Sustainability and systems thinking

Sustainability is meeting the vital needs of a balanced biosphere without causing depletion in the future.  In or to achieve a collaborative existence with other life on this planet we must consider our impacts and roles within the system.  The system is a dynamic inter-relationship between conditions, elements and emergent properties.  A cell is an example of a system.  The universe is another example.  Systems thinking involves taking into consideration all dynamic elements of a system including probabilities.  Thinking in systems is multi-dimensional, changing, and inter-related.  This differs significantly more traditional linear modes of thinking that are deductive, reductive, and separatist. In order to achieve sustainability systems thinking must be employed, taking into consideration all dynamic parts with an understanding of the potential for each part to affect the outcome of the whole.