Analysis has served us well in developing the understanding of things, at least to a point. Though analysis will not allow us to answer the why questions about things. For that we need synthesis. One might consider analysis and synthesis two sides of a coin that one shouldn't attempt to separate.
Part 1 demonstrates Picture primitives and Links to create representations of interactions. These are made visually attractive because the Picture primitives are overlay'd with images.
The simple savings account is used to demonstrate the nature of a reinforcing loop. Change the initial amount and interest rate and run the model to see the implications of changing these values.
Thoughts on why storytelling is critical for enabling others to understand relationship models once they're developed. This was done for Deeanna Burleson Topics in Systems Science Apr 2019.
Consider the following "Sustaining the Forest" model intended to provide another example of how unexpected the behavior of a web of extended interactions can be.
Use a bathtub model to investigate the manner in which inflows and outflows govern the quantity of a stock. Extend the structure to create and investigate the relationships of a goal seeking balancing loop.
Investigations into the relationships responsible for the success and failure of nations. This investigation was prompted after reading numerous references on the subject and perceiving that *Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty* by Acemoglu and Robinson seem to make a great deal of sense.
Based on a dialogue on the System Dynamics mailing list regarding the current level of acceptance of System Dynamics after it has been promoted for over 70 years I dredged up the following set of influences as a thought exercise. This is an example of a Drifting Goals Archetype.
When endeavoring to develop an understanding of the nature of something it is generally useful to create a model of some type to aid in surfacing that understanding.
