What are Causal Loops? How can these help us learn? This video explores the basics of how Causal Loops can be used to explore concepts in the classroom. To learn more, visit The Creative Learning Exchange at www.clexchange.org.
Great video, very well explained and prepared. I am encountering this tool in my uni studies and I find it hard to understand due to my own mind structures. The causal loop diagram is hailed in Systems as THE tool especialy in system dynamics, and yet it has so many confusing sides to it that are purposefully (or not, I don't have an explanation to as why this is) overlooked. Such as that in some nodes/factors it is already presumed what 'charge of force' the node/element has..and other falacies. For example from 1:25 - when the strss goes up the coping strategies go up causing the amount of stress to go down..I mean that one is pure nonsense (when your coping strategy is seclusion or indulgence you might lose friends, job, become fat or develop addictions which most definitely doesn't lead to less stress). I mean it has its uses for revealing some relationships between various elements so it can serve as a symbolic map of an issue being solved, but it is far from ideal.
First, thanks much for your question. Without getting into a chicken and egg conversation, the answer to “Where does a loop start?" depends on the story that a loop represents over time. A causal loop, like any systems tool, is a way to share a mental model about how a system works. One example in the video shows money in a bank account and interest earned. The story starts with having some money in the bank, since with no money, no interest can be earned. Given a certain amount of money in the account, interest is earned. The interest adds to the money in the account, which continues to increase the amount of interest earned the next time it’s calculated by the bank. This loop continues as long as money remains in the account. Of course what is not described in this loop are withdrawals from the account. Another example describes the effect of stress and coping strategies on one another. The story here could start with either variable, but again it would depend how an individual tells the story of the system. Logically, it might start with the stress, since if no stress exists, no coping strategies would be needed. With all this in mind, also consider that any given loop only tells a small piece of a larger story. In any real-world system, additional loops are interconnected and potentially operating at the same time.
Nice video! What is it that makes a system's aspect a variable or a stock in a stock flow diagram? At 02:30 why is Cinderella's Happiness a stock and the fairy godmother's concern a variable? Wouldn't it make sense to have a negative flow from her happiness to the concern, both being modeled as stocks? Or is there some fixed "concern coefficient" that is simply multiplied with the happiness and affects the "Increasing Happiness" flow? I seem to struggle with this distinction in stock flow diagrams.
Thank you for your interest and questions about this video. First and foremost, this and other intro videos are really just intended as short introductions. They contain only simple examples that don’t get into details you are asking about. Deciding whether an element is a stock or a variable is a very important question and is dependent on an intended main focus area, among other things. Even though many elements in a diagram (such as the fairy godmother’s concern) could certainly be stocks rather than variables, the creator of this particular diagram was focused on Cinderella’s happiness. So, the fairy godmother’s concern, although still an important element, was seen as a supporting variable. Another person looking at the same system might draw it in a totally different manner. The video shows two different diagrams about Cinderella’s happiness in order to make the point that different individuals can look at the same system and draw it in very different ways, depending on that person’s own unique perspective. The two examples here were inserted only as a way to illustrate how to pull a CLD from a stock-flow map. We’re not sure what is meant in the question about having a negative flow from happiness to the concern. If the question is, “Would you connect a flow between the two stocks?” that would create a problem with units. In other words, happiness can’t change into (flow into) concern. Regarding the multiplication question, neither of these stock-flow maps were created as running models. If someone did want to create a model, the system would certainly be represented differently and include mathematical elements that explicitly show the connections among happiness and the other elements. Hopefully this helps answer your questions, but you might also consider looking at some of the other available resources for creating stock/flow maps and models. To learn how to create simple running models using Stella Online, see “Model Mysteries. (www.clexchange.org/curriculum/modelmysteries/)” To learn how to create simple running models using Splash, see the “SplashCards. (www.clexchange.org/splash/splashcards.aspx)”
Nice video! Claro. However the "Cinderella's Happiness" isn't right; it would be oscillating: as the Fairy Godmother's concern went down, Cinderella would be less involved, less happy and her Fairy Godmother would grow more concerned again.
I came here after watching Prisoner of Azkaban. I have some questions. SPOILERS AHEAD! In the Harry Potter movie, Harry is about to die from Dementors, but future Harry saves him by casting a spell. This is what I don't understand. How can Harry come from the future and save his past self, when his past self should have died right then and there without ever reaching the point where he can travel back to save himself?
Because time is not linear everything is happening at once. Google time feedback loops how the future can affect the past. Soooo interesting and mind blowing 😃
Here’s my theory. To travel in the future without experiencing the time it takes to get to say 80 years in the future, you could intentionally put yourself in a time loop with a way to get yourself out of it after the 80 years is complete. Since every loop with not be remembered, when you break out of the loop, not only will your body not be affected by the trip, but the trip will seem instantaneous. You would have to isolate the area in which the loop is occurring too, otherwise, the whole Universe is looping, and no quick time travel has happened.
