My Food, My Way 25provide mobility. Financial systems manage money. Marketing systems
advance commerce.
Today, people understand systems by what they do—not by how
they work. Their existence is affirmation of our ready willingness to
let systems control at least part of our lives. When we take out a loan,
our questions center on repayment terms, not the money supply
controlled by the Federal Reserve System. When filling our cars
with gas, we think about which grade of fuel and its price, not how
crude oil residing deep beneath the surface of the Earth became
gasoline deposited a few feet away beneath our feet. When we enter a
supermarket, our minds are on how food can satisfy immediate wants,
not how different pieces and parts of the modern food system are
meshed together to make food available.
Systems allow us to dismiss not knowing what we do not know,
to paraphrase the Arabic proverb.* The nitrogen model I discussed in
chapter represented Farmland’s nitrogen system. It contained over
three thousand equations. In presenting it to executive management,
I covered the results without dwelling on the limitations of systems.
Projections of higher returns initially grabbed their interest. When
trial implementation proved positive, any remaining doubts turned
into optimism.
For me, the experience reinforced my understanding that I should
never overlook how systems work. In every system surrounding us,
assumptions have been made about how its different components
relate to each other. Yet in everyday life, as long as systems perform the
way we want them to, no one questions those assumptions. Ignorance
can inspire trust and confidence, even when neither is merited.
Human-made systems that affirm what one wants to believe are par-
ticularly dicey. While living in Costa Rica, I discovered a new favo-
rite fish called corvina, known as Chilean sea bass in North America.
- He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool. Shun him.
He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, is simple. Teach him.
He who knows, and knows not that he knows, is asleep. Wake him.
He who knows, and knows that he knows, is wise. Follow him.