> A system's function or purpose is not necessarily spoken, written, or expressed explicitly, except through the operation of the system. The best way to deduce the system's purpose is to watch for a while to see how the system behaves. > -- [[Thinking in Systems -- A Primer]] [[An important function of almost every system is to ensure its own perpetuation]] Stafford Beer -- "the purpose of a system is what it does" (POSIWID) > for a sufficiently complex system, it is pointless and dangerous to try to understand its inner workings; one must observe its behavior > -- [[The Unaccountability Machine]]