Content by Harish Jose
The System in the BoxLooking at philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein’s analogy
Tue, 05/06/2025 - 12:03
In this article, I’m looking at the brilliant philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein’s “The Beetle in the Box” analogy. Wittgenstein rose to fame with his first book, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, in which he proposed the idea of a picture theory for…
The Thing About ‘Thing-in-Itself’Looking at Immanuel Kant and Hans Vaihinger’s ideas
Tue, 02/18/2025 - 12:03
Today I’m looking at Immanuel Kant’s “thing-in-itself” and Hans Vaihinger’s ideas. In Kant’s philosophy, the thing-in-itself (Ding an sich) refers to the reality that exists independently of human perception or experience. Kant argued that while we…
The Free Energy Principle at the GembaUsing Karl Friston’s theory to really observe what’s happening around us
Tue, 02/11/2025 - 12:03
Today I’m looking at the free energy principle (FEP) by the British neuroscientist Karl Friston. The FEP basically states that to resist the natural tendency to disorder, adaptive agents must minimize surprise. This has implications for the gemba,…
The ‘Form’ of ComplexityExploring the foundations of logic and mathematics via a unique symbolic system
Wed, 01/22/2025 - 00:01
In this article, I’m exploring complexity through the lens of George Spencer-Brown’s Laws of Form (Cognizer Co., 1994). This philosophical and mathematical treatise explores the foundations of logic and mathematics via a unique symbolic system.…
Cybernetics of the Systems Approach‘Sweeping-in’ explained
Mon, 11/11/2024 - 12:03
In this article, I look at the idea of “sweeping-in” in systems approach. Sweeping-in can be described as the process of opening up the inquiry of a system by expanding its boundaries. Philosopher and systems scientist C. West Churchman discussed…
Weber’s Law at the GembaOur perception of change depends on intensity
Mon, 10/21/2024 - 12:02
In this article, I’m looking at Weber’s Law. It’s named after Ernst Heinrich Weber (1795–1878), a German physician who was one of the pioneers of experimental psychology. I highly recommend the Numberphile YouTube video that explains this in detail…
Relationship Between Process Capability Index and SigmaCalculating how many standard deviations the process window can hold
Tue, 08/13/2024 - 12:02
Recently, I wrote about the process capability index and tolerance interval. Here, I’m writing about the relationship between the process capability index and sigma. The sigma number here relates to how many standard deviations the process window…
Autonomy in a Social SettingA system must be able to deal with the variety thrown at it
Tue, 07/02/2024 - 12:03
I have always been interested in the idea of autonomy in a social setting. In this article, I’m looking at autonomy in a social setting—such as an organization—from a cybernetics viewpoint. I’ll lean on the ideas of Heinz von Foerster and Stafford…
The Relationship Between Capability Index and Tolerance IntervalsWhat can it tell us about the process?
Tue, 05/07/2024 - 12:03
In this article, I’m looking at the relationship between capability index (Cpk or Ppk) and tolerance intervals. The capability index is tied to the specification limits, and tying this to the tolerance interval enables us to use the confidence/…
Using Stress/Strength Analysis to Reduce Sample SizePractical suggestions for reducing sample sizes for attribute testing
Mon, 10/16/2023 - 12:03
Today I’m looking at some practical suggestions for reducing sample sizes for attribute testing. A sample is chosen to represent a population. The sample size should be sufficient to represent the population parameters such as mean and standard…