Asilomar 2001

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Asilomar 2001: The 45th Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences

Asilomar Conference Centre Asilomar Pacific Grove [Monterey] California.
July 8th - 13th 2001

Conference Theme: Systems Science in the Service of Humanity

View the original web pages from 2001.

One of the key objectives of the ISSS as stated in its bylaws is to "promote efforts toward the service of humanity." This objective has been actively promoted by past presidents of ISSS and continues as the guiding theme for the 45th annual meeting at the Asilomar Conference Center in Monterey, California.

Being in service does not mean being a servant or subservient. It does not mean acting as an expert or a mere facilitator on behalf of someone else's needs. Service is not about helping people create what they already know they want or imposing predetermined idealized solutions onto unique particular situations. The success of service can be best determined when those being served experience the surprise of self recognition in what emerges out of their interaction with systems thinkers who have attended to broader systemic concerns while serving particular autonomous interests.

Service that is not servitude treats others as an equal. This does not mean the same as being similar, as in categories of social science, or equivalent, as in egalitarianism, but equal in terms of the right to have anyone's desiderata become the seed for purposeful change. Service is distinct from helping, which by its nature creates a unilateral relationship where all power and resources reside in a dominant role leaving the other in a position of being helpless and indebted. Service is mutual and debt free. Service is a relationship of mutuality and diversity allowing those with excellent skills and abilities to work on behalf of those who desire to express their humanity in ways that honor their uniqueness in a world of increasing globalization.

Harold G. Nelson, ISSS President 2001 Nelsongroup@worldnet.att.net
Bela A. Banathy, Organizational Committee Chair Babanathy@worldnet.att.net Asilomar Conference Center, Monterey, California

Ongoing ISSS Subthemes in Systems Science

Ongoing themes as represented by Special Integration Groups (SIG's) include a focus on economic, business and industrial systems, information systems design and information technology, medical and health systems, psychology and psychiatry systems, systems design in education, system studies of climate change, systems approaches to intelligence, and applied systems and development, systems approaches to duality theory, futurism and systems change, thermodynamics and systems theory, spirituality and systems, critical systems theory and practice, evolutionary learning communities, hierarchy theory, systems philosophy and systems ethics, systems modeling and simulation, meta-modeling and systems epistemology, research towards general theories of systems, living systems analysis, systems processes and human processes, human systems inquiry, and evolution and complexity theory.

Distributed Sites

Distributed sites for the 45th ISSS Annual Meeting and Conference are being developed in the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, China, Peru, Canada and South Africa. Depending on available technology, plenary sessions will be video streamed among all sites. Other means of sharing sessions will be utilized as well.

Great Britian Andres Mejia, Chair j.a.mejia@mgt.hull.ac.uk
Peru Ricardo Rodriguez-Ulloa, Chair rirodri@amauta.rcp.net.pe
Bulgaria Magdalena Kalaidjieva, Chair Kalaidji@mbox.cit.bg
Canada H. Ken Burkhardt, Chair Burkhard@acs.Ryerson.ca
China Chair, TBA South Africa Chair, TBA