Structural explanations address underlying causes

Complex situations have multiple levels of explanation: Event Explanations, Patterns of Behavior, and Structural Analysis. The most generative (and least common) is the structural explanation, as it gets beyond merely “what happened” and “has this happened before” to address “why did this happen?”

The reason that structural explanations are so important is that only they address the underlying causes of behavior at a level at which patterns of behavior can be changed. Structure produces behavior, and changing underlying structures can produce different patterns of behavior. In this sense, structural explanations are inherently generative. Moreover, since structure in human systems includes the “operating policies” of the decision makers in the system, redesigning our own decision making redesigns the system structure.^[1]

#systems #metacognition

See also:

• Complex situations have multiple levels of explanation
• Structure influences behavior