Here are some of the models for thinking that I find useful in understanding some of the complexity of our times:
- Integral Theory - 5 structural pieces:
- Quadrants
- Levels / stages of development (permanent)
- simple model - egocentric, ethnocentric, world centric (body/mind/spirit)
- Lines - show growth and development through the 3 major stages above
- cognitive
- interpersonal
- moral
- emotional
- aesthetic
- States of consciousness (temporary)
- wake, dream, sleep
- meditative states
- altered states
- peak experiences
- Types - gender, personality, ...
- Spiral Dynamics 1 -Historical development is not circular but an expanding spiral. The spiral shows repeating patterns and there is a vertical dimension of development. At each level of development, a society / individual creates problems that can be solved only by regressing (to an earlier level) or transcending and including the current level. According to the spiral model, what is evolving is the values with which a level operates. There is a progression of values. One aspect of this progression is that greater and greater levels of complexity are handled / managed.
- System Dynamics and Systems Thinking
This model applies control systems principles, i.e., feedback to model complex systems. Underlying are the presuppositions that we can create a causal loop structure of complex systems (including social systems). However, the behavior of such systems is very non-linear and the human mind is not adapted to deal with the implications of the causal structure that it surmises. This approach has grown to be applied to various organizational development and change management processes.
Systems thinking enlarges this model to include- personal development,
- mental models as a way of thinking (and evolving those models more consciously),
- seeing repeating patterns as archetypical underlying structures that are generating those patterns
- models show certain patterns
- separation of causality in time and space
- nonlinear behavior
- short term pain can lead to long term gain
- most of the problematic behavior is endogenous to a system and not due to external causes.
- Moral Psychology - Jonathon Haidt's model of the psychology of morality in The Righteous Mind.
Six foundations:- Care / harm cherishing and protecting others
- Fairness or proportionality / cheating - rendering justice according to shared rules
- Loyalty or ingroup / betrayal - standing with your group / family / nation
- Authority or respect / subversion - submitting to tradition and legitimate authority
- Sanctity or purity / degradation - abhorrence for disgusting things / foods/ actions
- Liberty / oppression - freedom to do as one wants without restriction or domination
- Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)
Based on the notion that our selves are programmed linguistically through our neurology. Linguistic techniques can be used to program / reprogram our neurology. The boundaries between what is / is not programmable is variable. Discovery mode in NLP is used to discover some of those boundaries in different areas such as phobias, habits, competencies, disorders, .... - Generational cycles in history (The Fourth Turning) by Strauss and Howe
Generations are like the seasons (spring, summer, fall, winter):- Each generation has a particular character (archetype)
- Each generation is circa 20 years. A full cycle take a saeculum (80-90 years)
- Like the seasons, there is a sequence / order of repeating patterns. and like the seasons,
- Sping / high -there is growth / flowering period (spring). Institutions are strong and individuals weak. Civic authority is rebuilt after the crisis of winter.
- Summer / Awakening - institutions are attached in the name of personal and spiritual autonomy - society is reaching its high tide of public progress
- Fall / unraveling - opposite of spring, institutions are wek and distrusted, individualism is strong and flourishing.
- Winter / crisis - an era of destruction - often involving war or revolution. Institutional life is destroyed and rebuilt in response to a perceived threat to the nation's survival.
- These cycles can be traced back all the way to the Etruscans in pre-roman times.
- Laws of Form by Gordon Spencer-Brown
In the infinite background, we make a distinction. The reason for making a distinction is for some intent / value. We can make distinction within distinctions, ad infinitum. - Maps of Meaning by Jordan Peterson
Meaning is developed through existential dilemmas -- life is a tension between chaos and order
- chaos is also the source of creativity, of birth of the new
- we note patterns occurring in our experience of life, patterns that lead to order and keep us from chaos
- we codify these patterns in myths
- these myths are the maps we have created over time to understand and deal with the overwhelming complexity of existence.
- when we dismiss these myths as trivial or meaningless, we miss the deep encoding of human experience that these myths codify
- Meaning is critical for a healthy life, e.g., a basic universal income is not healthy unless a person has a meaningful life to which the income is provided.
- Yuval Harari's models of human development in his books Sapiens, Homo Deus, 21 Lessons for he 21st century
Structural elements of his model:- in human evolution there occurred a cognitive revolution which allowed us to create myths
- these myths allowed us the glue / binding to create groups of greater size (> 100 - 150) than other primates.
- these larger groups evolved to create artifacts that kept increasing the capabilities and complexity of our societies.
- Our growing capabilities allow our artifacts / tools (AI, data mining) to know us better than we know ourselves.
- Entity / groups that know us better than we know ourselves allow us to be hacked. The antidote is to know ourselves better.
- The continuing growth of these capabilities will give us "god--like" powers along the lines of Kurzweil's singularity. There is a transcend and include evolution between our biology and our artifacts (bio, nano, ai, ...)
- Biggest current issues are ecology, war, economy.
- Kahnemann and Tversky's models of human decision making
Human decision making is flawed in predictable ways- departures from rationality can be anticipated and specified
- people attitudes towards risks concerning gains may be quite different from attitudes towards risks concerning losses.
- people give more attention to worrying about unnatural dangers and not enough to natural dangers or people spend a lot of time preparing for / worrying about situations that rarely arise.
- Different modes of cognition - fast and slow thinking (foreground/background, reasoning (effortful) / intuitive (spontaneous), ..)
- Framing an issue / question determines which choice / path is more likely to be taken
- Dan Ariely's models of human decision making
We make predictably "wrong" decisions. - Stephen Wolfram's New Kind of Science and rules and automata
In A New Kind of Science, Wolfram talks about wanting to study cellular automata (simple rules and the behaviors they generate). He wanted to study them comprehensively. The way he came up with was to create an 8 bit universe and study all possible rules in that universe. This led to some unexpectedly complex behavior. For me, this led to the insight / hypothesis that that is exactly what "infinity" is doing - creating all possible universes to experience all that is possible to experience - heavens, hells, and everything in between and much more than we can begin to articulate. - Information Theory
- The Big Five personality model
- Openness to experience (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious). Appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, curiosity, and variety of experience. Openness reflects the degree of intellectual curiosity, creativity and a preference for novelty and variety a person has. It is also described as the extent to which a person is imaginative or independent and depicts a personal preference for a variety of activities over a strict routine. High openness can be perceived as unpredictability or lack of focus, and more likely to engage in risky behaviour or drug taking. Also, individuals that have high openness tend to lean, in occupation and hobby, towards the arts, being, typically, creative and appreciative of the significance of intellectual and artistic pursuits. Moreover, individuals with high openness are said to pursue self-actualization specifically by seeking out intense, euphoric experiences. Conversely, those with low openness seek to gain fulfillment through perseverance and are characterized as pragmatic and data-driven—sometimes even perceived to be dogmatic and closed-minded. Some disagreement remains about how to interpret and contextualize the openness factor.
- Conscientiousness (efficient/organized vs. easy-going/careless). Tendency to be organized and dependable, show self-discipline, act dutifully, aim for achievement, and prefer planned rather than spontaneous behavior. High conscientiousness is often perceived as being stubborn and focused. Low conscientiousness is associated with flexibility and spontaneity, but can also appear as sloppiness and lack of reliability.
- Extraversion (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved). Energetic, surgency, assertiveness, sociability and the tendency to seek stimulation in the company of others, and talkativeness. High extraversion is often perceived as attention-seeking and domineering. Low extraversion causes a reserved, reflective personality, which can be perceived as aloof or self-absorbed. Extroverted people may appear more dominant in social settings, as opposed to introverted people in this setting.
- Agreeableness (friendly/compassionate vs. challenging/detached). Tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic towards others. It is also a measure of one's trusting and helpful nature, and whether a person is generally well-tempered or not. High agreeableness is often seen as naive or submissive. Low agreeableness personalities are often competitive or challenging people, which can be seen as argumentative or untrustworthy.
- Neuroticism (sensitive/nervous vs. secure/confident). Tendency to be prone to psychological stress. The tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily, such as anger, anxiety, depression, and vulnerability. Neuroticism also refers to the degree of emotional stability and impulse control and is sometimes referred to by its low pole, "emotional stability". High stability manifests itself as a stable and calm personality, but can be seen as uninspiring and unconcerned. Low stability manifests as the reactive and excitable personality often found in dynamic individuals, but can be perceived as unstable or insecure. Also, individuals with higher levels of neuroticism tend to have worse psychological well being.
- Whole Brain Living by Jill Bolte Taylor about 4 neuroanatomical characters that are in each one of us.
- Generator functions as the source of the patterns we see in our cultures, societies, us, ...
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