Index

The list below describes the subject matter that has been or will be posted on this website. The list is in subject order rather than date order and, where a post on the subject has been made, a link is provided. If you are new to this website and wish to catch up, or if you want to refer back to a post, then please use these links.

1. Evolution
   1. Schrodinger’s Other Paradox
   2. Basic Theory of Evolution
   3. Individual Level Natural Selection
   4. Kin Level Natural Selection
   5. Group Level Natural Selection
   6. The Influence of Group Level Natural Selection on Humanity
   7. Species and Ecosystem Level Natural Selection
   8. The Human Economy
   9. Is Mankind Still Evolving? – A Summary
2. Human Needs & Satisfiers
   1. The Hierarchy of Needs Reviewed
   2. Contra-needs and Existentialism
   3. The Tree of Needs
   4. Satisfiers and Contra-satisfiers
   5. Individuals, Generations, Age-groups, and the Prioritisation of Needs
   6. Sense, Order and Meaning
   7. Anti-social Needs and Behaviour
   8. Resources, Poverty and Wellbeing
3. Knowledge, Beliefs and Predispositions
   1. Feedback Loops and Emergent Properties
   2. Consciousness
   3. Schemata, Memes and Paradigms (1)
   4. The Acquisition of Knowledge
   5. Schemata, Memes and Paradigms (2)
   6. Why Consistency of Knowledge is Important
   7. Hereditary Predispositions, Personality and Beliefs
   8. Knowledge and Utility
   9. Improving our Knowledge of Human Nature
   10. The Evolution of Knowledge
4. Decision Making and Behaviour
   1. Do we have Free Will?
   2. Evidence in Favour of Free Will and the Consequences of its Denial
   3. How Needs and Contra-needs Motivate us
   4. Emotions
   5. Basic Emotions
   6. Emotions and Decision Making
   7. The Evaluation of Satisfiers and Contra-satisfiers
   8. The Evaluation of Resources and Risk/Benefit/Cost Assessment
   9. The Behavioural Loop or Cycle
   10. The Creative Process and Decision Making
   11. Causality and Behavioural Strategies
   12. Worldviews and Objective Reality
   13. Perspectivism and Poly-perspectivism
   14. How to Think Creatively and Discover the Truth
   15. Maintaining Independence of Mind
5. Causality and Systems Theory
   1. Causality in More Detail
   2. General Systems Theory
   3. Further Principles of General Systems Theory
   4. Principles of Self-Maintaining Systems
   5. The Systems Approach to Communication
   6. Systems Theory from a Cognitive and Physicalist Perspective (pdf)
   7. Systems Theory from a Cognitive and Physicalist Perspective Updated (pdf)
   8. A Conceptual Framework for General System Theory
   9. How to Gain Understanding
6. Social Systems Theory 1
   1. A Systems Model of Human Organisation (Part 1)
   2. A Systems Model of Human Organisation (Part 2)
   3. A Systems Model of Human Organisation (Part 3)
   4. Identifying Desirable Changes in Human Organisation
   5. Quality of Decision-making and Command (Part 1)
   6. Quality of Decision-making and Command (Part 2)
   7. Quality of Implementation of Commands
   8. Top-down and Bottom-up Representation
7. How Organisations and Hierarchies Arise
   1. An Introduction to Organisations
   2. Competition and Co-operation
   3. How Organisations & Hierarchies Emerge
   4. Motivators
   5. Individual Response to Motivators
   6. Communication, Assembly & Organisation
   7. Belief System Emergence – Introduction
   8. Belief System Emergence – Culture
   9. Belief System Emergence – Ideology
   10. Hierarchy Emergence – Introduction
   11. Why We Follow a Leader
   12. Power
   13. Trading Status for Support & Vice Versa
   14. The Acquisition of Status
8. How Organisations & Hierarchies Behave
   1. Organisational Needs
   2. Why Hierarchy is Necessary in Organisations
   3. Organisational Motivators, Satisfiers and Decisions
   4. How Organisational Size Affects Efficiency
   5. Knowledge, Language and Organisational Culture
   6. Culture, Sub-cultures and Cultural Evolution
   7. Operant Conditioning and Cultural Evolution
   8. Cultural Speciation (Part 1)
   9. Cultural Speciation (Part 2)
   10. Progressive and Conservative Sub-cultures
   11. National Cultural Evolution
   12. Maintaining Hierarchies and Social Status
   13. Sectors
   14. Overview of Past and Present Sectors
   15. How Sectors are Inter-related and Overview of Emerging Sectors
9. Social Systems Theory 2
   1. Are the Social Sciences Scientific?
   2. Basic Social Systems Theory
   3. Language (Part 1)
   4. Language (Part 2)
   5. A Summary of Social Systems Theory
   6. Behaviour is a System
   7. Functional Differentiation
   8. Values
   9. Disagreement: A Goldilocks Zone Hypothesis
   10. Culture and Interaction Style
   11. The Cause and Benefits of Social Complexity
   12. Understanding Social Complexity
   13. Social Networks
   14. Suggestions for the Analysis of Social Systems
   15. Social Interactions (Part 1)
   16. Social Interactions (Part 2)
   17. Social Systems Theory in Practice – An Example (Part 1)
   18. Social Systems Theory in Practice – An Example (Part 2)
   19. Social Systems Theory and Practical Problem Solving (pdf)
   20. Interaction, Prejudice and Discrimination
   21. Socio-culturally Reinforced Psychological Defence Mechanisms
   22. Cultural Denial or Conspiracy of Silence
   23. Management Denial Syndrome
   24. Systems Thinking and the Elephant in the Room
   25. The Causes of Conflict
   26. How Cooperation Can Fail (Part 1)
   27. How Cooperation Can Fail (Part 2)
   28. What is Power?
   29. Psychological Barriers
   30. How Psychological Barriers can be Reinforced or Weakened
   31. The Fractal Nature of Society
   32. Evolution from a Social Systems Perspective (Part 1)
   33. Evolution from a Social Systems Perspective (Part 2)
   34. Emotion and Decision-making
   35. Social Systems Theory from a Cognitive and Physicalist Perspective.
   36. A Theory of Society Derived from the Principles of Systems, Psychology, Ecology and Evolution.
10. Why Organisations Fail
    1. Organisational Pathologies
    2. The VUCA Environment
    3. The Failure of Control Systems
    4. Self-interest vs. Collective Interest
    5. Leadership Competence
    6. Power Corrupts
    7. The Dark Factor – An Introduction to Anti-social Personality Types
    8. The Workplace Psychopath
    9. The Narcissist Politician
    10. Machiavellianism and Dark Empathy
    11. Dark Strategies for Maintaining Hierarchies
    12. The Risks to Nations of Leaders with Dark Personality Traits
    13. How to Avoid Dark Leadership and Toxic Cultures
    14. Process Inflexibility and Extreme Super-optimal Behaviour
    15. Uncontrolled Social Feedback and How to Control It
11. Religion
    1. Metaphysics
    2. The Relationship between National Fragility, Trust and Religion
    3. The Relationship between National Fragility Trust and Religion (Part 2)
12. Politics
    1. How to Reunite a Nation
    2. Constitutional Monarchy or Republic?
13. Commerce and Economics
14. Existential Threats
15. Ethics
16. Personal Welbeing
    1. Obstacles to Wellbeing in the West
    2. Why Mental Ill-health is Increasing – Part 1
    3. Why Mental Ill-health is Increasing – Part 2
    4. Regret
    5. The Role of Art
17. Management
18. Social Change
19. Obstacles to Our Progress and How to Overcome Them