If you are going to discuss Synergy and archery systems, then it would likely be best to determine what the "goal" of the system truely is. A flight shooter that is trying to shoot a few arrows the maximum distance has a goal much different than the hunter that wants to shoot thousands of arrows conistantly, for years.
From the systems perspective, the archer might break the system down (broadly) in this way:
1) Bow geometry - to include general shape, reflex, deflex, stiff-vs-flex handle, nocks, brace height, draw length, arrow length, arrow shape, fletching design, string type, etc.
2) Materials (& properties) - wood species, string material, glues, fletching, points, etc.
3) Techniques - toxophile skills/procedures, tillering, string building, arrow building, shooting form, etc.
4) Goal of the system - maximized performance, maximized durability/dependability, maximized efficiency (all of these are different)
Most of these items have been discussed individually in numerous threads on numerous forums. I remember many serious, very technical discussions on PP during the 2005-2008 years when a lot of geometry and materials knowledge was thoroughly (seemingly) hashed out and I'm pretty sure that at least in part, TBB IV was influenced by those discussions. A lot of this info is still around in the various archives, how-tos, and reference threads. I recommend a broad reading of a lot of this material to get a good overview as well a building a bunch of bows (failures are as important as success). At that point, a discussion about some aspect of a bow within the context of an overall goal would likely be a better benefit.
The final gestalt (assuming the builder is also the shooter) will likely still have the human as the weak link. The ability of the individual to always correctly interpret what they are seeing and to make the optimum choice for the goal they have in mind is a fairly rare talent. We all have a natural tendency towards some bias due to our personal senses of porportion, beauty, preferences, etc. We also have personal limitations on the amount of knowledge we can bring to bear, how we make decisions, our physical limitations (my eyesight aint as good as it used to be and without special tools, I can't see a perfect arc). Additionally, within the realm of the materials we work with building bows, we can never know the true properties of the materials and can only make (albeit educated) estimates and generalizations about the properties and likely resultant behaviors of the materials.
I just don't think the whole elephant can be eaten in one sitting (I'm not even sure how big the elephant truely is). Knowledge and experience are the only ways to get to the synergy you seek. There are probably a number of folks that could be considered "Master Bowyers" and they would be the most qualified to discuss this topic and I'm not even sure if they would consider themselves Master Bowyers given the humble nature they always demonstrate.
I posted the above to make sure I was clear about the full scope of your topic.
My .02
Ken
PS - Just to be clear on one distinction, my bow-arrow-string-shooter system is not the same as your bow-arrow-string-shooter system and should (theoretically) have a different weakest link. Each system is unique within iteself and has to be evaluated independently of other sytems. So, either we can discuss generalizations about archery systems or we can discuss specifics about one particular system.
