A Masterwork of Systems Thinking.

...as cultural anthropology it provides the same level of explanatory power for understanding our cultural differences that the theory of evolution provided for understanding biology, or that the theory of plate tectonics did for understanding planetary-scale geologic processes.

Just as those two sciences could not advance beyond the observational phase without a theoretical framework, this third dimension of historical immigration patterns transforms a two-dimensional hodgepodge of cultural observations into a meaningful three-dimensional portrait far more illuminating than the usual North-South analysis.

Reviewer meanders, on Amazon.com

I cannot say enough about the power this book has had on my understanding of the social/political/religious world we live in. There is so much information, so many threads woven together, that reviewing it takes nearly as many words as the book itself contains. Reviewer meanders took 1,350 words to say what needed to be said. Every concept is important. Every idea is a piece of a massive puzzle.

Assembling this puzzle is a pleasure every step along the way. Each piece is a work of art in itself. And the whole is so much more than the sum of its parts, I chuckled in astonishment as the larger pictures emerged.

I've read the book three times now completely, not to mention stopping countless times along the way to re-read and savor the ideas being presented.

When I've experienced a good film or read a moving novel, I often search out reviews to read simply to prolong the essence of the experience. So it is here.

If you've read the book and want to savor it, Amazon has a growing number of readers rhapsodizing.

I will be referring to these and other writings from Mr Woodard in this journal.

Remaining open.

Each person in a complex system has a different perception, with countless interpretations.

The more interpretations we gather, the easier it becomes to gain a sense of the whole.

Our seemingly separate lives become meaningful as we discover how truly necessary we are to each other.

John Muir 1838-1914

When we try to pick out anything by itself we find that it is bound fast by a thousand invisible cords that cannot be broken, to everything in the universe.

from his journal entry

July 27, 1869
age 31

Historiography and Systems: An Introduction.

Frederick Jackson Turner 1861-1932

Arguably the most influential writer/thinker in the study of American history, Turner's work was without question a pivot point in telling the story of this country. The field has become demarcated as Before Turner and Since Turner, and even in disagreement his works have created an entirely new enterprise called New Western History.
 
His writings have had a significant influence on my understanding of this work I've embarked on, opening up realms for me in at least four levels.

1. In strictly historical terms I have come to a much clearer overview of the dynamics of the settling of the continent.
2. I've been introduced in very concrete terms to the interplay and the integral nature of geography in the understanding of history.
3. From a vague sense to a certain and specific definition, Jackson has given me an understanding of the importance of history in the mature life.
4. I've been given a living example of the way the study of history is the study of vast and complex systems.

In this journal I'll explore and elaborate on each of these points, probably repeatedly and in no specific order. I think of them as themes, to be woven ever more deeply into the way I view my world.

In a sense this becomes a manifesto.

Yet even as I write this I shy away from the tone of finality that word brings, the implication that it has been thought through enough to be complete.

It's a beginning.

Watching and learning.

It's a curse.

Everywhere I go I see systems in action. I can't not see them.

The keystone of my intellectual life has been my awareness of the connectedness of the world. Even before I knew I was aware of it.

A childhood memory: my mother once lived with a man who was passionate about automobile mechanics. I've no idea what he did for a paying job, but he and I spent hours in the garage on White Drive in Hayward, California taking apart and rebuilding the engine of an old Ford, something from the 1930s.

I was maybe seven years old and had never so much as peered under the hood of a car. I'd just met and moved in with Goldie, and I was living in a new neighborhood with no friends yet. So I hung out with him.

Not that I had any idea what we he was doing. But I watched closely, no doubt peppering him with questions as he worked. "Hand me the 3/4 wrench," he'd say to his GoFer. "What are you doing with it?" GoFer would say back.

Before long he was telling me about generators, spark plugs, radiator hoses. Then we got to the carburetor. Beautiful little world all its own. I loved it.

Goldie was a good teacher, patient, loved to talk about what he was doing and could do so in words that made sense to me. Didn't take long for him to have me taking the carburetor apart, cleaning the parts in solvent, putting it back together. "Why's it need a needle valve?" "What's it do?" "How does it do that?" "Where does this wire come from?" "What's that have to do with making the wheels go?" Great puzzle.

Within a few weeks I had a pretty good understanding of the way that little engine worked, how the pistons drove the crankshaft, into the transmission, turning the wheels, which went faster when I stepped on the gas pedal. Oh yeah, he'd set me on a paint can behind the steering wheel and we'd go down the country road a mile or two at a time.

To this day I count that as the foundation of my appreciation for a set of good tools. It also formed the basis for my understanding of the fleet of cars and trucks I've owned and cared for through the years.

I only knew Goldie for a year or so. He thought he was teaching a kid about a Ford.

But he was also showing the power of passion, the magic of patience, the excitement of learning.

And I was seeing in all its glory the miracle of these many separate parts working together in beautiful harmony.