In the previous post I made an abstract from course material, about networks and groups. Now I try to connect networks and systems.

This “sloot” is part of a system designed  to keep my feet dry. We people  live on the bottom of a lake, in a “polder” and without this system the water would be 4 meter high.
This “sloot” is part of a network of waterways, and the goal of the system is to import or export water in or out of the polder.

It is a Closed network with defined boundaries, because it is part of the system of the polder. But the system is not closed, like most systems. Water is creeping through the dykes into the polder and there is the occasional rainy day.  And in summers flowers need a l0t of water so water is imported in.

This is an example of a network in a system. The system has rules to maintain the network, because the network is valuable. Cleaning the waterways, pumping water from  or  pouring water into the network is regulated.

In the comparison between group and network Downes says: ” And the question is, can we have order, responsibility, identity, all of that good stuff, inside an ecosystem?” And my comment there is “Do groups have a monopoly on values? In a network conversation values will emerge also.”

A network is part of a system. The internet system (cables, and connections, servers) provides technical possibilities for networks. And the system imposes rules on the network.