Open System

A system that exchanges matter, energy, information, or influence with its environment—it's open to outside input, open to change, open to learning. Open systems are the default in nature: ecosystems exchange nutrients, economies exchange goods, relationships exchange feelings. Open systems can adapt, evolve, and surprise you, which is both their strength (they can improve) and their challenge (they're unpredictable). Open systems are what therapists work with, what managers struggle with, and what anyone in a relationship is definitely dealing with. The opposite of an open system is a closed system, which is either a very simple machine or a person who's decided never to change.

Example: "Her relationship was an open system—constantly exchanging feelings, ideas, influences with the outside world. Friends affected them, work stress flowed in, cultural shifts reshaped their dynamics. Some people said relationships should be closed systems, just the two of them against the world. Those people were either in very new relationships or very doomed ones."

by Abzunammu February 16, 2026

Closed System

A system that exchanges nothing with its environment—no matter, no energy, no information, no influence. Closed systems are theoretical ideals in physics (the universe as a whole might be closed) and practical nightmares in human affairs. A closed relationship is one that never learns, never grows, never adapts—it's the same argument forever. A closed mind is one that never accepts new information. A closed economy is one that never trades. Closed systems are predictable, stable, and dead. They're comforting to people who hate change and suffocating to everyone else. In reality, perfectly closed systems don't exist—they're approximations at best, delusions at worst.

Example: "His mind was a closed system—no new information entered, no old beliefs exited. Every conversation recycled the same arguments, every fact was filtered through the same unchanging framework. People stopped trying to reach him because you can't reach a closed system—you can only bounce off the boundaries. He called it consistency. Everyone else called it exhausting."

by Abzunammu February 16, 2026

Unbounded System

A system with no discernible boundaries—no clear edge between inside and outside, no definite limits to its extent or influence. Unbounded systems are everywhere and nowhere: the internet, the economy, your extended family's drama. They're impossible to fully map, impossible to completely understand, impossible to control. Unbounded systems are what you're dealing with when you can't tell where the problem ends and everything else begins. They're the reason some arguments never conclude—you can't bound the relevant factors. They're also the reason some experiences feel infinite—because they are, at least in terms of connections and implications.

Example: "She tried to understand her anxiety as a bounded problem with clear causes. But it was an unbounded system—connected to her childhood, her job, her relationships, her health, the news, the climate, the state of the world. No clear boundaries, no edge to the problem. Unbounded systems can't be solved; they can only be navigated. She stopped trying to fix it and started trying to live with it."

by Abzunammu February 16, 2026

Bounded System

A system with clear boundaries—a definite edge between inside and outside, limited extent, manageable scope. Bounded systems are what we try to create when reality gets too complex: a budget (bounded by dollars), a project (bounded by scope), a relationship agreement (bounded by rules). Bounded systems are comforting because you can understand them, control them, predict them. The problem is that most real systems aren't bounded—we just pretend they are so we can function. A budget is bounded; your actual financial life isn't. A project plan is bounded; the actual work isn't. Boundaries are useful fictions, but they're still fictions.

Example: "He created a bounded system for his work—clear tasks, clear deadlines, clear boundaries between work and life. For a while, it worked. Then a crisis hit, and the boundaries dissolved. Work leaked into life, deadlines shifted, tasks multiplied. The bounded system had been a useful fiction, but a fiction nonetheless. He rebuilt it, knowing it would fail again. That's what you do with bounded systems—you maintain the fiction because the alternative is chaos."

by Abzunammu February 16, 2026

Fluid System

A system whose boundaries, components, and behaviors are constantly changing—flowing like water, never fixed, always becoming something else. Fluid systems are the opposite of static systems: they're alive, adaptive, unpredictable. Your identity is a fluid system (you're not the same person you were). Your relationships are fluid systems (they grow or die). Your understanding is a fluid system (it evolves or stagnates). Fluid systems are hard to manage because you can't pin them down, but they're also the only kind worth being in. Static systems are dead; fluid systems are living.

Example: "She tried to define her career path as a fixed trajectory, but it was a fluid system—opportunities emerged, interests shifted, industries transformed. Any plan was obsolete by the time she made it. She stopped trying to control the flow and started learning to swim in it. Fluid systems don't reward planners; they reward adapters. She adapted."

by Abzunammu February 16, 2026

Liquid System

A system that flows and adapts, taking the shape of whatever container it occupies while maintaining its essential nature. Like water, liquid systems have no fixed form—they pour into situations, conform to contexts, adapt to boundaries without being bound. Yet they remain themselves: liquid water is always H2O, whether in a glass, a lake, or steam. Liquid systems are flexible without being formless, adaptive without losing identity. They're what you need when the environment keeps changing but you still need to be you. Relationships are liquid systems—they flow around jobs, children, crises, but remain fundamentally themselves. Careers are liquid systems—they take different shapes in different contexts but carry your essential skills and values. Liquid systems are the opposite of solid systems, which resist all reshaping until they crack.

Example: "Her team was a liquid system—adapting to every new project, flowing into whatever shape was needed, yet maintaining their core identity and values. When a crisis hit, they didn't break; they just reshaped around it. New leaders emerged, old hierarchies dissolved, but the team remained itself—just in a different container."

by Abzunammu February 16, 2026

Gaseous System

A system so diffuse, so expansive, so lacking in fixed form that it fills whatever space it occupies, seeping into every corner, surrounding everything with its presence. Gaseous systems are everywhere and nowhere—you can't grab them, can't contain them, can't even see them most of the time, but you know they're there because you breathe them. Corporate culture is a gaseous system—it permeates everything, affects everyone, but try to point to it and your hand passes through. The internet is a gaseous system—it's everywhere, connected to everything, but has no fixed location. Public opinion is a gaseous system—it shifts with every wind, fills every conversation, but can't be pinned down. Gaseous systems are impossible to control but impossible to ignore.

Example: "He tried to change his company's culture with memos and meetings, but culture is a gaseous system—it had already seeped into every conversation, every decision, every unspoken assumption. His memos dissolved in the atmosphere. He finally understood: you don't change a gas by pointing at it; you change the conditions that shape its behavior."

by Abzunammu February 16, 2026