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disturbed , it transforms into an imbalance , which is a positive , or reinforcing , feedback mechanism seeking to maintain equilibrium ( See Figure 4 ). This imbalance is a device to assist in distinguishing various substantive stages in a process . Negative feedback , ������ ���� in Stone ’ s model , is what Meadows ( 2008 ) would equate to a reinforcing loop . An anticipated reaction is created through system instability , which creates a feedback , Stone ’ s ������ �� is for Meadows , ( 2008 ) a balancing loop . Systemic power exists where a system has a reinforcing or self-reproducing loop . The loop becomes dominant , throwing the system out of equilibrium . xxiii A balancing feedback loop pushes the system back toward equilibrium ( See Figure 3 & 4 ). Systemic power happens when a long-term equilibrium gap persists . Both feedback loops can and do occur and interact at the same time . Such systems are not ideological . The reinforcing and the balancing loops are neither liberal nor conservative , but reinforce dominance , or balance with a constant resistance to dominance .
In Figure 3 , levels are described macro to micro , each showing feedback from level to level . This figure depicts double-loop feedback , which helps keep a system at homeostasis . Each level — marco , meso , and micro — depicted in Figure 3 , can be thought of as a focus of a pattern of seemingly chaotic behavior , also known as a strange attractor , according to Lorenz ( 1996 ), is not predictable to a large degree of certainty , but only within certain parameters . Through the framework of systems , however , while the outcome of one event may not be specifically knowable , it self-organizes into a stable pattern over time ( Lyster , 2005 ). Strange attractors are catalysts of the system , creating a durable , patterned structure that is replicated at all levels . These attractors are nested like Russian dolls ( See Meadows 2008 ); therefore , depicted on three analytical levels as conceptual scaffolding as in Figure 3 above , with the three boxes , or strange attractors . The feedback can fluctuate between stable and chaotic states . When each local interactions of these analytical levels become emergent , they subsequently create a new homeostasis . It is either in balance and maintains the status quo , or new information creates a new emergent homeostasis . Feedback thrives on information . For example , we describe a feedback that certainly goes beyond Netwon ’ s Law : “ For every action , there is an equal and opposite reaction .” Such a nonlinear feedback has three parts , 1 ) action , 2 ) information , and 3 ) reaction . What ’ s missing is from Newton ’ s Third Law that which usually intermediates the aforementioned linear “ action ” and “ reaction ” relationship – information . Similarly , Bateson ( 1972 ) often stated that the “ a difference which makes a difference ”– information . xxiv xxv For Bateson , information mediates Alfred Korzybski ' s map – territory relation . xxvi Differences are the things that get onto a map . What ’ s important here is that feedback is pretty complex and ongoing to pragmatically point out , especially with our bounded rationality ( Simon 1997 ).
Meadows ( 1999 ) argues : “ Lever� age points are points of power ” ����� ��� She finds that there are levers within a complex system where a " small shift in one thing can produce big changes in everything ” ( p . 1 ). We argue that these leverage points , are like tipping points between positive , self-reinforcing loops , and negative feedback loops , or correcting loops , as well as power over and power to . Meadow ’ s leverage points are an epistemological shift from tradition-al complexity theory that prioritizes positivism to one that is one more normative where it meets most clearly the concept
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