From a higher perspective...

"...From that time on, a system has come to mean an integrated whole whose essential properties arise from the relationships between it's parts, and 'systems thnking' the understanding of a phenomenom within the context of a larger whole. This is, in fact, the root meaning of the word 'system', which derives from the Greek 'synhistanai' ("to place together"). To understand things systemically literally means to put them into a context, to establish the nature of their relationships."  

- The Web of Life

links: digg this    technorati    reddit