test 2

Question 1

Oscillations:

Answer 1

Shrinking and growing of a stock over time.

Question 2

Shifting dominance :

Answer 2

when a stock goes up and down

Question 3

Delayed feedback :

Answer 3

occur in balancing feedback loop. Caused by overcorrecting or overshooting our goals. Changing length of delay may cause a change in behaviour of a system.

Question 4

• Two-stock systems :

Answer 4

a renewable stock constrained by a non-renewable stock. Must be at least 1 reinforcing loop (driving growth) and 1 balancing loop (constraining growth). Takes place by either strengthening outflow or weakening inflow

Question 5

• Limits to growth:

Answer 5

-limits on a growing system that are temporary/ permanent.
- Exponential growth is always faster than expected.
- Nothing grows forever, everything has a limit.
- Exponential growth (reinforcing inflow) is always limited by balancing feedback.

Question 6

• Renewable resources :

Answer 6

• they can support extraction indefinitely.
• If extracted faster than they regenerate it is driven below the threshold and becomes non- renewable.

Question 7

3 sets of renewable resources

Answer 7

1. overshoot and adjustment to sustainable equilibrium
2. overshoot beyond that equilibrium followed by oscillations around it
3. overshoot followed by collapse of the resource and the industry dependent on the resource

Question 8

what is the outcome of renewable resources dependent on

Answer 8

critical threshold beyond which resources ability to regenerate is damaged
AND
rapidity and effectiveness of balancing feedback loop which resources ability to regenerate is damaged

Question 9

• Non-renewable resources :

Answer 9

• Has outflow but no inflow.
• Stock limited
• Entire stock available at once
• Can be extracted at any rate
• Faster extraction rate = shorter lifetime of resource

Question 10

• Resource depletion:

Answer 10

Consumption of a product faster than produced.

Question 11

• Stock-limited systems :

Answer 11

non-renewable resource

Question 12

• Flow-limited systems :

Answer 12

renewable resources

Question 13

• Fragility (rigidity) :

Answer 13

Brittle, rigid, fragile, resistant to change.

Question 14

• Resilience (elasticity) :

Answer 14

able to bend without breaking and spring back to its original shape.

Question 15

• Redundancy :

Answer 15

many layers of balancing feedback at different time scales. (in engineering, the more redundant your system is. It means you have backups which is good in case of a fail of a system.

Question 16

• Repair:

Answer 16

feedback loops that restore/rebuild other loops if they break down

Question 17

• Learning :

Answer 17

feedback loops that develop/evolve new repair loops. Improves your mechanism to keep system going (could be through humans or natural like evolution)

Question 18

Self-organization :

Answer 18

systems that create their own standards. Tend to be resilient. Produces heterogeneity and unpredictability.

Question 19

Hierarchy :

Answer 19

how systems describe themselves. Systems are organized like this because other systems are made of other nested subsystems. They are resilient and decentralized (nobody in charge)

Question 20

TRUE or FALSE: According to Meadows, no physical system can grow forever in a finite environment.

Answer 20

true

Question 21

A resilient system usually has:

Answer 21

many reinforcing feedback loops

Question 22

A resilient system is:

Question 2 Answer

a. Elastic
b. Rigid
c. Fragile
d. Constant over time

Answer 22

a

Question 23

A stable system is:

Answer 23

constant over time

Question 24

In hierarchical systems, relationships within each subsystem are:

Answer 24

Denser and stronger than relationships between subsystems

Question 25

A self-organizing system is one that produces:

Answer 25

Diversity and complexity

Question 26

perception delay

Answer 26

waiting to be sure that a change actually occurred and isn’t just a temporary change (not ordering more cars per month because you sold more than usually in one day)

Question 27

response delay

Answer 27

making partial adjustments to make sure delay is real

Question 28

delivery delay

Answer 28

time for an order to be received, processed and shipped

Question 29

what does a delay in a balancing feedback loop cause

Answer 29

likely to cause oscillations

Question 30

what causes oscillations

Answer 30

shifting dominance,balancing feedback delays, two stock systems

Question 31

• Phase plots :

Answer 31

behaviour of one stock against behaviour of the other stock. Behaviour affects way they influence each other from doing the same thing over and over. Non renewable and renewable recourse system. One stock that constraints growth of the other.

Question 32

• Stability landscapes :

Answer 32

way of visualizing how a system will behave in different circumstances.

Question 33

• Stable (attracting) fixed points :

Answer 33

places where ball is attracted to . (shaded in)

Question 34

• Unstable (repelling) fixed points :

Answer 34

where the ball is going to roll away from

Question 35

• Critical thresholds :

Answer 35

line that when crosses behaviour of system changes (in landscapes it’s the area before the change of ball)

Question 36

• Stock-limited systems :

Answer 36

non-renewable resource. Limited by size of stock.

Question 37

• Flow-limited systems :

Answer 37

renewable resources. limited by rate of renewal of the stock