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Essences of Interaction
energy between the boards. Again, only Type 2 objects are involved—no
integration is possible with the wood.
The whole of either the pile or the stack will be equal to the simple sum of
its parts. Consequently, the pile of wood built through interactions with other
pieces of wood (and the ground) is not a system as there is nothing more or
less than the individual pieces of wood regardless of their being piled or
stacked. Interaction per se does not always result in a system—an integrated
whole. The pile or stack of wood could be taken apart without changing the
properties or attributes of any piece of wood. The parts are as distinct before
helping comprise the pile as when the parts are conceived of as a pile. There
is no integration, merely concomitant action where each part remains a part
but never becomes a whole by parts or by itself. Systems can be conceptualized as self-reliant entities that are simultaneously wholes and parts (Koestler
1968). In other words, neither the pile nor the stack of wood would be considered as a piece of wood, and neither would a piece of wood be considered as
a pile. But a piece of wood would be considered as part of the pile. Neither the
pile nor the stack of wood is a system, although there can be interaction
between the pieces of wood. The pieces retain their exact identity, properties,
and attributes before being placed into the pile as well as after being piled.
Knowing something about part of a system portends some insight into the
interactions and objects of another part of the system (Kuhn 1974).
All interaction is point to point (Buede 2009), object to object. People interact with a book when they look at the book. If light reflects from the book and
impinges onto the retina, the contents of the book can be resolved and with
proper training, the book can be read. The brain collects the light energy and
interprets the “encoded” data (the reading process). If the reader puts in no
effort in interpreting the information (by simply staring at the book with
no focused cognitive activity), the contents may be unrecognized and leave
no “footprint” or impression on the reader. The interaction with the book is
that of “looking,” but not of reading. Page after page of looking without reading does not result in anything gained from the interaction with the book.
Yet the person has perhaps spent considerable time with the book, only to
later realize there was no retention, no cognitive awareness of the book’s
content, and no lasting effects of the interaction with the book. No knowledge
was gained—there has been no integration of the reader’s cognitive structures with the contents of the book. Interaction without integration occurs all
too often (in the case of education). Of course there are other times when we
may watch a movie, be totally engrossed in its content, and later wish the
nightmares would go away. We would probably prefer a natural immunity to
certain diseases rather than submit to the integration of viruses and the resultant compromise of our immune system. Integration is not always desirable.
Interactions between objects may or may not result in integration. But
integrated systems are by definition interacting. We build structures that
are capable of interacting. But until they do interact in various ways, those
structures are not systems.