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STPrism

Hylton Boothroyd

2 min read

Here is a Mermaid diagram illustrating the relationship between these concepts, based on the framework of Articulate Intervention found in the sources.

The diagram shows how the “Action Programme” (the social system) evolves through time, driven by novelty (non-ergodicity) and stabilized by constraint.

graph TD
    subgraph Time_Flow [The Flow of Time & Experience]
        
         The Mechanism of Change
        NonErgodicity -->|Drives| Speciation("<b>SPECIATION</b><br/>(Evolution of Action Programmes)<br/><i>The system changes its 'species'<br/>(core theories & proposals)</i>")
        
         The Stabilizing Force
        Decisions{Decision / 'The Cut'} -->|Creates| Constraint("<b>CONSTRAINT</b><br/>(Proposals/Rules)<br/><i>Imposes artificial stability to<br/>allow action amidst chaos</i>")
        
        Constraint -->|Temporarily Stabilizes| Causality
        
         The Risk of Collapse
            Speciation -.->|If this speciates/changes| HighLevel
            HighLevel -.->|Predictive value suddenly deteriorates| LowLevel
        end
        
         Styles
    style NonErgodicity fill:#f9f,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    style Speciation fill:#bbf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    style Constraint fill:#bfb,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    style Hierarchy_Structure fill:#eee,stroke:#333,stroke-dasharray: 5 5

Explanation of the Diagram Elements

• Non-Ergodicity (The Driver): This is the starting point. Because human systems are non-ergodic, the future is not a statistical repetition of the past. Actors can “conceive” of novel actions (new ideas, inventions, choices) that cannot be predicted from historical data[1][2].

• Speciation (The Change): This injection of novelty causes the “Action Programme” (the organization or system) to “speciate.” It evolves into a new form with different core values and rules, just as biological species evolve[3][4].

• Causality (The Weak Link): In social systems, causality is not a fixed law of nature; it is a “theory” or picture held by people. When speciation occurs, the old causal links (e.g., “Advertising X causes Sales Y”) may suddenly break. This makes all advice “necessarily impermanent”[5][6].

• Constraint (The Stabilizer): To manage this chaos, we use Proposals (decisions, laws, ethics). A decision is a “cut” that eliminates possibilities. These constraints create a temporary pocket of stability where causality works well enough to take action[3][7].

• Hierarchy (The Scope of Risk): Systems are nested. A “Higher-Level Programme” (like the economy) acts as a constraint on the “Lower-Level Programme” (like a business).

    ◦ Stability: As long as the higher level is stable, the lower level is predictable.    ◦ Collapse: If the higher level “speciates” (e.g., a currency collapse or revolution), the constraints holding the lower level together fail, and predictions suddenly deteriorate[4][8].

Graph View