Transdiscipline
What is there to learn?
Knowledge can be arranged in layers. Everyone wants to obtain applied knowledge (disciplines) with which they could immediately create something in reality and be rewarded with money, happiness, and other benefits. There is nothing wrong with that, it’s just not that simple.
The world is rapidly changing and becoming more complex. The amount of knowledge grows endlessly. Professions come and go, accordingly applied knowledge and experience become obsolete. What once worked and gave excellent results, today ceases to work and generates losses. In the 21st century, humans are increasingly faced with new tasks and moreover, we must constantly change our methods of solving old problems. We can see how time has accelerated by looking at the example of the pit stop in a Formula 1 race. Servicing a car has been reduced from 1 minute and 20 seconds to 3 seconds since 1950. The way the team works, the technology it uses and its expertise have changed many times over the last 70 years. It takes more than applied professional knowledge to remain in the race on the job market and to be in demand professionally.
It is important to see the next layer of knowledge — transdisciplines. If you know the transdisciplines, you can deal with the applied disciplines more quickly and efficiently. All theories can be arranged according to this principle: disciplines — transdisciplines. Transdisciplines define the general concepts and principles that are used in the respective disciplines. For example, systems thinking is a transdiscipline for the disciplines of entrepreneurship, engineering, and management; in turn, ontology is a transdiscipline for systems thinking and computational thinking (as well as other types of “thinking”). We can also suggest that mathematics is a transdiscipline for physics.
We can look at the formation of experience and professionalism as improvement of applied mastery. The strengthening of intelligence occurs at the expense of the study of transdisciplines. This strengthening should be in the process of implementing a work project, which also involves the necessary applied disciplines.
A transdiscipline is in turn a discipline (worldview), but the prefix “trans” means that its content can be used in other disciplines. Good knowledge of transdisciplines forms the ability to deal with the relevant disciplines and, accordingly, to expand the ability to solve various applied problems. The speed of learning new theories (disciplines) is conditioned by the knowledge of relevant transdisciplines**.** Without knowledge of ontology it is difficult and takes longer to master systems thinking. Systems thinking will help you navigate more quickly through entrepreneurship, engineering, or management.
Applied disciplines change often enough, and since the last century they have changed so much that it is time for the transdisciplines to change. This is why STEM is now giving way to a new list of transdisciplines that set the conceptual framework for modern applied practices. Modern methodological transdisciplines are — ontology and communication, scientific thinking, computational thinking, systems thinking, praxeology (economics), and ethics (according to the Systems Management School).
Do you want to be an in-demand specialist? Study transdisciplines first, but, of course, don’t forget about applied disciplines. If you study only applied disciplines, it’s not just “putting all your eggs in one basket,” but also guaranteeing difficulties in the future when you have to learn new practices and professions. Transdisciplines are difficult to study because they are more abstract than applied disciplines, but they provide a recipe for “what and how to learn” as well as strengthen the intellect.
Method and Practice
What is the difference between method/methodology and transdiscipline?
We will not distinguish between “method” and “methodology”. A methodology/method is a set of specific practices that must be performed in order to do some turnkey project. For example, a method for creating a hairstyle includes the practices of washing the hair, cutting, drying, and styling it, while a method for assembling a car is a set of practices for welding, attaching parts, etc. So a method is a collection of practices from different fields that come together in one method to do a complex job and obtain a working product.
The method is defined through the concept of “practice”. We define practice in systems thinking as a set of discipline and technology (discipline + technology = practice) that supports the discipline. Transdiscipline is used in several disciplines, and method consists of a set of practices, which in turn are described through discipline and technology.
Consider the example of the Pomodoro practice. We will highlight the concepts and principles that form the discipline. Among the concepts are tomato, timer, time, break. The main principles are to start the timer, concentrate in the role, and do the planned thing. It is required to work focused for 25 minutes, i.e. 1 “tomato,” followed by a short break of 5 minutes. After 4 tomatoes take a long break of 15–20 minutes. Technology is used to implement this discipline: various apps on a smartphone, or the timer used by the founder of the practice, Francesco Cirillo.
The important difference between theory (or transdiscipline) and practice (or method) is that a practice or method always results in some kind of work product. The work product is represented in the physical world: it is a document or system. For example, the method of creating a hairstyle results in a hairstyle, and the practice of accounting results in a document in the form of an accounting balance sheet. Technology is a device or object that helps a person create a work product. In the examples given, technology is scissors (for hairstyle) and the 1C accounting software system (for accounting). The disciplines are accounting and barbering theory. The discipline is learned or “put” in the head, and the technology is mastered or practiced in use.
This distinction helps to organize the learning process, which breaks down into two components. On the one hand, it is necessary to learn a discipline (theory), and on the other hand, to change the world, it is necessary to train or to master the relevant technologies. Choosing the right disciplines to solve problems and learning them quickly is an intelligence ability that is shaped by the study of transdisciplines. Disciplines and technologies change frequently, while transdisciplines change much less frequently. However, we are now living in an era in which transdisciplines are undergoing dramatic change as well.