ABSTRACT
Creating a science of purposeful systems was an intention in the early years of cybernetics. Eric Beinhocker described the nature of a science of social systems when they are viewed as collections of economic agents. He noted that in George Soros’s theory there is internal model updating, meaning that purposeful systems can learn or change their minds. In the literature on second order science a key question is whether the observer is outside the system or inside the system. Usually in science the observer is thought to be outside the system observed. In the management literature, mission, vision, goals and objectives are often discussed but less often purposes. Rarely discussed has been whether purposeful systems could be studied with the same methods developed for the physical sciences. As a purposeful system, a human being must create an image of itself, and a role for itself within society, so that it can sustain itself both biologically and psychologically.
