Matrix Thinking
David Noel
BFC PRESS
ISBN: 09587 63704
For Peter Good,
who understood
and encouraged.
Copyright 1992, 1995, 1997 by David Noel.
Published by BFC Press,
a division of
Ben Franklin Centre
PO Box 27, Subiaco, WA 6008, Australia
Fax number +61-8-9388 1852
e-mail: bfc@AOI.com.au
**********
Printing history
Beta-release version 1992
Part issued in parts 1995
First edition, first printing 1997
Contents
Book I
Chapter Page
Fore Word 5
101 What is Matrix Thinking? 8
102 The Substance of Society -- Infocap 12
103 The House on the Polish Border -- About Systons 17
104 I've Got You Under my Skin -- Syston Boundaries and SIOS 25
105 A Complicated Recipe -- Diversity and Infocap Content 31
106 Love Makes the World Go Round -- The Synenergy Story 40
107 Jack Sprat Could Eat No Fat -- Systel Allocation 44
108 Going by the Rules -- Living in the Syston Mix 50
109 Deviating from the Mean -- Standardization and Diversity 56
110 Pushing Off from Pommyland -- Syston Budding & Merger 67
111 The Foreign Ideas Review Board -- Syston Openness 82
112 Liechdorrino Legislation -- Laying Down the Law 88
113 With Stars Upon Thars -- SIOS and Infocap Flow 93
114 What's Good for General Motors -- Matrix Additivity and Conservation 106
115 Stop the World, I Want to Change Seats -- Synenergy and Infocap Measuring
110
116 It Just Doesn't Follow -- Syston Government 115
117 It's Not My Fault -- Scapegoats, Idols, and Resonodes 124
118 Four Cells in a Cockroach -- Syston Pacemakers and Halflives 135
119 No Closer to God -- Imports, Exports, and Infocap 142
120 Don't Tell Me About It -- Arms-lengthing 150
121 Picture This -- Tools of Matrix Thinking 156
122 The Right Thing to Do -- Matrix Morality 167
123 The Face of the Future -- Matrix Machines 170
124 A Matter of Motive -- Syston Psychology 176
125 When the Locusts Swarm -- Matrix Geography 188
For Now Word 198
References 200
Contents
Book II
Chapter
Mid Word
201 Matrix Economics
202 Inflation and Currency
203 Taxation and Motivation
204 Language and Communication
205 Politics and Nationality
206 Peace and War
207 Law and Compliance
208 Education and Learning
209 Agriculture and Land Use
210 Business and Employment
211 Sport and Entertainment
212 Music and Performance
213 Fine and Coarse Arts
214 Science and Research
215 Health and Medicine
216 Ecology and the Wider World
217 Religion and Belief
218 The Supernatural and Parapsychology
219 Philosophy and Matrix Thinking
220 Looking Back
After Word
References
Appendix: Infocap & Synenergy Dimensions, Structure, Embodiment
Collected Propositions
Glossary
FORE WORD
"The art of discovery is to to see what
everybody sees, and think what nobody thinks"
The Origins of Matrix Thinking
The broad plan of the work is
a conventional one. Successive chapters look at what is meant by Matrix
Thinking, how it fits in with existing philosophical approaches to the world,
and how it can be applied to yield general conclusions, rules, laws, about the
makeup of the Society of Man. Ambition and
Scope
This book grew out of my previous book, "Nuteeriat"
[Noel, 1989]. In "Nuteeriat" I was able to
present a rather new picture of the Earth, its history and development, and its
interaction with its living inhabitants.
The book looked at three broad divisions of the Earth's development. First
there was the Physical Earth, the result of the operation of the physical laws
of nature upon the substances and energies of the planet.
Then there was the Biological Earth, showing the development of life on Earth
and its interaction with the physical components, and, further, the
back-influence of the biological elements on the physical world.
Thirdly, there was a brief and hesitant entry into the Intelligent Earth, the
ever more powerful influences of intelligent species, in particular man, upon
the physical and biological components of our planet. In this section I was
able to bring forward perhaps generally unappreciated evidence of the profound
changes wrought by man upon our world, not just over the last few hundreds or
thousands of years of his existence, but far, far beyond, back into the time
when man, as the creature we recognize as such, was in his earliest beginnings.
The broad-spectrum, synthetic approach used in "Nuteeriat" was
able to yield a rich haul of new ideas about our world. In the words of one
reader, it was able to bring out 'many new truths'. None of these was actually
claimed as a 'truth', but instead was presented as a 'Proposition', an Aunt Sally
put up for questioning, testing, rejection, or tentative acceptance, to stand
or fall on its own merits.
This fertile approach to looking at the world was, in fact, Matrix Thinking,
although it was not named as such in "Nuteeriat" .
Throughout its history the scientific world has, in some times, advanced
through brilliant feats of deduction, and in others been held back and diverted
from progress by entrenched concepts, which have fallen from acceptance only
after prolonged assault by the new ideas and reasoning which replaced them.
Moreover, science is no stranger to the prejudices, politics, and emotions
which have such a major influence in the social world of man.
In "Nuteeriat" I put forward the suggestion that, if the
Matrix Thinking approach used could be used successfully in the so-called 'hard
sciences' of physics, biology, and the like, could it not also be applied in
the 'soft' sciences of politics, law, sociology and their sisters? The present
book is the response to that question. It will be for the reader to judge the
success of that application.
The total work consists of two separate parts, called Book I and Book II. In
one departure from general practice, the chapters in these books are numbered
like the rooms in a multi-storey hotel, so the third chapter in Book I is
Chapter 103, the sixth chapter in Book II is Chapter 206, and so on.
A fundamental feature in the development of the topics covered is the progressive
introduction of new entities, new or re-formulated concepts which will be put
together to form a composite whole -- the components of a Matrix Model. In
gaining a better understanding of how parts of our universe operate, the
development of suitable entity models is often an essential first step for
success.
As an example, in the history of discovery of the properties of matter, a
fundamental step required for understanding these properties was the
postulation of an entity which was assigned the name 'atom'.
Similarly, in developing an understanding of how human diseases act, a
fundamental first requirement was to suggest the existence of entities named
'germs', as the active agents of diseases. In neither case was the exact
definition or description of the relevant entity needed, what was important was
to put in place the concept. Increasing knowledge of the entities, and their
definition and classification, could and did follow only when their broad
existence had been accepted.
And so, in moving to build a greater understanding of human society and how it
operates, the first steps will involve extraction of the essential entities
involved. Once this has been accomplished, a start can be made on setting down
the properties and classifications of the entities, and thought given to how
they interact. Gradually we will build up a model of our Matrix, and begin the
slow process of refining and improving this model to the point where it can be
practically applied to tell us more about our world.
Later, in Book II, the framework or machine so erected will be applied to
specific areas of society to yield various conclusions about each of these
areas -- economics, politics, business, education, law, entertainment, the
'arts', and sports are among them. Scattered throughout the chapters, at
appropriate places, are formal 'Propositions' put up for criticism by those who
feel inclined.
These Propositions vary enormously in importance and relevance. To give some
measure of my own assessment of their importance, most are followed by a number
of stars, increasing with importance.
It is perhaps inevitable that some of these Propositions will offend, annoy, or
arouse antagonism in some. In a recursive twist to the book, I will also be
looking at reasons why the mere presentation of such ideas can arouse antipathy
and approval both.
Many of the Propositions presented will be simple. For this reason, they will
be open to attack as being simplistic. My own feeling is that we should never
underestimate the power and importance of simplicity. After all, five simple
symbols, in the form E=mc2, changed our world forever.
The aims and scope of this work are very broad. On
the theoretical side, the Matrix Model which is developed is underlain by the
skeleton of a Unified Theory of human society. And on the practical side, a
Matrix Toolkit is developed which goes some way toward providing a mechanism,
first for the analysis of aspects of society, and then for the construction and
revision of societal interactions. These deal, not exactly with human behaviour
as such, but more with the interaction of other elements of society which will
themselves be exposed in the following treatment.
All these things are only different facets of a whole which I may refer to
simply as The Matrix. All are part of what might be described as a powerful
Intellectual Engine, one which, if it were a nutcracker, should be capable of
cracking some pretty hard nuts.
Nevertheless, it should be emphasized that this Engine is but a prototype. I
hope that its release to the World will encourage others to descend upon it,
take it apart, improve, update, and extend its various parts, and perhaps even
replace it completely with something better.
So this book attempts to dive into some pretty deep waters -- the reader is
advised to plunge only when equipped with the lifebelt of commonsense and the
scuba gear of logical reason. In its consideration of society, this book is not
about what is moral, but about what morality is; not about what we should do,
but about what we could do; and in the final analysis, it is about what 'we'
means.
And now, on to the fray . . .
First chapter: What is Matrix Thinking?
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