Welcome

Using science & reason to understand human nature & society.

“Humanity is a mystery. It needs to be unravelled, and if you spend your life unravelling it, don’t say you’ve wasted your time.”

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Most of humanity’s problems, such as war, poverty, and climate change, are self-inflicted. Sustainable, long-term solutions can only be found by unravelling Dostoevsky’s mystery of humanity. But this can only be done through an honest, rational, objective, and scientific understanding of human nature. I will post one article a week on a Wednesday morning (GMT). These articles will discuss human nature from the ground floor up. They include, therefore, articles on evolution and systems science. The topics that I have covered to date, and will cover in the future, are listed on the Index page. I would recommend reading them in the order listed, as each article builds on those previously published. You can also see the articles in my Quora space at rational-understanding.quora.com.  If you would like to receive articles by email, please click the subscribe button. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, I will be pleased to hear from you. My email address is email@johnachalloner.com.

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Most Recent Posts

The Evolutionary Basis of the Enhanced Morphogenetic Cycle

I’m pleased to share the second paper in my Social Systems Theory (SST) series which describes the enhanced morphogenetic cycle as the latest expression of an evolutionary process. In this paper, I explore a simple but far-reaching idea: 👉 The enhanced morphogenetic cycle is not unique to human society👉 It is the latest stage in…

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01 Philosophical Foundations of General Systems Theory

This paper sets out the philosophical basis for the Extended Framework for General Systems Theory (EFGST), integrating two complementary perspectives: Together, these provide a realist yet epistemically modest foundation for systems science. The paper explores several key implications, including: One theme that runs throughout is that we never act directly on reality itself, but on…

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The Enhanced Morphogenetic Cycle

How do societies adapt to change? Why do some institutions reform successfully while others persist in arrangements that no longer work? These questions sit at the heart of sociology and systems science. Margaret Archer’s Morphogenetic Approach has long provided a powerful way of analysing them by separating structure, culture, and agency and examining how their…

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Here are five simple questions for you to meditate upon:

  1. How confident are you that you know the problems of humanity?
  2. To what extent do you care about those problems?
  3. How confident are you that you understand why these problems exist?
  4. How confident are you that you know the solutions to these problems?
  5. How empowered do you feel to make a difference?

If you would like to reply to these questions (and only these questions) in a 90 second, anonymous questionnaire, click here https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/S2CQBGL.

When sufficient people have responded I will publish the results here.