Solve for X - a message to my system dynamics modeling students

Teaching system dynamics modeling at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Policy in Singapore is exciting and challenging. 42 students enrolled in my class - a large number to present a technically complex subject at a graduate level. But the engagement of the students is infectious, and even inspiring.

This morning, I saw a posting on Google’s new Solve for X initiative, something that is definitely worth checking out. The link is: http://www.wesolveforx.com

Here is what I wrote to my students and a few friends.

Dear Class Members,

Probably you are already familiar with this initiative, which crossed my field of vision this afternoon. Think about it. The Limits to Growth and to a lesser degree some other modeling work helped change the way human beings thought about sustainability. But the challenge of achieving sustainability in a world that is humane and resilient is yet to be accomplished. Very likely the breakthroughs will first be achieved in Asia. System dynamics modeling could contribute, as it has in the past. As I read it this is the sort of breakthrough thinking that the Solve for X initiative seeks to catalyze. Check out the initiative's website at:

http://www.wesolveforx.com

Any takers...?

Two commandments may be enough

Regular dormgrandpop readers (if any) will have heard me mention the “Speaking of Faith” public radio program and podcasts. I listen to one or more podcasts each morning while I am folding laundry, preparing breakfast and performing other mundane functions that are part of daily living.

Yesterday morning’s podcast was “The personal faith of Jimmy Carter.” According to most appraisals, Jimmy Carter was not one of America’s most successful Presidents, but, in more than twenty years since leaving the While House, he may have become our most successful ex-President.

President Carter’s administration marked the zenith of my modest ‘political’ role in Washington. He cared about issues of sustainability long before they were popular. My global modeling friends and I were called upon to advise the administration, including President Carter’s senior staff. President Carter commissioned the “Global 2000 Report to the President," directed by my Friend Gerry Barney. I was hired as a consultant to prepare follow up recommendations that might shape the President’s second term. I was even a finalist for a senior position on President Carter’s staff, “Director of White House Information Systems.” Fortuitously, in retrospect, I was not offered the job.

President Reagan’s election in 1980 ended that era in my life. In the ensuing five years, I collaborated on three books of which I am particularly proud: “Making it Happen: A Positive Guide to the Future,” “Groping in the Dark: The First Decade of Global Modeling” and “Ending Hunger: An Idea Whose Time Has Come.”

It is hard to think about the Carter years without these personal reflections, but President Carter’s interview was not about politics. I it was, as the title implies, a rich probing into his personal faith. He was America’s first evangelical Christian President. He taught sunday school regularly throughout his term and continues to do so. He and his wife end each day, whether together or apart, by reading the same Bible passage and discussing it.

The remarkable technology of Podcasting, along with my iPod, will allow me to give President Carter’s interview the attention it deserves, by listening to it more than once. But only one listening was needed to come away with the former President’s most memorable observation. He heard it, President Carter said, from a missionary priest in a poor Latin American community, “Father Cruz.” (I had not known, before yesterday morning, that “Cruz” means “Cross” in Spanish.) Father Cruz told him the essence of Christianity could be reduced to only two commandments:

“Love God and love the person who is standing right in front of you.”