Health and Systems Thinking SIG:
Health and System thinking – a systemic way of maintaining ourselves, each other, and the nature
健康與系統思維特別融合小組: 中醫辯證論治之系統思維與跨學科應用工作坊。

 

Reductionism was the major scientific view before world war II, its development leads to industrial revolution and modern medicine. Traditional medicine like Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurvedic Medicine, Homeopathy, Naturopathy, and Western Herbal Medicine was then considered as alternative medicine because they are seem incompatible with reductionism and allopathic medicine. However, reductionism was found to be an incomplete scientific view after world war II and a more holistic scientific view was developed namely system theory.

 

Systemic thinking is to consider both the system and the environment when analyzing or maintaining a system, or its environment. When analyzing a particular component within a system, all other components should be considered as well but different importance ratio is allowed.

 

Traditional medicine has been analyzed with the incomplete scientific theory for logical explanations of its medical theory and practice, resulting in confusion and misunderstanding. This workshop will demonstrate the application of system theory to investigate the holistic nature of a particular traditional medicine namely Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is believed that all other traditional and alternative medicine could be better understood in this holistic scientific view of system theory.

 

The Taichi Yin-Yang system theory was developed when combining both the traditional Chinese thinking and the systemic thinking. Taichi is considered as the organizational force in the universe, and the Yin-Yang combo is considered as the log2 information gathering process, the current state determination process, and the steady state regulation process.

 

According to the Taichi Yin-Yang system theory, the Taichi(Yin, Yang) structure should be used in all analysis. The possible analysis of health system are:

 

• Health(physical, mental) – the Cold-Hot spectrum
• Health(chronic, acute) – the Deficient-Excess spectrum
• Health(external hygiene protection, internal healthcare protection) – the Superficial-Internal spectrum

 

Healthcare is our first system employed to maintain human. This workshop will introduce a systemic maintenance program called Traditional Chinese Medicine Healthcare Protection Program which is simple and effective for promotion in the community. Helping the poor with money will never be enough, but helping the poor to make money themselves is a more permanent solution and may even have a positive feedback to the helper. A internal healthcare program should teach the community how to take up the responsibility of their own health in a simple and effective manner. The Traditional Chinese Medicine Healthcare Protection Program composed of three components:

1. the TCM diet on how to choose food from the Cold-Hot food spectrum,
2. the Middle-way exercise therapy on how to regulate our body and Chi (Qi) from the fully Open-Close movement spectrum,
3. the TCM 24h healthcare lifestyle on how to use our health wisely for work and fun from the Human-Environment spectrum.

 

 Keywords: Middle-way exercise therapy, Healthcare Protection Program, Taichi Yin-Yang system theory, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Reductionism, System maintenance, Heath and System thinking

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