Sarah Firth’s bundle of Eight Essays on Uncertainty is a collection of visualised overthinking of normal life’s situations.
To me, the essays feels like a good representation of a systems thinker’s thoughts. The deliberations to give the ‘correct’ answers, which sometimes do not exist because you see that there is so much more at play. Her overthinking after the icebreaker (p. 218) about which animal you would like to be shows the nuances that play a role in choices. Her thoughts about the opponent who sees himself as a loyal dog ‘Do you also sniff butts?’ is hilarious.
The considerations in ‘What Makes a Me’ (p.209) describe how we are influenced over time by our upbringing and environment, and how we are constantly changing and adapting. ‘So what’s a better way to conceptualise being a me? As a complex adaptive system?’
It shows the impact humans have on their environment, with a humorous example about the Jewel Beetle in Australia, which was attracted to a beer bottle.
The systems thinking in Eventually Everything Connects is presented in a graphic novel, with uncertainties from a female perspective and a clear systems approach. It is accessible, humorous and therefore excellent.
Firth, S. (2024). Eventually Everything Connects: Eight Essays on Uncertainty. Pennsylvania State University Press.
“Maybe the best thing for me to do is embrace this bittersweet tangle?”
(Sarah Firth, 2024; p29)
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