Now’s the part of the course where you think. Last episode, you came up with first principles for changing the world and your purpose.
Now, we're following the same format, go to the next page, divide it in two, get ready and go for another 20 minutes of thinking.
But today, you'll try to draw the system of changing the world and of your purpose. Divide them in sub-systems that you circle, draw arrows between them, write down processes on those arrows. Basically, try to show a visual representation of the system.
Don't overthink it. The goal is to start thinking about systems thinking and building awareness. You will see that it's a hard thing to do and you won't have a full picture after 20 minutes. But that's part of the point actually. To see how complex both of those are. You will better understand that you can't change the world or your baby by changing just one thing, and that they're also more than the sum of their parts.
And before I leave you, let me ask one last question: Can you spot anything about this course that reflects systems thinking?
I invite you to pause and take the think to think it through.
The organization of each episode uses systems thinking. They follow the same building blocks, I even say the same things from one episode to the next. It makes it easier for me to manage, and easier for you to understand and remember.
Also, the teachings are interconnected. Everything being a system, as I mentioned, is a first principle. And as we'll continue, I'll be mentioning the different ways of thinking in subsequent episodes.
Then, the course is organized into a system as well, aimed to be more than the sum of its parts. We have the audio here, then we have a forum for discussion, and then I present to you, the website. It's been on since the beginning, but only now I'm mentioning it. The website contains the scripts for all the episodes. Then it also contains the ideas behind those episodes in form of links.
The website was built using a network structure. In fact, this website is a digital garden that I made using Obsidian - a free note-taking app that allows you to link notes together. I remember when I first started to use the app, I was doing it wrong. I was trying to categorize notes, and create big descriptions for topics. That's what I though note-taking was about. I've been reading "How to take smart notes", but Sonke Ahrens, and it changed how I use the app now. It's based on Niklas Luhmann's system of a slip box. I will let you explore it on your own if you're interested.
. On it, there are two types of notes. First, Atomic notes. Those are short ideas. They are meant to be short, that's why they're called atomic. I link those together to then be able to go from one to the other easily. As my network of notes grow, instead of it becoming messy and requiring a lot of maintenance, it becomes more valuable as I can find new connections.
Then I have project notes. Those are things that uses the atomic notes for purpose. Like this script.
But anyways, I'll let you explore the website. It's called thebookofwhys.com. Whys spelled W-H-Y-S. The book of whys.
And I’ll leave you with this:
May you begin to see the invisible threads that connect everything — from your body to your community, from nature to society. May you remember that no part exists in isolation, and that small shifts in one place ripple outward in ways we can’t always predict. Systems succeed or fail at the system level. If we want to create change that lasts, we must learn to think in networks, not points; in balance, not optimization.
One thread alone may seem so small,
But woven, it can hold us all.
In every part, the whole is near—
Systems connect what we hold dear.
Thank you for listening, it really warms my heart that some of you are taking this course. I invite you to join the discussion online. The link should be in the description.
A mind is a precious thing to waste, and so is our life. Use both fully, so that when comes the times for us to end our amazing journey, we can be proud of what we've built: something that changed the world."