What Is a System?

Who created and checked this page

Correction history

Every accepted correction to this page is recorded with the exact change, so readers can see how the page improved over time.

1. 28 July 2026 · corrected by Emir Baycan

   Corrected four overstated or mis-attributed claims: softened the absolute 'you cannot understand a system by analyzing its components separately' to 'often cannot fully understand', since much (not all) system behavior arises from interactions; corrected the 'everything is connected to everything else' first-law-of-ecology quotation, which is most associated with Barry Commoner's The Closing Circle (1971), not Garrett Hardin's The Ostrich Factor; qualified the David Lane et al. (2010) UK-government causal-loop 40% effect as hard to measure precisely in field comparisons; and reframed the Boris Worm et al. (2009 Science) fish-stock recovery timelines as wide, stock-dependent ranges (with some stocks recovering slowly or not at all) rather than universal fixed timelines. The Grand Banks cod-collapse example and the Sterman 2002 'All Models Are Wrong' paper were accurate and left in place.

   Before

   The article said parts analysis cannot understand systems, attributed the first-law-of-ecology quote to Garrett Hardin, cited a Lane UK-government 40% causal-loop effect, and gave universal Worm fish-stock recovery timelines.

   After

   Qualified the reductionism and Lane claims, corrected the ecology-quote attribution to Barry Commoner, and reframed the Worm recovery figures as stock-dependent ranges.

   Why: The quote was mis-attributed and several claims were more absolute than the evidence supports. Corrections fix the attribution and scope the claims rather than adding new sources.

   View the full record →

Full contribution timeline

1. Correction 28 July 2026

   Emir Baycan: Corrected four overstated or mis-attributed claims: softened the absolute 'you cannot understand a system by analyzing its components separately' to 'often cannot fully understand', since much (not all) system behavior arises from interactions; corrected the 'everything is connected to everything else' first-law-of-ecology quotation, which is most associated with Barry Commoner's The Closing Circle (1971), not Garrett Hardin's The Ostrich Factor; qualified the David Lane et al. (2010) UK-government causal-loop 40% effect as hard to measure precisely in field comparisons; and reframed the Boris Worm et al. (2009 Science) fish-stock recovery timelines as wide, stock-dependent ranges (with some stocks recovering slowly or not at all) rather than universal fixed timelines. The Grand Banks cod-collapse example and the Sterman 2002 'All Models Are Wrong' paper were accurate and left in place.

   Proof record →