Systems Analysis For The Mentally Challenged
I realize that I often express what, for some of you, seems an odd point of view. For some reason, I feel compelled to attempt to explain myself.
For years, I was a systems analyst at IBM, and also a bit mentally challenged (I am a highly functioning autistic).
Over the years, I began to think that I actually knew what I was doing – at least part of the time. Following is a bit of what I think I learned:
–> All things that involve more than one active component are systems.
→ All systems naturally seek a level of equilibrium because a system that is seriously out of balance cannot function.
→ Many people who study a system and detect an inevitable flaw (nothing is perfect) mistakenly conclude that they can “fix†the one flaw while the remainder of the system will continue, unchanged. This is always false because when you change any attribute of a system, its equilibrium is also changed. As the system seeks a new equilibrium, the initial change will radiate through the system, often changing it in ways that the original change agent neither anticipated or desired.
→ I am convinced of the truth of the above because I have used it to great advantage in my career. While the best analyst can never fully predict all the changes that will be triggered by the initial “fixâ€, simply knowing that they will likely happen better prepares one to deal with the reality of what one is doing – as opposed to the “good intentions†that originally motivated the change. My overall explanation is that this is simply part of the “connectedness†of everything in the universe.
→ While this is a gross oversimplification of a complex issue, and I realize that this is more than a little abstract, it very accurately describes how my mind works and, I hope, will allow you to better tolerate my sometimes strange conclusions about things.
BTW, if some of you are wondering why I recently became more active in this blog again, it is because I got some steroid shots for my arthritis problems and, as a result, am taking far less oxycodone, leaving my mind clearer.
Thank you for your forbearance.
Troy L Robinson
Thank you Troy for detailing your process for the rest of us.
I am going to make an educated guess that anyone working with a system successfully has come eventually to the same conclusions as you have.
My system was people rather than computers. My mother’s was software running computer systems. My fathers as well as my brothers was machinery.
Through the years I have changed my terminology from “fix” to “tweak” … most likely because it seems nothing no matter how simple gets fixed with one try. Especially if the system is comprised of thinking or non thinking people.
1,000 times better than being a highly functioning snowflake know nothing of today.
As far as your arthritis … we have a family history of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis too on my mothers as well as my fathers side. With the slightest joint ache I started taking MSM which has held all of that at bay it seems.
You might find the JRE/Peterson video I talked about references at the very end Peterson talks about his health and that of his daughter who was plagued with arthritis from 15 on … and was heavily medicated until a few months ago … she started the carnivore diet and is now totally pain free. That part of the discussion starts around 2:44 in the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Xc7DN-noAc
Personally I was intrigued because of the fatigue I deal with since right before my bout with West Nile Virus which made the situation far worse. Nothing healthy living as been able to overcome so far. My belief is “anything is worth a try” … Like Peterson says when he decided to try it himself … “I can hang on for anything at least 30 days”. I agree and will be trying it out starting Monday. LOL 😉
Okay I am out of here for now.
CT, Thanks for the kind words. BTW, my “systems” were invariably a combination of hardware, software and people. Were they only software, things would have been far more predictable.
Regarding arthritis, I have tried MSM with no improvement whatever. The most relief (sans drugs) has been through using krill oil.
As for “tweaking”, I suspect that nothing ever really gets “fixed” — only “changed”, which may be for the better but is often for the worse.
Troy
I probably should have also mentioned the krill along with other good vitamins I have taken since age 30.
So my arthritis never took hold like others have suffered. I am sure you would agree that once you are in chronic pain it is pretty hard to dial that back much less get it fixed.
Those in my family that I watched suffer … there was a common thread to all outcome. Once they got on pain killers “of any kind” the situation got worse and worse. To be honest I often wondered which was really worse the addiction or the pain. All I know no one I know got past either.
What I do know is all of my wondering about the cost of the vitamins I have taken actually paid off when I came down with “West Nile” … my diagnosis was so bad they where sure I was not going to live much less recover period.
I credit 2 things that saved my life.
1. a young Asian Dr thinking I had “Guillain Barre” and ordering a treatment called “plasmapheresis” where basically your blood is pulled from your system cleaned and replaced. It was a series of 5 of these removals that took place and certainly not a treatment for “West Nile”.
On day 3 of my “plasmapheresis” treatment the spinal tap results showed the “West Nile” diagnosis. I heard the “West Nile” expert fly through my private room saying OKAY YOU CAN STOP the “plasmapheresis” it will do not good.
With that I said NO WE WILL FINISH THIS SERIES. Lucky in CA patient wins.
Those declarations however through my life has not made me Dr’s favorite patient. But OH WELL!
Why not stop the treatment? Not because I knew much about the treatment other than I was exceedingly fortunate to get this treatment because there were only a few teams performing this in CA and they broke their necks getting to me. I felt it only fair they finish what they started.
In hind-site why would washing your blood not remove part of that virus?
My guess would be far better than letting the virus stay in your system and cause further damage or death.
So I consider myself extremely fortunate this team happened to be in the area taking care of a young child 30 miles away and could fit me in to their afternoon instead of my waiting weeks in line for a treatment space that would have been cancelled as soon as my virus was diagnosed.
2. All of those vitamins I had taken apparently gave me the physical stamina to overcome the terrible neurological destruction the virus was trying to accomplish.
In less than 2 months I went from paralyzed from the neck down to fully able to walk on my own again.
As one might imagine the doctors were amazed. So were the physical therapists who were charged with working on each disabled system.
At the end of 2 mos I said I am going home. Everyone (especially rehab facility) even the family said NO YOU CAN’T. My family at least knew there was no point in arguing with me.
I came home anyway … my logic was simple instead of walking a mile circle around the facility I could be cooking, cleaning and taking care of my family for a more speedy recovery.
Anyway as far as your arthritis is concerned … hopefully you find a path that works for you.
Whatever that may be 😉
CT, there is another aspect to my approach to things that I did not mention — it has to do with the miracle of life itself.
Given the proliferation of live on our Earth, one might easily assume that life originated innumerable times. This is one possibility and I do not claim to know the answer. But, according to Dr. Carl Sagan, we must allow for the possibility that the origin of life on Earth was a singular event — that all the life we see around us evolved from this one chance happening. If this is true, then, by extrapolation, we must conclude that all life is linked and that whenever we destroy a life form, we are actually destroying a part of ourselves. For some instinctive reason, this is what I suspect to be the truth. Ergo, destruction of life should not be done without very good reason — survival being the best I can think of.
Troy
Troy
I imagine it is safe to say none of us does know the answer but we can all have fun speculating.
I would agree.
That being said as someone who carried a weapon in my handbag for a good part of my adult life.
Had I found it necessary to draw that weapon for use? My shot would have been a kill shot and I would have suffered no remorse whatsoever.
Actually