FIS and ISSS

An Invitation for FIS participation in
the Forty-third Meeting of
the International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS)

June 27-July 2, 1999
Asilomar Conference Center on the Monterey Peninsula
Pacific Grove, California, USA

HUMANITY, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY:
THE SYSTEMIC FOUNDATIONS OF THE INFORMATION AGE

During the past few centuries we have achieved a remarkable synthesis of
science and technology. We have been less successful in establishing a
graceful or even workable relationship between nature, humanity,
science, and technology. It is becoming increasingly important for us
to ask the fundamental questions that will lead to an understanding of
these relationships.

Unique to our age is the massive scale at which we are applying science
and technology to the construction of our physical, social, and cultural
reality. However, our approach to the construction of these realities
is fragmented. A distinguishing feature of the next millennium must be
a more systemic view of science and technology. A view that gives full
expression to the creative energy of the human spirit upon which the
information age can be built.

A disciplined approach to engaging our creative energy calls for a level
of understanding that crosses the boundaries between the humanities, the
arts, the sciences, and technologies. It certainly calls for a
re-examination of science, one that embraces different ways of knowing,
and different ways of being. The boundary-crossings may well be rooted
in our humanity, in our conceptions of aesthetics, justice, morality,
and ethics.

The above discussion echoes the sentiments of the early systems
thinkers. They asked: How can science be unified? How can science be
applied to the improvement of the human condition? Since the time when
these questions were asked, humanity has achieved a remarkable synthesis
of science and technology. Some fragmentation has been overcome;
however, significant, and deep-rooted fragmentation remains. It may
well be that in order for us to take the next step, the original
questions should be rephrased to read: How can the improvement of the
human condition become the basis for the unification of science? How
can the unification of science become the basis for the improvement of
the human condition?

A common basis for the answers to these questions may well be found in
the work of the FIS research group. Serious reflection upon the FIS
agenda over the past several years indicates that our work encompasses
the full spectrum of approaches to disciplined inquiry, ranging from the
purely epistemological to the ontological. This is certainly reflected
in the breadth of the discussion that has taken place during the virtual
conferencing since the Vienna meeting.

If a new conception of "what information is" leads to a bridge between
the epistemological and the ontological, then we may have found the
keystone to the information age.

This is an invitation for us to continue the on-going FIS discussion in
a face-to-face, retreat-style format during the 43rd Annual Meeting of
ISSS. A small group of FIS members have been organizing a symposium and
paper session for the conference; Soren Brier has been kind enough to
chair this group. The FIS call for papers can be found at
<www.sysval.org/isss/1999call.htm> or <www.isss.org/1999call.htm>. We
have the option of expanding FIS participation to include additional
paper sessions, as well as small group discussions.

Please communicate with me any suggestions you have for closer
collaboration between FIS and ISSS.

B�la Antal Banathy
ISSS President
Received on Wed Mar 03 19:02:00 1999