5. Conclusion: prospects for "safe" design

The two arborescent representation modes (event trees and cause trees) and their associated methods offer a glimpse of the limits of the logic presiding over the design mode described as complex (from the birth to the dissolution of the system).

The type of logic currently prevalent in engineering is still based on Aristotelian binary tendencies and Newtonian causality.

Our methodological approach suggests that the logical structure underlying the design process needs to be modified and made more complex. More specifically, the human being, and his or her way of understanding nature, are at the heart of this challenge, with a way of thinking capable of grasping the interdependencies between the human being, the system and its environment.

The major shift involves moving from system-centric security to securing relationships...