A system is an interconnected ensemble manifesting as a whole.
For instance, the human organism is a system composed of many sub-systems, such as the endocrine, lymphatic, respiratory, immune and nervous systems.
Each of these sub-systems is in turn composed of smaller sub-systems. For example, within the nervous system, the brain contains about one hundred billion neurons (1 followed by 11 zeros).
If it is true that every system is an aggregate of sub-systems, it is equally true that every system is also an element of greater systems. Every human contributes, more or less consciously, to the establishment of the human system; humanity as a whole contributes to the constitution of numerous ecosystems in close collaboration with other kingdoms of nature: mineral, vegetable and animal, up to the Planetary System, on which we focus our studies, on this Site/Blog].
The Planetary System (i.e., planet Earth) is in turn a constituent element of the Solar System which, via less familiar systems, is part of a Galactic System, which in turn…
This path from atom to Universe – bringing the term “atom” to its original meaning of “indivisible”, that is, to the basic particle that sooner or later will be discovered – leads to reconsideration of the sentence beginning this article, with just one apparently small yet fundamental variation:
A system is an interconnected ensemble manifesting as a Whole
where the capital letter of the last word emphasises the uni-versalizing path briefly presented from Atom to Universe.
Developing this working direction, we can try to identify those structural features that transform any ensemble into a System.
A first indication comes from the previous considerations. Since every system is made of sub-systems, being in turn part of greater systems, it should reflect the golden ratio principle, as it is major in comparison with its constituents and minor in respect of the entity of which it is a constituent.
We can also investigate this matter more deeply via another working direction, defined Psychosciences, which considers (among other things) the golden ratio in human social structures.
Another “psychogeometric” approach can also be applied to interpret the hexagram shape, used for the TPS logo and web-site, a picture that represents all the structures mentioned above, to which we shall return.
