Idea Machines
How could we cultivate and spread the ideology of systemism?
Last week I wrote about how systemism is a worldview grounded in the belief that everything is a system and all problems should be solved in a systematic fashion.
One useful way of thinking about spreading an ideology is to consider creating what one of my favorite researchers, Nadia Asparouhova, calls an idea machine.
An idea machine is “a network of operators, thinkers, and funders, centered around an ideology, that’s designed to turn ideas into outcomes.”
In other words, it is a group of people with a shared ideology whose purpose is to transform ideas into tangible outcomes.
Nadia highlights Effective Altruism as an example of a successful idea machine. Effective Altruism is based on an ideology that emphasizes “us[ing] high-quality evidence and careful reasoning to work out how to help others as much as possible.”
The Effective Altruist movement consists of a large global community made up of everyday people along with a number of high-profile wealthy proponents. It has facilitated billions of dollars worth of philanthropic giving over the years. GiveWell is one prominent effective altruism organization that evaluates the cost-effectiveness of non-profits. It has directed over $1 billion from 110,000 donors towards charities over the years.
While Effective Altruism is somewhat of a household name, most people aren’t aware that the crypto community has birthed a successful idea machine focused on improving the state of the world.
Public Goods Funding is an idea machine that emerged out of the Ethereum community from a project called Gitcoin. Gitcoin was originally focused on providing financial support for open-source software, but has now expanded into real life public goods. Gitcoin has facilitated $50,000,000 worth of crypto donations from 270,000 unique supporters. It has inspired other major crypto communities to allocate funding towards funding public goods.
There has been a major shift in recent decades in how idea machines are formed. From traditional philanthropy to more decentralized funding approaches. Historically, centralized foundations like the Rockefeller Foundation in the 20th century or the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today have been the primary vehicle for idea machines.
For Nadia, modern idea machines are uniquely powerful because they can “arm the rebels” right where they are, instead of hiring them into a foundation. They do most of their important work in public rather than within the walls of a single private organization.
Effective Altruism and Public Goods Funding are not dependent on the efforts of Givewell, Gitcoin or any other centralized actors. They rely on open communities consisting of many individual nodes who are coordinating around an ideology, rather than a specific organization.
They are “self-sustaining organism[s] that contain all the parts needed to turn ideas into outcomes.”
An Idea Machine for Systemism
Do we have the necessary parts to build a modern, decentralized idea machine around systemism?
To assess the feasibility of a Systemism Idea Machine, let's examine each of the necessary components.
Ideology
We’ve got ideology covered with systemism.
Systemism is based on the belief that everything is a system and that all problems should be solved in a systemic fashion. Embracing this ideology means believing that everything in the observable universe possesses systemness.
The ideology is the engine that can drive the creation of a community of “systemists.”
Community
Although systemism was formally presented as a worldview decades ago, no specific communities have explicitly organized around it yet. This presents a unique opportunity. There are several existing communities filled with people who are committed to solving problems in a systemic fashion.
The International Society for Systems Sciences (ISSS) was founded in 1954 by pioneers in systems theory including biologist Ludwig Von Bertalanffy and economist Kenneth Boulding. The ISSS currently has 168 members who are deeply passionate about systems science.
The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) is dedicated to “creating a better world through a systems approach” and boasts over 17,000 active members along with a number of high-profile corporate partnerships.
The Systems Innovation Network is ”a community of people learning and applying the ideas of system thinking towards tackling complex wicked challenges in a diversity of areas.” They’ve produced a plethora of free and accessible content on systems on their website and youtube channel which has just under 90,000 subscribers.
Binghamton University has a thriving systems science graduate program where students can pursue masters and PhD programs in systems science.
The seeds for a community of self-proclaimed systemists to emerge and rally around systemism are spread widely across the world. A basic website with a forum for discussion, like the one pictured below for Effective Altruists, could serve as a meeting ground for these fragmented communities to collaborate around the shared goal of spreading systemism.
Once a community has formed around an ideology, they start generating ideas.
Ideas
In my experience, idea generation isn’t very difficult for communities. In the short time that I’ve been an active member of the ISSS I’ve met with several remarkable people with great ideas about how to spread the systems approach.
After the community has come together and started sharing ideas it will need to create an agenda.
Agenda
Agendas articulate the specifics of how an ideology is brought into the world.
This is where I can see things starting to get tricky.
I would want to see an agenda focused on developing scientific methodologies, software tools, and educational materials that help people do serious systems science.
When wearing my systemist hat, I would generally avoid advocating for specific solutions to complex issues. My focus would be on communicating all relevant facts about a situation in a systematic fashion to empower decision makers.
Others will have completely different agenda setting priorities. I believe that if you bring together a small and diverse group of wise experienced people, high quality agendas will emerge.
In order to execute the agendas once they’re set, the community will eventually need funding.
Funders
Funders provide the financing and operational skills that bring a community’s ideas from theory to practice. They supply the fuel needed to get the machine moving.
I can see this as being another major constraint, but I believe the right team could attract the funding necessary to get a systemism idea machine kickstarted. I’ve met several people within the ISSS who have extensive fundraising experience across many different contexts.
With money in the coffers, the machine is ready to move from idea generation into action. Scene builders and operators are the people who make the magic happen.
Scene Builders
Scene builders help sustain the community, develop the agenda, and attract new members. If we’ve made it this far I don’t see attracting capable and motivated scene builders as being a major issue.
Operators and Operating Initiatives
Operators drive the operating initiatives that lead to outcomes. I feel confident that there are plenty of capable operators out there who are passionate about systems and can deliver quality results if they’ve given the proper resources.
Like with ideas, I don’t believe generating potential operating initiatives will be very difficult. The hard, but very doable part will be developing a process for selecting them.
There are a few specific initiatives that I’d advocate for.
Research and development on a formal systems language
Research and development on AI systems grounded in systems frameworks
Building bridges with communities focused on complexity and complexity science
Outcomes
The idea machine’s ultimate purpose is to deliver outcomes. If the systemism movement launched today and attracted significant funding, how might the world be different 10 years from now?
I can point to a few concrete desirable outcomes:
A thriving website for systemism with tens of thousands of active members
An increase in the frequency of the term “systems science” in academic papers
An increase in the number of systems science degree programs at traditional universities
An increase in enrollment in existing systems science programs
An increase in the number of people employed in the role of systems scientist
Support Organizations
As the idea machine grows it will need support organizations to help strengthen its values and best practices. Partnerships and collaborations with a wide variety of different types of organizations, from institutes to universities, would play a critical role in maintaining the idea machine’s health.
Final Thoughts
We live in turbulent times.
Trust in institutions is collapsing, many people are struggling to make ends meet, and political tensions are high.
The time is ripe for the rise of a new ideology with a positive, but pragmatic vision of the future. One that can attract people from a wide variety of social and political backgrounds.
Could we build an idea machine to spread systemism as a means of influencing culture in a new direction?
Writing this piece has me convinced that this is at the very least, an idea worth exploring.
“We are leaving branded lifestyles behind, and stepping into a new world of belief, faith, and meaning. What types of culture is worth creating? What types of people do we want to become? Whether as founder, stewards, leaders, lurkers, diehards, or members, it is we who will shape and be shaped by these new cultures of belief. The culture is now the product. But it’s a product of us.”— Toby Shorin, Life After Lifestyle