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Remembering Hasan Özbekhan
Hasan Özbekhan, friend to the world's systems thinkers, passed away quietly February 13, 2007 at his home in Philadelphia.
Dr. Özbekhan (1921-2007), who was described as "one of the best systems thinker of the 20th century" by his friend Aleco Christakis, was a cyberneticist, philosopher and planner of Turkish origin. He was Professor Emeritus of Management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. During his twenty-two years' tenure there he was Professor of Operations Research and Statistics, then Professor and Chairman of the Social Systems Sciences Department. In 1986 he became Professor of Management. Concurrently with these positions he held the Chairmanship of the Graduate Group in Social Systems Sciences.Prior to joining the faculty of the Wharton School, Dr. Özbekhan was cofounder and first director of The Club of Rome, with Aurelio Peccei an Italian Industrialist, and Alexander N. Christakis, a physicist and systems research designer. In 1970 Özbekhan wrote the original prospectus for The Club of Rome "The Predicament of Mankind." More on the Predicament of Mankind at Seeds of Change. More of this biography at Lovers of Democracy.
Hasan Özbekhan and his The Predicament of Mankind (Report to the Club of Rome, or his monograph Toward a General Theory of Planning, will be long remembered.
Heiner Benking reflects last week in his Blog:
The Predicament of Mankind - The Problematique & Hasan Ozbekhan http://www.newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/_v396/__show_day/_w2007-02-16:
I think it is high time to remember not only the "Predicament of Mankind" and the "Problematique", but the "Methodenstreit" ("struggle over methods"). This "Streit" in my view was a critical leverage point, a point where Humanity had a chance to learn two important things: first of all, to better address the issues around how we treat ourselves and the Planet, and, secondly, of equal importance and crying for solutions: how we go for multiple options and paths beyond the need to agree and get fixed on "one" way or "one" solution. Such a fixation and focusing on one factor or one side is a dead-end which neglects and ignores the multitude, variety, and beauty around us.
The report "THE PREDICAMENT OF MANKIND" was not understood and appreciated enough to stay on the table of people like the founders of the Club of Rome. Their decision was to go for "quick fixes", by simply plotting some scenarios of possible "gloom or doom" instead of looking additionally into the problems and solutions, and how they are related and can reinforce each other, - which is exactly where the solutions are to be found! (This is in my eyes the real TRAGEDY of the early days of the Club of Rome.)
Much has been written in this blog about vicious problem cycles, dilemmas, and how a collection of problems, solutions, actions, options, strategies (existing for now 30 years -> see the UIA's Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potentials!) should be used to not just jot some curves (scenarios) onto the wall, but additionally check with the people how issues are related, what meanings and values are connected to them, and so on.
More from Heiner's reflections on Hasan at: IDEA 2010
We close with the powerful values statement prominently posted by Vigdor Schreibman on the Lovers of Democracy site:
Planetary Planning (Posted on Lovers of Democracy)
"What we witness appears to be an endeavor to extend various fragmented self-interest spaces, through a search of common interests. Maybe this represents a slow, glacially slow, and seemingly unconscious attempt to break the hold that the idea of nation-state has taken; it has full dominance now over our minds, over our ability to conceive of other new ways of establishing larger and wider social bonds. For the moment, no evolutionary leap seems to be in the making in this field. Nevertheless, we are forced to conclude that the introduction of ecological balance into our normative scheme requires that the notion of social bonding be viewed as transcending the idea of nation and extending to the planet as a whole."
Hasan Özbekhan, (1968). Toward a General Theory of Planning, in Perspectives of Planning, 47-155 (OEDC Report, E. Jantsch ed.)
In A.N. Christakis (1973). A New Policy Science Paradigm, Futures, Dec 1973
More references to Hasan Özbekhan:
Toward a General Theory of Planning
From the Union of International Assocations
Latest page update: made by peterjones
, Mar 4 2007, 11:12 PM EST
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Keyword tags:
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | |
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| Aleco | IN MEMORY OF HASAN | 2 | Mar 25 2007, 11:09 AM EDT by Aleco | |
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Thread started: Feb 22 2007, 3:20 PM EST
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Among the many concepts I learned from Hasan over the 40 years of our friendship, are the concepts of (a)defactualization, and (b)ephimeralization.
The first concept is extremely relevant to the capacity of a group of staekholders to idealize. Hasan taught me that unless one is able to completely disregard the data base of the present, he/she would not be capable of conceptualizing the data base of the future. He wrote about this in one of his SDC monographs titled "Can impies Ought." The second conept of "ephimeralization of thought and structure" is today very well represented by the practice of SDD by groups confronting complex issues around the world. SDD affords them the luxury of revisiting and revising their thoughts and structures continously, efficiently, and effectively. So everything is work in progress, and everything amounts to "Working in Dialogue." There is no future data base except for the idealization discovered in Working in Dialogue. If our political leaders could only internalize this fundamental premise of our contemporary situation then we will experience truly enlightened leadership. |
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| Aleco | HASAN OZBEKHAN | 2 | Mar 5 2007, 4:37 AM EST by Heiner.Benking | |
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Thread started: Feb 20 2007, 4:50 PM EST
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THANK YOU FOR INCLUDING A LINK TO MY FRIEND, MENTOR AND BROTHER HASAN. I HOPE PEOPLE WHO VISIT BLOGORA FIND THE TIME TO READ HIS BIO AND HIS EXTRAORDINARY CONTRIBUTIONS TO HUMANITY. OF ALL THE SYTEMS THINKERS THAT I HAVE KNOW AND HAVE MET, AND I HAVE MET MOST OF THE GREAT ONES, HASAN WAS THE GREATEST.
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