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The term emergy synthesis was introduced by Dr. David M. Scienceman, the author of the emergy nomenclature. It has been subsequently developed and extended by the late H.T.Odum and colleagues most notably the Emergy Systems school at the University of Florida.
According to this school of thought, "emergy synthesis strives for understanding by grasping the wholeness of systems."
Art of combination
Synthesis in this sense, is, to paraphrase the emergy systems school, 'the act of combining elements into coherent wholes rather than dissecting and breaking systems apart'. Through the act of combining emerged new concepts and methods used for energy-based evaluations of human and environmental systems, and new corollaries to the principles of energetics. It is hoped that emergy evaluation can help form a quantitative basis for sustainable public policy decision making.
Synthetic psychology, religion and unified science
But perhaps one of the most outstanding features of emergy synthesis is in terms of psychology. In the work of Scienceman, Emergy Synthesis applies not only to ecological systems, but also to our epistemology, language and way of inquiry. At heart is not only an attempt to include everyone in the discussion, but also every subdiscipline of social, spiritual biological and physical science. From this perspective, Scienceman has written, "The concept of GOD is merely a 'personification' of emergy" (1995, p.1). Underlying this approach is a commitment to the ideal of the unification of science. H.T.Odum's epic 1994 text, is a classic demonstration of this attitude. Odum attempts to demonstrate how the nomenclatures and languages of many different traditions in the arts, and sciences can all be unified through a universal language, which he later called the Energy Systems Language.
Philosophical connections
The result of this synthetic, inclusive approach has established direct connections with many foundational traditions in philosophy. Including the work of Leibniz, Schelling, Marx, Habermas, Gramsci, Podolinsky, Woodford, Frank, von Bertalanffy, Eckersley. It is intimately connected with the philosophy of rational empiricism, also known as logical positivism, which was occupied with the unification of science, and the enlargement of Ecological humanities. In natural philosophy (science), it is connected to the Cybernetics of Ashby and Wiener, the rational physiology of W.S.McCulloch, Chinese medicine, Life cycle analysis, Embodied Energy analysis, and Ecological Footprint analysis. However the task of synthesis is to see, and extend, the connections into all fields, explaining differences through historical Energy Systems modeling. It also has very strong connections with systems ecology (also known as 'field physiology'), which might be considered it's parent, and the study of Gaia, or the noosphere.
Misplaced Pages as emergy synthesis
The Encyclopedic theorist, Olga Pombo argues that the Internet constitutes the most recent and eloquent development of the history of encyclopaedism. Pombo also makes the case that this can be considered part of the realisation of Leibniz's Enlightenment project. In this light, Misplaced Pages itself can be thought of as a further refinement of Pombo's argument, and Lebiniz's project.
Moreover, although our work here on Misplaced Pages is not quantified in terms of dollars or solar emergy joules - as is required in the emergy methodology - the Misplaced Pages as a synthesis of human voices might therefore be thought of as ultimate expression of the kind of synthetic psychology that is fostered by Emergy Synthesis. Thus Misplaced Pages, is a part of Emergy Synthesis.
See also
References
- EMERGY SYNTHESIS: Biennial Conferences on the Theory and Applications of the Emergy Methodology
- D.M.Scienceman 1987, "Energy and Emergy." In G. Pillet and T. Murota (eds), Environmental Economics: The Analysis of a Major Interface. Geneva: R. Leimgruber. pp. 257-276. (CFW-86-26)
- D.M.Scienceman 1995, "The Emergy Synthesis of Religion and Science", Center for Environmental Policy, University of Florida.
- H.T.Odum 1994, Ecological and General Systems: An Introduction to Systems Ecology, Colorado University Press, Colorado.
- C.S.Hall 1995, Maximum Power: The Ideas and Applications of H.T.Odum, Colorado University Press, Colorado.
External links
- Many 'hard-to-find' references can now be found and purchased from the Emergy Systems website.
- While in development, Raphael Valyi's Emergy Simulator is a valuable tool using the Energy Systems Language