Robert Johannson
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Robert Johannson is a playwright and cyberneticist, as well as a recovering politician, a recovering Shakespeare scholar, a recovering United Church minister, a recovering system administrator, and a recovering accountant. He has been variously called a polymath and one of our local eccentrics. He is also a proud husband, father and grandfather.
Robert graduated Grade XII at Transcona Collegiate Institute where he joined his first political party and has been politically active ever since. He studied Chartered Accountancy for two years at the firm of Touche, Ross, Bailey and Smart. He received an honours degree in English Literature from the University of Manitoba. Robert was a Winnipeg City Councillor for six years. He was baptized as an adult at Augustine United Church, and received the gift of the Holy Spirit. He was a candidate for ministry from Augustine United Church, has a Masters of Divinity from St. Andrew's College in Saskatoon, and was ordained by the Conference of Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario.
Personal Life
Robert and his wife Joan taught parenting courses in the inner-city of Winnipeg and produced two books:
They have three children and five granddaughters. His interest in cybernetics comes from discovering the negative effects of behaviourism as a parenting model, and turning instead to the study of Gregory Bateson and the Macy Conferences on Cybernetics. Robert served as the systems administrator for Journeys Adult Education Centre in Winnipeg which involved maintaining a computer lab, and Internet connection, as well as designing the school's data bases. Robert is a playwright and has been produced by CBC radio, the Manitoba Association of Playwrights, Prairie Theatre Exchange, the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival and the Edmonton Fringe Theatre Festival. His plays include Charles Wesley: A Musical Play; The Ecstasy of St. Teresa; and Never Trust a Naked Marriage Counsellor. He is currently working on a play about the Trial of St. Paul. Robert retired in 2009 after serving First United Church in Dauphin. In his retirement Robert studied Physics, Mathematics, Statistics and Mathematical Statistics at the University of Winnipeg. He has published two books on systems theory: Process Dualism: Resolving the Mind/Body Problem; and most recently Green Rising: An Alternative Future which deals with the cultural roots of the environmental crisis. He is the Chair of the Holistic Systems Theory Special Integration Group of the International Society for the Systems Sciences.
Work
Robert Johannson has made two original contributions to the theory of systems. In his book [[Process Dualism]] he shows that mind and matter constitute a figure/ground gestalt, thus resolving how material processes and information processes can be both simultaneous and incommensurate. The book also explains that the cybernetic control loop is an information process and not a material process. It's purpose is to control form and not to control velocity.
Videos
YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/@robertjohannson
33 Videos – most views – Cybernetics and Psychology
Playlists
ISSS 2022 – 4 videos
ISSS 2021 – 6 videos
Disintegration of the West - 2 videos
Systems Theory – 10 videos
ASC 2020 – 2 videos
ISSS Conferences and Seminars
https://www.isss.org/home/
Publications
The videos are the most accessible, but pdfs can be found at academia.edu
Academia and Career Years of Service: 2021-224 Post: Chair: Holistic Systems Theory SIG Degrees: Bachelor of Arts (Hons.); Master of Divinity Fields of Study: Cybernetics, General Systems Theory, Theatre, Theology, Philosophy, Leadership, Organization
Universities: University of Manitoba, St. Andrew's College,
Notable works:Process Dualism: Resolving the Mind/Body Problem;
Social: Winnipeg City Counselor; Canadian Association of the Non-Employed; Green Party Books
Power: Woodsworth and W. L. Mackenzie King
Charles Wesley: A Musical Play
The Ecstasy of St. Teresa
Never Trust A Naked Marriage Counsellor
The Red Saloon
Voluspa: The Prophecy
Process Dualism: Resolving the Mind/Body Problem
Green Rising: An Alternative Future
with Joan Johannson
The Family Zoo: Leadership for Parents Empowerment: A Systems Approach to People and Groups
Special Interests
Video Presentations YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/@robertjohannson
33 Videos – most views – Cybernetics and Psychology
Playlists ISSS 2022 – 4 videos
ISSS 2021 – 6 videos Disintegration of the West - 2 videos Systems Theory – 10 videos ASC 2020 – 2 videos
ISSS Conferences and Seminars
== https://www.isss.org/home/ Selected Publications
==Citation