General System Theory

Famous quotes containing the words general, system and/or theory:

    Though of erect nature, man is far above the plants. For man’s superior part, his head, is turned toward the superior part of the world, and his inferior part is turned toward the inferior world; and therefore he is perfectly disposed as to the general situation of his body. Plants have the superior part turned towards the lower world, since their roots correspond to the mouth, and their inferior parts towards the upper world.
    Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274)

    Whoever places his trust into a system will soon be without a home. While you are building your third story, the two lower ones have already been dismantled.
    Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)

    ... the first reason for psychology’s failure to understand what people are and how they act, is that clinicians and psychiatrists, who are generally the theoreticians on these matters, have essentially made up myths without any evidence to support them; the second reason for psychology’s failure is that personality theory has looked for inner traits when it should have been looking for social context.
    Naomi Weisstein (b. 1939)