Did it ever strike you as odd that there isn’t a conceptual framework that encompasses most of what we know and do? It did to me. At least, I hadn’t come across one yet. And I’d been through quite a bit of school at that point. And encountered quite a few different domains of life and thought.
The ProxThink set of ideas is an attempt to integrate the most disparate ideas, influences, people and experiences I’ve come across so far in life. As a conceptual framework, it perhaps contains some insights into most of what we know and do. It may also contain some clues about how we might proceed, as individuals and in groups. Here is some of how it evolved.
ProxThink grew out of adventure. Adventures in thinking that relates to getting things done, as well as enjoying life.
Adventures in widely diverse areas suggested a need for a thinking system for almost any situation, including very ordinary moments. We often get stuck. We often need clues. I began looking for patterns.
I’ve always been curious about practically everything. Yet often each group of people have their own way of talking about their special area. I wanted the biggest, most encompassing patterns possible.
Common sense works in many situations. But common sense is not a cohesive system. Something more than common sense was needed.
As I scoped further and further out, looking at things in more abstract and philosophical ways, I came across a wonderful book. That book was “Many Dimensional Man” by James Ogilvy. In it, he presented this idea from information theory. The idea was “to be is to be related.” It seemed about as general as you could get. I decided to take that idea, try to build upon it, and see where it would go.
I found I needed to add the concept of proximity. The proximity is a useful concept since the meaning of proximity includes nearness in relationship, allowing consideration of any elements related to a situation.
Through many steps, I developed a set of ideas involving some basic terms and sets of patterns.
When I found patterns, I tested them against diverse situations in thought experiments. It has been a very iterative process, and continues to evolve.
In a search for patterns, you run up against limits. So different types of limits need to be included in order to be realistic. On top of that, many things are contradictory. So contradictions must be allowed.
I also wanted the thinking system to be used by diverse people. This meant making complexity accessible. And it meant using everyday words wherever possible.
ProxThink was developed during explorations through everyday life, the hard and soft sciences, the arts, design, engineering, business, culture and a wide variety of people and groups. I’ve been preparing for and working on ProxThink, in one way or another, for over thirty years.
Proxri Deal: As you find our relationship rewarding, proxri with the proximity in mind.
Networks, Nature and New Possibilities
(r] proxthink.com
Natural capital systems like ecosystem services haven’t fallen off a cliff, while our markets have. Shouldn’t we be more embarrassed that we can’t do better? I think we can.
Ecosystem services are things like drinking water, air to breathe, and decomposition of wastes. The earth keeps providing these for us without a break.
We have a highly developed market economy. Yet it can’t seem to function in a smoothly continuous manner. Not only do individual economies suffer ups and downs, but now it’s happening on a global scale.
Networks change the game. We live in an increasingly networked, participatory and transparent world, and that presents both positive and negative possibilities. ProxThink provides ways to think about, relate to, and make more of this new reality. The ProxThink growth model in particular, and the open standards it proposes, provides opportunities when combined with networks.
It often takes a generation to adapt to new technology. So we may not have really figured out how to best use the Internet and networks yet. It is also well known that we have trouble recognizing large, slow changes. This could account for our use of networks to often do old things in new ways, rather than new things that networks make possible.
Networks shift some of the focus from elements, such as objects, people, businesses and governments, to proximities. The ProxThink growth model was designed with networks and proximities in mind. The growth model presents opportunities for greater stability as well as greater variety and vitality, leading at the same time to greater sustainability.
The ProxThink growth model allows for the growth of proximities and people by allowing more direct relationships between individuals and proximities, a strategy used successfully by democracy, markets, and other processes. In essence, the idea is that proximities become things people can have relationships with by means of democracy and markets. The growth model provides new more sustainable and integrated, yet flexible, processes by which proximities become things people can have relationships with. These growth model processes are greatly enhanced by networks.
Specifically, by combining the Internet (and related technologies) with the ProxThink growth model, we can create more sustainable proximities. By shifting the focus to proximities, we could collaborate and work together better. There could be a bit less competition, and a bit more fun and variety. These sustainable proximities could then support diverse people and situations. I think it would result in less turbulence such as recessions and booms, which each seem to feed on themselves and exaggerate the ups and downs. The sustainable proximities we created might become more like the relatively stable ecosystem services we depend on and enjoy.
Again, for more, please see combining the Internet with the ProxThink growth model, and sustainable proximities. You also might also like this financial turmoil post.
Proxri Deal: As you find our relationship rewarding, proxri with the proximity in mind.
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Posted in Civilization, Commentary on News
Tagged boom, competition, democracy, ecosystem services, fun, Internet, Markets, nature, Networks, proximity, recession, turbulence, web