System principles

Question 1

What does a system consist of?

Answer 1

1. Elements
2. Interconnections
3. A function or purpose

Question 2

What is most influential of a system?

Answer 2

The purpose, if you change the purpose, the system will behave differently.

Question 3

What is a stock?

Answer 3

The stock is the foundation of any system. These elements of the system are the ones you can see, feel, count or measure at any given time.

Question 4

What is a flow?

Answer 4

A flow changes the quantitiy of the stock. It is filling and draining.
A stock is the memory of the history of changing flows within the system

Question 5

When will a stock rise and when will it fall down?

Answer 5

rise: when inflows exceed outflows
fall: when outflows exceed inflows

Question 6

When will a stock be in a dynamic equilibrium?

Answer 6

When the sum of outflows equal the sum of inflows

Question 7

How can a stcok be increased/decreased?

Answer 7

A stock can be increased by increasing the inflow or descrease the outflow.
A stock can be decreased by decrease the inflow or increase the outflow

Question 8

What does a stock do in a system?

Answer 8

Act as a delay or buffer - A stock changes slowly, even if you increase the inflow/outflow abruptly.

A stock allows inflows/outflows to be de-coupled and independent - The presence of stocks ensures that inflows and outflows are independent of each other

Question 9

What is a feedback loop?

Answer 9

A closed chain of causal connections from a stock, trhough a set of decisions/laws/actions (variables) that are dependent on the level of the stock and back again through a flow to change the stock

Question 10

What is a balancing feedback loop?

Answer 10

also called negative feedback loop; A stabilizing, Goal-seeking structure in systems to regulate the feedback loop.

Question 11

What is reinforcing feedback loop?

Answer 11

A positive feedback loop, a Self-enhancing leading to exponential growth or to a runaway collaps over time. More interest leads to more money in the bank

Question 12

What is equilibrium?

Answer 12

A stable moment in time; inflow equals outflow - there is no increase or decrease

Question 13

what is oscillation?

Answer 13

An element of the system moving back and forth and return into its initial state after a certain period of time

Question 14

What is resillence?

Answer 14

The ability of a system to recover from pertubation

so the ability to restore after a change due to an outside force

Question 15

What are nonrenewable resources?

Answer 15

The resources are not renewed, this means that the stock is not renemed -> the stock is limited. The faster the extraction rate, the shorter the lifetime of the stock

Question 16

What are renewable resources?

Answer 16

Resoruces that are inexhaustabile (ontuitputtend) but limited in the amount of resource that available per unit of time. They are flow-limited.
A minor change in the strength of controlling balancing feedback loop can make a big difference