Systems.CoExplorer

Len Troncale Live from Neo4j

1943–2025 · Cal Poly Pomona · ISSS President 1990
Systems Process Theory (SPT)

Cell biologist turned systems scientist who taught at Cal Poly Pomona for four decades. Troncale pioneered Systems Process Theory as an empirical, evidence-based approach to General Systems Theory — identifying Principal Systems Concepts, mapping formal Linkage Propositions between them, and cataloging over 110 isomorphies across scientific disciplines. His work evolved from SPT (1978) through SoSPT to SP3T, always insisting that systems science must be grounded in the documented processes of the natural sciences, not vague analogies.

Concepts
Linkage Propositions
Isomorphies
PSC Categories

Concepts & Linkage Propositions

Each node is a concept from SPT, queried live from Neo4j. Lines represent Linkage Propositions — formal, empirically verified causal relationships. Click any node to see its full definition and connected propositions. Drag to pan, scroll to zoom.

Eight Principal Systems Concepts

Troncale identified 8 PSC categories meeting 11 strict criteria: sufficiently abstract to be common to all systems, yet specific enough to correspond to experience. Process-oriented, transdisciplinary, phenomenologically based.

Theory Development: 1978–2025

1978
SPT founded with Nature's Enduring Patterns — ~50 concepts, 142 Linkage Propositions, 8 Principal Systems Concepts
1978
NATO paper formalizes SoSPT — network topology with 57 vertices and 142 edges
1980s
Linkage Propositions formalized mathematically
2001
Systems Pathology Framework added — studying how systems fail
2011
Cyberpathologies identified (12+ types)
2012
Major refinement: 110→40 core processes, >200 Linkage Propositions
2014
SPT/SP V comprehensive framework published (ISSS paper with Gilbert)
2017
4SPT as GST — argument for SPT as the most comprehensive General Systems Theory
2020s
SP3T with 15 Isomorphic Systems Processes, 112 planned pamphlets, systems mimicry

110 Isomorphies

Isomorphies are cross-disciplinary pattern instances — empirical evidence that the same fundamental processes appear across physics, chemistry, biology, ecology, and social systems.

Source Documents

Nature's Enduring Patterns: A Review of the Concepts Used in Systems Theory (1978) — The founding document. 349 pages cataloging systems concepts from across the sciences.
Linkage Propositions Between Fifty Principal Systems Concepts (NATO, 1978) — Formal network topology of concept interrelationships.
The Future of General Systems Research: Obstacles, Potentials, Case Studies (1985)
Gilbert-Troncale ISSS 2014 article — Comprehensive SPT/SP V framework.
Mathematics and Systems Process Theory — Formalization of LP network.
4SPT as GST (ISSS 2017) — Argument for SPT as comprehensive general theory.
The 110 Isomorphies catalog — Cross-disciplinary evidence base.
The Self as a System of Processes — Application of SPT to human identity.