Arend van Campen

Law of Requisite Variety (First Law of Cybernetics) and The Paradise Papers   A situation can only be controlled if the variety of the controller matches the variety of the situation to be controlled. •        The system/person with the most flexibility of behaviour will have the most influence on the system. The more choices one has, the more freedom is felt and the better the quality of life. •        It is impossible to control for every variable so most variety is absorbed through relationships with other systems •        Only Variety can absorb Variety •        It means that in Risk Management, only enough variety in your system can absorb, or control risks originating from outside variety. •        By using feedback, this information is fed into the system to allow the system to adjust and learn constantly. •...

Een paar weken geleden werd ik uitgenodigd door Cofano Sliedrecht om een lezing te geven over Risico-gestuurd Ondernemen. De titel werd; 'Risico Synthese' met als subtitel: 'Informatie reduceert Onzekerheid'. Ik begon met het verhaal van Cassandra, de dochter van de koning van Troje. Zij had van de God Apollo de gave gekregen om in de toekomst te kunnen kijken onder voorwaarde dat zij op de avances van Apollo zou ingaan. Maar toen Cassandra door had dat de bedoelingen van Apollo niet in het voordeel van de Trojanen zou zijn, moest ze niets meer van deze God hebben.Daardoor werd hij boos en zei haar; 'Ik kan je de gave om in de toekomst te kunnen kijken niet meer afnemen, maar ik kan er wel voor zorgen dat niemand je ooit zal geloven.'  Dit vind ik zeer relevant. U en ik kunnen best een stukje in de toekomst kijken als we maar alle informatie willen gebruiken, maar meestal luisteren we niet naar goede raad of ontkennen zelfs informatie omdat die niet bij een d...

This week my political thriller was published in London by Austin Macauley Publishers. I am quite excited to tell you this story. It is about Coltan, an essential mineral which allows our smartphones to work. The book is a fast- paced fiction/fact tale and I often use symbolism to express the urgency of finally solving the Congolese armed conflict over natural resources that started right after the Rwandan genocide in 1994, but historically commenced through a reign of terror by the King of Belgium, Leopold II, in 1885. The protagonist Erik Luyts is a trader who works in Geneva for Metalore, an oil and minerals trading company. When he is back in Congo, he decides to do something about the killings, the rapes and the pillaging of Congolese miners, women and children who work in the Coltan, Cobalt or Cassiterite mines. He develops a responsible manner to operate the mining area, but has to deal with hostile actions from businessmen, politicians and the military who profit from a status...

When watching the news, reading the papers or listening to politicians we often can’t tell if what we read and hear is true or false. This is causing a dilemma for any organisation or person, because the principal goal of 1984’ ministry of information was to control it. What happens if one controls information with an intention of not sharing it, we can read in the news daily. In an earlier column I mentioned that information reduces uncertainty, but now, with the example of Russiagate in mind, we can no longer trust main stream media because information could be withheld or evaded out of some kind of ulterior motivation. This is not very good for businesses or human well-being. Information, energy and matter are the cornerstones of life, because if one of them is hidden or negated, a living system collapses. This is what I observe today. Living systems, people, animals, organisations are in great jeopardy of extinction because information is not able to be fed back into them, the...

29.12.2018 - Amended October 15, 2019 Thoughts about the need to sustain life on earth, drew me to a conclusion: There is a need for a new science, a theory of everything; a science of reality. This science can measure and determine the difference between what is real and what is not. When we apply this science to what people do, we can easily conclude that what is unreal, cannot be sustained and generally is harmful. When we look at political processes, industrial products, societal governance or ‘war’ games, they usually are trying to exist beyond limits of reality and do so by force. They try to exist outside of reality because when we would measure their ‘realism’ we would soon find that they can only be pursued at the cost of…..(collateral damage such as people, environment, social cohesion). This makes them immediately unsustainable because they are harmful to something, someone, somewhere. This harmfulness is due to the (ab) use of resources (people, plants, ani...

In her biography of William Blake (1970), Kathleen Raine describes his art and poetry whose value became known after his death. The universe of imagination is unlimited and only   seems chaotic by one’s limited perception. Empiricism forces man to limit his consciousness and subconscious perception or inner knowing that does not allow boundaries. Therefore it is obstructing to an infinite and boundlessly evolving state that is not easily understood by limited dimensional awareness and thought. William Blake shows that Urizen (Reason) acts like a God, holding a pair of compasses. In The First Book of Urizen (1794) he becomes the self-deluded and anxious demiurge (creator), engaged in the enormous labours of imposing his ratio of the five empirical senses (sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch). Katleen Raine, the scholar biographer of William Blake says in one of her last documentary interviews named ‘God is the Imagination’ that Blake called for a re-internalization, a reope...

We now offer a risk mapping tool that proves that sustainability and balance are in the best interest of both producer and user (client or buyer) and every stakeholder involved. Our service is to measure and map risks and advise organizations with scientific argumentation to always allow for   ‘relevant' information.' It means that stability and long term continuity of a business relation between two or more parties can only be achieved by constantly adjusting course and using updated information. So, if for example information about the danger of a certain product is not disclosed, the organization selling it will become instable and vulnerable as well as the buyer or user. Therefore, it is in both parties mutual benefit to allow that all 'feedback' loops are shared and connected. If a feedback loop (withholding info) is severed on purpose (lying, denial) or from unawareness, a business or political model becomes uncontrollable and unsustainable. This reality appli...