Systems theory can be quite abstract. I’ve set for myself the challenge of making the subject come alive for my students at CCA. This week, we covered simple dynamic systems. (“Clockworks” in Ken Boulding’s classification scheme.) To help make the subject tangible, I led students on a field trip to Fort Mason.

We visited The Interval, home of the Long Now Foundation. There, students learned about pace layers (Otto — The Interval’s chalkboard robot — drew Stewart Brand’s famous diagram for us!), Geneva mechanisms (over an amazing model of the 10,000-Year Clock’s chime generator!), compensating for variance over time (examining a model of the Clock’s Equation of Time Cam!), orreries, the properties of tungsten, and more. (I’m grateful to Nick Brysiewicz and the Long Now team for sharing their space and knowledge with us.)

After the visit to The Interval, we strolled to another part of the Fort, where I delivered a short lecture while students sat (unbeknownst to them) on Christopher Alexander’s bench facing Alcatraz. It was a beautiful setting, and towards the end of the lecture, I revealed the bench’s backstory. The students had read Alexander’s A City Is Not a Tree before class; discussing the subject on a structure designed by the architect (albeit a modest one) was a rare privilege. (I’m grateful to my friend Dan Klyn for making me aware of the existence of this bench.)

We ended class with a brief group juggling exercise that illustrated the importance of structure when dealing with simple dynamic systems. The setting was perfect — a clearing among the buildings, facing the Bay — if a little cold. But the chilly breeze gave the exercise a sense of urgency that would’ve been hard to simulate otherwise.

It was a great, content-packed — and fun — afternoon. I consider myself lucky to be able to teach this subject here. While systems are indeed everywhere, the most enticing ones are not evenly distributed. The Bay Area has some of the finest examples in the world, if you know where to look.