|
About | History | Contact |
Cassbeth was started in 1997. We are a systems engineering technology company. We pursue projects that we think have a critical need but few are properly addressing. We capture our work in books, software, graduate level systems engineering courses, and intellectual property. All our software uses Internet technologies (web servers, perl, browsers, etc.).
Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country -- President Kennedy. Ask not what others can do for you, ask what you can do for others is the corollary and inspired an entire generation that provided the best aspects of the world that this generation enjoys. I would like to say that this generation is following in this great tradition but that is not the case. Extreme self interest and people that reject education have taken control in all aspects of todays world. This generation is being challenged and so far in the 21st century they are failing miserably.
The mega trend that existed after World War II and the mega trend that surfaced approximately in 1980 can be associated with different philosophies that translate into different policies that are implemented by massive systems in use by the people.
Vannevar Bush was a key scientific adviser in the USA and he and others in the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration were working on stopping what they thought was the start of a new dark age. President Roosevelt asked his advisors what was happening and the response was that we were entering a new dark age. President Roosevelts' response was to ask how long it would last in terms of 2, 3, or 5 years. The response was, no you don't understand, we are entering a dark age that might last 500, 700, 900 years. As the war was ending and the outcome was clear, president Roosevelt asked Vannevar Bush to identify what should happen after the war. The brain trust produced a document called Science The Endless Frontier and it established the policies of the USA after WW II. This is the start of System A.
The USA transitioned from System A, Science The Endless Frontier, into something else starting in the 1980. There are many references that document the transition from newspapers, magazines, movies, and other media. In an interview on the BBC documentary, The Trap What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom, conservative economist James M. Buchanan criticized the concept of public interest, asking what it is and suggested that it consists purely of self-interest of the governing bureaucrats. Buchanan also proposed that organizations should employ managers who are motivated only by money. He described those who are motivated by other factors, such as job satisfaction or a sense of public duty as zealots. The implication being that they are to be removed from power and authority in all institutions. This is the start of System B.
It is not easy designing a system that is a civilization. This is probably the most important systems analysis that this generation must perform and they have to get it right and do it quickly. The price is enormous and can be as high as the civilization entering into a dark age that can last for hundreds of years. This challenge is not unlike the challenge faced by President Roosevelt and the people in the last century.
See Recent Mega Trends analysis.
Some of Our Projects
Our most significant project is COVID-19 Research From A Systems Perspective that started in 2020. We developed IP and prototype software to address the ventilation challenges that must be faced in the 21st century. This research has intersected with our previous research on sustainability started in 2008 while addressing Climate Action Plans in 2024. The following is a list of some of our projects:
The themes are sustainability, social need, urgency, application of Internet technologies all from the systems perspective.
Who are we?
We have two founders. Our first founder is a Drexel University BSEE with decades of experience in very large complex mission critical systems using computers, software, communications systems, and large numbers of people in massively automated systems using bleeding edge and state of the art technologies of the various times. Our second founder is a Providence College BA with experience in education and special education beginning with volunteering at the start of the Head Start program while in high school. Both our founders have roots in small family businesses prior to them entering their chosen professional paths. Cassbeth follows the founders roots but it is coupled with their massive large corporate backgrounds and the systems perspective.
Inspiration
Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country -- President Kennedy. Ask not what others can do for you, ask what you can do for others is the corollary and inspired an entire generation that provided the best aspects of the world that this generation enjoys. I would like to say that this generation is following in this great tradition but that is not the case. Extreme self interest and people that reject education have taken control in all aspects of todays world. This generation is being challenged and so far in the 21st century they are failing miserably.
The following is an excerpt from our COVID-19 research.
How we arrived at this point in history and how we might prevent this from happening again is a huge systems analysis challenge. This will be studied for hundreds of years. This analysis is offered from the perspective of examining recent mega trends in the USA.
The mega trend that existed after World War II and the mega trend that surfaced approximately in 1980 can be associated with different philosophies. The predominant philosophies practiced in the culture suggests a cultural mega trend. The following summarizes various philosophies and suggests that certain philosophies were predominant in the culture between 1945 and 1980. After 1980 there was a shift and a new cultural mega trend surfaced. For this analysis they are named as System A and System B. The allocations and limited comments are subjective but not without merit. In the areas where there is massive divergence in philosophies it is probably reasonable.
Philosophy |
Description |
System A |
System B |
System C |
Logical Positivism |
Also called Logical Empiricism is a philosophy that scientific knowledge is the only kind of factual knowledge and that all traditional metaphysical doctrines are to be rejected as meaningless. The best way to philosophize is through science. Science is truth. An individual with this philosophical core is a Logical Positivist. | X |
rejected |
X |
Greek Cynicism |
A philosophy where the purpose of life was to live in virtue in agreement with nature. As reasoning creatures, people can gain happiness by rigorous training and by living in a way which is natural for themselves, rejecting all conventional desires for wealth, power, and fame. Instead, they are to lead a simple life free from all possessions. | partial within reason |
rejected |
partial within reason |
Cynicism |
This was originally Greek Cynicism but it changed by the 19th century. The emphasis on the negative aspects of Cynic philosophy led to the modern understanding of Cynicism to mean disbelief in the sincerity or goodness of human motives and actions. It has also moved into a philosophy where the rules of society should be ignored. | frowned upon |
X |
negative |
Humanism |
A philosophy placing importance on human rather than divine or supernatural matters. It stresses the potential value and goodness of human beings, emphasizes common human needs, and seeks solely rational ways of solving human problems. In modern times it is aligned with secularism and may refer to a nontheistic life stance centered on human agency and looking to science rather than revelation from a supernatural source to understand the world. Renaissance Humanism is a philosophy where meaning is found in the human form through art. | X |
rejected |
X |
Altruism |
A philosophy that we should live by only bringing happiness to others. It is the principle and moral practice of concern for the happiness of other human beings or other animals,resulting in a high quality of life both material and spiritual. In an extreme case, altruism may become a synonym of selflessness, which is the opposite of selfishness. | X |
rejected |
X |
Transcendentalism |
A philosophy that our deepest connection is with nature. Philosophical and social movement which developed in New England around 1836 in reaction to rationalism. Divinity pervades all nature and humanity. There is inherent goodness in people and nature. Society and its institutions corrupt the purity of the individual. People are at their best when truly self-reliant and independent. There is divine experience inherent in the every day, rather than believing in a distant heaven. Physical and spiritual phenomena are part of dynamic processes rather than discrete entities. | partial |
partial |
harmless |
Traditionalism |
All moral and religious truth comes from divine revelation passed on by tradition and human reason is incapable of attaining it. Belief in the existence of a perennial wisdom or perennial philosophy, primordial and universal truths which form the source for, and are shared by, all the major world religions. There are primordial and universal religious truths which are at the foundations of all major world religions. A philosophy that the best way of life is a return to the past. | within reason |
X |
harmless |
Egoism |
A philosophy that we should live by only bringing happiness to ourselves. Treats self-interest as the foundation of morality. Ethical egoism does not require moral agents to harm the interests and well-being of others when making moral deliberation. What is in an agent's self-interest may be incidentally detrimental, beneficial, or neutral in its effect on others. However, when practiced by individuals this is usually extreme self interest at the cost of all other interests. Winner take all is the tendency even if it is possible to have win win situations. | rejected |
X |
reject extremely toxic |
Nihilism |
A philosophy where there is no point to anything because it all ends in nothingness because we are all going to die. It is the rejection of all religious and moral principles in the belief that life is meaningless. It is negation towards life or towards fundamental concepts such as knowledge, existence, and the meaning of life. Human values are baseless, that life is meaningless, that knowledge is impossible, or that some set of entities do not exist. Modern Nihilism comes from the Nietzschean crisis of nihilism with two central concepts: the destruction of higher values and the opposition to the affirmation of life. Earlier forms of nihilism were more selective in negating specific social, moral, political and aesthetic thought. In popular use it refers to forms of existential nihilism where life is without intrinsic value, meaning, or purpose. Other prominent positions within nihilism include the rejection of all normal and ethical views, the rejection of all social and political institutions, the stance that no knowledge can or does exist, and a number of metaphysical positions, which assert that non-abstract objects do not exist, that composite objects do not exist, or even that life itself does not exist. | rejected |
partially embraced |
reject extremely toxic |
| Utilitarianism | A philosophy that balances Altruism with Egoism. Actions that maximize happiness and well-being for all affected individuals. Actions that tend to produce benefit, advantage, pleasure, good, or happiness and to prevent mischief, pain, evil, or unhappiness to the party whose interest is considered. Treat one's self with no higher regard than one has for others. One is not obligated to sacrifice one's own interests to help others' interests, so long as one's own interests are substantially equivalent to the others' interests and well-being, but the choice to do so is permitted. | X |
rejected |
X |
Vannevar Bush was a key scientific adviser in the USA and he and others in the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration were working on stopping what they thought was the start of a new dark age. President Roosevelt asked his advisors what was happening and the response was that we were entering a new dark age. President Roosevelts' response was to ask how long it would last in terms of 2, 3, or 5 years. The response was, no you don't understand, we are entering a dark age that might last 500, 700, 900 years. As the war was ending and the outcome was clear, president Roosevelt asked Vannevar Bush to identify what should happen after the war. The brain trust produced a document called Science The Endless Frontier [1]. This is the start of System A. This document established the policies of the USA after WW II up until approximately 1980 when the USA started to reject the New Deal.
On January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy, the youngest US president ever elected, gave an inaugural address and stated: Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. This challenged every American to contribute in some way to the public good. It inspired children and adults to see the importance of civic action and public service This is System [A] that started in 1945.
The USA transitioned from System A to System B. The transition started in the 1980. There are many references that document the transition from newspapers, magazines, movies, and other media. In an interview on the BBC documentary, The Trap What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom, conservative economist James M. Buchanan criticized the concept of public interest, asking what it is and suggested that it consists purely of self-interest of the governing bureaucrats. Buchanan also proposed that organizations should employ managers who are motivated only by money. He described those who are motivated by other factors, such as job satisfaction or a sense of public duty as zealots [2]. The implication being that they are to be removed from power and authority in all institutions.
We know that System A was not bad compared to System B. There was war and hunger in System A but Nuclear War was avoided and in general the entire civilization was uplifted and enjoyed health and prosperity. We know that System B was starting to cause massive economic problems and that there was a general decline in the quality of life in the civilization. We now know that System B catastrophically failed with the spread of the COVID-19 virus that has now become the COVID-19 disaster. The key reasons why System B failed are:
The big question is what should System C be in terms of philosophical approaches. The suggested approach is to reject the elements that led to the collapse of the civilization. They are marked as - reject extremely toxic. In addition, there are certain philosophies that were rejected in System B that need to be reestablished in System C. They are marked with an X in System C.
It is not easy designing a system that is a civilization. This is probably the most important systems analysis that this generation must perform and they have to get it right and do it quickly. The price is enormous and can be as high as the civilization entering into a dark age that can last for hundreds of years. This challenge is not unlike the challenge faced by President Roosevelt and the people in the last century.
References:
[1] Science The Endless Frontier, US Government Office of Scientific Research and Development, United States Government Printing Office, Washington: 1945. webpage https://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/nsf50/vbush1945.htm, November 2020. Science The Endless Frontier
[2] The Trap What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom, BBC Documentary, Adam Curtis, March 2007.