking or stability seeking structure in system and are both source of stability and source of resistance to change
What is a reinforcing feedback loop
it enhance whatever direction of change is impose on it
what are competing balancing loop
two loop for 1 stock aiming at two diff goal
what is shifting dominance
a system is compose of several feedback loop therefore shifting dominance occur when the loop dominating the system change changing teh system behavior
Define resilience
it is a measure of a system ability to survive and persist within a variable environment. It is its ability to recover from perturbation and restore/repair itself. But there is always limits to resilience
Define self-organisation
It is the capacityof a system to make its own structure more complex. The ability to structure themselves to create new structure to learn diversify and complexify
What is hierarchie
The organization of system and sub system. Hierarchie system evolve from the buttom up. The purpose of the upper layer of the hierarchie is to serve the purpose of the lower layer
What is suboptimization
It is when a sub system goal dominate at the expense of the total system goal
what is a linear relationship
relationship btw 2 element in a system can be drawn on a graph with astraight line . It is a relationship with constant proportion
What is a nonlinear relationship
It is a relationship in which the cause do not produce a proportional effect
What is bounded rationality
Mean that people make quite reasonable decision based on the information they have. For example data could be a case of bounded rationality since your interpretation of the system is bound to this data
Identify which of carbon in the atmosphere and plant uptake is the stock and the flow
Stock : carbon
Flow : plant uptake
Identify which of barrel of water and leak in the barrel is the stock and the flow
stock= barrel of water flow= leak
Identify which of soil and erosion is the stock and the flow
stock= soil flow = erosion
What are archetype
system structure that produce common pattern of problematic behvior
Name the 8 system trap
policy resistance , tragedy of the common, drift to low performance, escalation, success to the successful, shifting the burden to the intervenor, rule beating, seeking the wrong goal
define policy resistance and way to deal with it
occur when to goal of subsystem are different from one another . Therefore each actor try to pull the stock in the way of its own goal which result in a system that no one like but that everyone spend considerable effort in maintaining
To deal with it: you can bring all the actor together to find a new goal that is satifactory for everyone
define tragedy of the common and way to deal with it
come about when there is escalation or just simple growth in a commonly shared erodable env.
to deal with it:
- Educate and exhort= Use moral pressure to reduce the use of the common
-Privatize the common= link use with the impact
- Regulate the common = policies, permit , tax
define drift to low performance and way to deal with it
It is when system keep getting worse since the desired state od the system is influenced by the perceived state . Therefore allowing performance standard to be influenced by past performance especially if there is a negative bias in perceiving past performance set up a reinforcing feedback loop of eroding goald that sets a system drifthing toward low performance. Ex: People in india do see the problem with water provisionning since they only look back to bad year which make them say it is ok since better than last years
To deal with it:
- Keep standard absolute
- Lets standard be enhanced by the best actual performance instead of being discourage by the worse
define escalation and way to deal with it
when the state of one stock is determine by trying to surpass the state of another stock (and vice versa) then there is a reinforcing feeback loop carrying the system into ab arm race.
To deal with it :
-Try not to get in it
-Refuse to compete
-Negociate a new system with balancing loop to control the escalation
define success to the successful and way to deal with it
this system trap is found whenever the winner of a competition receive as part of the reward the means to compete even more effectively in the futur
To deal with it:
-diversifying= which allow those who are losing to get out of the game and start another one
-antitrust law= strict limitation on the fraction of the pie any one winner may win
-Policy that level the playing field= removing some of the advantage of the stronger player or increasing the advantage of the weaker player
- policy that give reward for success that do not bias the next round of competition
define shifting the burden to the intervenor and way to deal with it
it arise when a solution to a systemic problem reduce (or disguise) the symptom, but does nothing to solve the underlying problem
To deal with it:
-do get into it
-be aware of the symptome relieving solution and focus on long term solution
define rule beating and way to deal with it
It is a behavior that give the apparance of obeing the rule or achieving the goal but that actually distort the system by getting around the intended rule
To deal with it:
Design or redesign rule to allow the creativity to be use in the direction of achieving the purpose of the rule
define seeking the wrong goal and way to deal with it
If the goal ( the indicator of satisfaction of the rule) are defined inacurrately or incompletely, the system may obediently work to produce a result that is not really intended or wanted
To deal with it:
- Specify indicator and goald tjat reflect the real welfare of the system
What are the 12 intervation point in a system (from less effective to most effective)
number, buffer, stock and flow structure, delay, balacing feedback loop , reinforcing feedback loop, information flow, rule, self-organisation, goal, paradigm, transcending paradigm
identify the type of feedback loop and the polarity of the present causal diagram: permafrost ->carbon->temperature->
reinforcing feedback loop
+++
identify the type of feedback loop and the polarity of the present causal diagram: plant growth->carbon->temperature->
balancing feedback loop
-++
identify the type of feedback loop and the polarity of the present causal diagram: climate change-> puffin pop-> tourism->harvesting ->back to puffin pop
Reinforcing feedback loop
-++-
identify the type of feedback loop and the polarity of the present causal diagram: hot and dry weather-> fire->fuel load->back to fire
Balancing feedback loop
+-+
Suppression of low crown fire event base on the knowlege of the period is an example of what
bounded rationality
Which intervention point was modified in the fire supression system
the delay for biomass accumulation was modified
Cod overfishing is an example of which system trap
tragedy of the common
The reduce fire even increasing the biomass accumulation is an example of which system trap
shifting the burden to the intervenor
The municipality of lac clair allow it citizen to fish 5 trout per day per household . Steve which love trout decide to by another house to be able to fish 10 trout a day . Which system trap do this represent
rule beating
The people of alberta don’t have job because of the reduction in oil sand production. Therefore the government put more investment in IT job to increase the job market bu people from other proinve come and take advantage of theses job. Which system trap do this represent
Policy resistance
People in india have problem with water acess so rather then increasing the water holding capacity they build desalinization plan. Which system trap do this represent
seeking the wrong goal
India as lot of problem with water but people said that it is not asbad as a few year ago so it is find. Which system trap do this represent
drift to low performance
In India there is not restriction on the amount of water that one can use so people overuse it Which system trap do this represent
tragedy of the common
Riparian buffer minimum with is (10-15m) which intervation point do you think this fall in
rule, number, buffer, blancing feedback loop
which intervation point do you think this fall in :
Go vegan
stock and flow structure
which intervation point do you think this fall in :
don’t be a fossil fool
stock and flow structure
which intervation point do you think this fall in :
use less paper
balancing feedback loop
which intervation point do you think this fall in :
1.5 to stay alive
number and buffer
which intervation point do you think this fall in :
amazon forest not amazon prime
goal and reinforcing feedback loop
In the coastal rainforest in BC the enviromental group push there message to the people who reacted which created a shift in the company mindset which intervation point do you think this fall in :
paradigms
