1.4 What is a system?

To deepen our understanding of systems, we first need to clarify what is meant by the word system.

A generic definition is that a system consists of elements and the (functional) connections between elements that make up a whole. However, this generic definition leaves much unsaid about the nature of systems, and there are many different types of systems that require a slightly more detailed definition and description to understand them.

According to Donella Meadows, a system is an interconnected set of elements that are coherently organized in a way to achieve something. An examination of this definition reveals that a system consists of three essential things: (1) the elements, (2) the interconnections between the elements, and (3) the function or purpose.

Meadows therefore adds the purpose or function of the system to the generic system definition. We will soon see that there are also systems that have no purpose or whose purpose is unclear. But first we will look at systems whose purpose is easy to understand.

An animal, such as a human being, can be seen as a system of tissues, with the activity of the different tissues coordinated in such a way as to contribute to the survival and reproduction of the animal. Plants are similar systems. Forests and other ecosystems are systems made up of plants, animals, other organisms and inanimate nature, in which the combined action of different species enables them all to exist.    

A football team is a system made up of players and coaches. The team rules and routines determine how the players and coaches work together, and the purpose of the team can be to have fun and win matches, for example.

A football match, on the other hand, can be seen as a system consisting of two teams, referees, a field and a ball. The purpose of the system is to determine which team is better, and the interactions between the elements of the system are determined by the rules of the game and the laws of physics that affect the players and the ball.

In the previous section, we also discussed processes, which refer to the functioning of systems. Processes within a system are sequences of events specific to the functioning of that system; in the case of a football team, for example, training sessions. And since practically all systems are open systems, they also have an impact on processes external to the system, i.e. the operation of other systems. For example, a football team has an impact on other teams (through matches) and on players' families (through time use).

The difference between a system and a random set of elements is the joint, intentional action of the elements of the system. Eleven random people in a town square do not constitute a system because they are not acting for a common purpose. Eleven members of the same team on a football field, on the other hand, constitute a system because their actions have a common purpose.

The more coherent (i.e. systematic) the action of the elements, the clearer the systemic nature of the whole. In pre-school football teams, the players often forget to play and start doing their own things while the game is on, so the systemic nature of these teams is less pronounced than in professional teams, which are very goal-oriented.

Not all systems have a clear purpose

However, not all systems have a purpose. For example, a climate system has no purpose: the movements and interactions of molecules in the atmosphere are not intended to produce rain in some areas and drought in others, although rain and drought are the result of the climate system.

Meadows' definition of a system, which emphasises the common purpose of action, is therefore only meaningful when we are talking about systems that (1) have been developed for a purpose, such as a football team developed to win matches and have fun, or (2) have evolved to serve a purpose, such as organisms have evolved to promote their survival and reproduction. 

Larger-scale phenomena that arise as a result of the action of purely physical natural systems, such as the climate system, are often called emergent phenomena. Emergent phenomena are often qualitatively or experientially different in some way, so it is useful to describe them in their own terms and concepts. 

We refer to emergent phenomena in the climate system by talking about wind and temperature, for example, rather than molecular motions and collisions. The distinct seasons of the Northern Hemisphere - spring, summer, autumn and winter - have been such emergent, regularly recurring phenomena. However, changes in the climate system as a result of climate change are altering these phenomena and our experience of them.

On the purpose of nested systems

Human systems are typically composed of many nested systems (or actors), each of which may have different goals or purposes that are not necessarily consistent with each other or with the purpose of the system as a whole. 

A university, for example, is a system whose statutory mission in Finland is "to promote free inquiry and scientific and artistic education, to provide higher education based on research, and to educate students for the service of their country and humanity." However, the university is made up of many different actors, each with its own objectives.

The university's financial administration is concerned about the university's economic situation, the professor wants to do research, and the student wants high grades. If the financial administration cuts university spending by reducing staff, a professor neglects teaching for research, or a student cheats on an exam, the university's mission may not be fulfilled, even if the goals of the individual actors are met.

In well-functioning systems, the goals of the actors within the system are congruent with the goal of the system as a whole. Achieving and maintaining this alignment is one of the most important characteristics of sustainable systems.

The meaning of the system is revealed in its functioning

In practice, however, no system works perfectly, producing only the desired results. A football team does not always win, and training sessions are not always fun. Organisms age and die, for example from cancerous tumours, which are cell lines that have escaped the system's control.

Indeed, the meaning of systems is often easier to grasp by observing their actual function and real consequences, rather than their stated or assumed purpose. For example, if a state says it wants to get rid of fossil fuels but subsidises their production or encourages their use, for example through reduced tax rates, the state is in fact sustaining fossil fuel use through its own actions. The meaning of the system is reflected in the function and consequences of the system, not in the stated purpose.

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