Natural Systems Engineering

Abstract

Natural systems have evolved on Earth over some 542MY, through trial and error, by natural selection, with such exemplary results as the human body, one of the most complex organisms on the planet.

The human body exhibits different ‘levels of organization:’ organization appears at each level. ‘Nature’s design’ evidences a higher degree of coupling and mutual interdependence between structures at the same level of organization, for example between organ systems, than is the usual case for supposedly equivalent manmade systems. The human brain also exhibits levels of organization, but these do not find correspondence in manmade processing systems, while the operation of the brain’s remarkable memory is still uncertain, with many clues, but conflicting ideas amongst neuroscientists.

Homeostasis in organisms can be singularly complex, with stabilizing ‘mechanisms’ that differ markedly from those employed by cyberneticists and engineers: could the latter learn to advantage from successful, natural systems?

Nature has also created extensive insect social systems, so-called ‘super organisms.’ Honeybees have existed for more than 100MY, ants over 120MY and termites over 150MY, suggesting they have a variety of successful survival strategies. Modern humans have been on the planet barely 2MY so far...and already threaten their own survival together with that of many other species.

Overall, Nature has an enviable ‘track record’ of evolving efficient, adaptable, effective, survivable organisms and super-organisms that exist in more-or-less mutual harmony with other organisms and super-organisms.

Biomimetics, similar to biologically inspired design, is the study of the structure and function of biological systems as models for the design and engineering of materials and machines. Together with ecology, biomimetics (Bar- Cohen, 2011) and bio-mimicry (Benyus, 1997) may also offer sophisticated models, processes and procedures for:

• systems thinking,

• systems conception,

• systems design,

• systems architectures,

• systems lifecycles,

• system survival strategies

... and many more as yet largely untapped. Can such models be employed to advantage for manmade systems, human systems, societal systems, business and industry systems, systems engineering, even economic systems? Are they applicable, can they be trusted, if they are different, why are they different, is their efficacy amenable to proof? These are questions to ponder, while at the same time admiring the legacy and insight the models may provide.