Rules of the Game

Preamble:

1. The physical world is in a constant state of change.

2. The moment is infinite.

3. The essence of knowledge is self-knowledge.

4. The discovery of personal meaning is the foundation of personal power.

Rules of Discovery:

5. Truth in the context of Change requires a never-ending process.

6. All statements must follow the four Steps of Discovery:

  1. Construct an affirmative statement;

  2. Collect relevant physical evidence;

  3. Analyze Data;

  4. Adjust affirmative statement in step 1 to conform to new data analysis in step 3.

7. All personal and group agendas outside of the mission statement are prohibited by the Game.

8. All evidence must pass the three Tests of Discovery:

  1. Can the evidence be Tested?

  2. Can this test be Replicated by others?

  3. Can the evidence be Negated by testing?

9. Thou shalt not use metaphysically-based evidence to support any statement.

Systems Theory:

10. Language is a system of relationships between:

  • the Human Operator

  • the Linguistic Operation, and

  • the established Rules.

11. Accurate and timely Information flow through Feedback Loops is essential for system Sustainability.

12. Applied systems theory requires determining whether a system is open or closed.

13. All systems can be divided into active and passive systems.

14. Tension between parts is necessary for creating Balance amid Change.

15. All statements must be built using the three Steps of Systems-Thinking:

  1. List all the parts of the system;

  2. Determine if the system is open or closed;

  3. Observe the interaction between the system’s parts.

16. System success in reaching stated goals requires Integrity between rules and action.

17. Successful human systems use the purposefully designed goals of Tension and Balance to foster Sustainability.

18. Human systems must ensure Transparency to promote Accountability for the purpose of ensuring that errors are acknowledged and causes corrected.

19. Accounting for all the parts of a system is driven by the tool of Wholeness.

20. All statements must distinguish between causation and correlation.

21. Thou shalt not assume. All assumptions must be analyzed anew to ensure that they are in keeping with Change.

22. Thou shalt not exploit anything except the sun, wind, gravity, and ocean tides.

23. Successful human systems have purposefully designed goals that foster balanced sustainability.

24. Active systems maintain balanced sustainability by adapting to environmental change.

25. Balanced and sustainable systems account for both Internal and External Costs.

26. Centralization that creates imbalance within a system is prohibited.

27. There is a cost to ignoring opportunity.

28. Altering one part of a system can result in unintended outcomes throughout the system.

Human Nature:

29. Human consciousness is a complex system that includes both conscious and unconscious influences.

30. The 5 human senses of sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste provide imperfect information about the individual and the surrounding environment.

31. Human cognition is a series of imperfect connections between different types of information.

32. Memories must be held suspect and be independently confirmed before they can be relied upon as the basis of evidence.

33. Those humans lacking the ability to experience empathy are disproportionately drawn to positions of power.

34. The unconscious mind is skilled and motivated to deceive the individual.

35. The Human Operator of language is influenced by the (5) Basic Human Needs:

  1. Psychological Health

  2. Safety

  3. Belonging

  4. Self-esteem

  5. Self-actualization

36. The Human Operator of language is influenced by the six Basic Human Emotions:

  1. Fear

  2. Love

  3. Joy

  4. Surprise

  5. Anger

  6. Sadness

37. The Human Operator of language is influenced by the three Basic Human Wounds:

  1. Abandonment

  2. Shame

  3. Betrayal.

38. The Human Operator is influenced by the seven Basic Human Weaknesses:

  1. Lust

  2. Gluttony

  3. Greed

  4. Sloth

  5. Wrath

  6. Envy

  7. Pride.

Rules of the Game:

39. The Golden Rule is the basis of all Game Rules, and the primary tool for ensuring Integrity and Balance between the Human Operator and the Linguistic Operation of Language.

40. The Game requires players proactively to maintain healthy empathy towards others through the three Empathy Maintenance Tools:

  1. Compassion

  2. Forgiveness

  3. Redemption.

Language Theory:

41. Locke: What we know is learned from birth.

42. Nietzsche: Truth is an illusion we have forgotten is an illusion.

43. Saussure: A word, or sign, is a system of interacting parts; and the relationship between those parts is arbitrary.

44. Freud: The human psyche is the product of interacting parts.

45. Popper: Knowledge is a finite representation of the infinite experience.

46. Derrida: Language is a complex system built around the forces of contrast and opposition that create meaning through difference.

47. Language is a Social Construct.

Logic:

48. All statements must adhere to the rules of logic so that they are consistent, valid and complete.

49. Logic prohibits Appeals to Authority, where arguments are based on the testimony of an unqualified person.

50. Logic prohibits Appeals to the People, where arguments are based on common beliefs or traditional practices.

51. Logic prohibits Appeals to Consequences, where arguments are based on the positive or negative consequences of acceptance.

52. Logic prohibits Appeals to Emotion, where arguments are based on emotional manipulation.

53. Logic prohibits Appeals to Ignorance, where arguments are based on a lack of evidence the opposite is true/false.

54. Logic prohibits Appeals Against the Person, where arguments are based on attacking the person rather than his/her argument.

55. Logic prohibits False Cause arguments that are based on correlation in the absence of causation, conflating causation with correlation, which includes arguments of Association, Place and Time.

56. Logic prohibits Oversimplification, where arguments are based on proposing a solution without taking into account all relevant factors.

57. Logic prohibits Slippery Slopes, where arguments are based upon the claim that the idea being discussed will begin a chain of events that will lead inevitably to some undesirable result.

58. Logic prohibits False Dilemmas of Either/Or where arguments are based on there being only two possible options, and where only one of those options can be correct.

59. Logic prohibits Equivocations, where arguments are based on applying two different meanings to the same word.

60. Logic prohibits Hasty Generalizations, where arguments assert that something is true for the whole by ignoring the exception.

61. Logic prohibits False Compositions, where arguments assert what is true of the parts is true of the whole.

62. Logic prohibits False Divisions, where arguments assert that what is true of the whole is true of the parts.

63. Logic prohibits False Analogies, where arguments assert that if two or more things are alike in some respects, then they are also alike in other respects (see False Cause).

64. Logic prohibits Circular Reasoning, where arguments use what they are trying to prove as part of the proof of that thing.

65. Logic prohibits Straw Man reasoning, where an argument misrepresents the opposing position.

66. Logic prohibits Red Herrings, where arguments sidetrack the opposition by introducing a non-related issue that seems relevant as a means of distraction.

67. Logic prohibits Inconsistency, where an argument is based on a set of ideas that simultaneously cannot be true.

68. Logic prohibits False Compromises, where arguments assert that the most valid conclusion is that which accepts the best compromise between two competing positions.

69. Logic prohibits Appeals to History, where arguments are based on the concept “We should do this now because it’s always been done that way.”

70. Logic prohibits Appeals to Logic, where arguments assume that something is false simply because a proof or argument that someone has offered for it is invalid.

71. Logic prohibits appeals to Nature, where arguments assume whatever is ‘natural’ or consistent with ‘nature’ is good, or that whatever conflicts with ‘nature’ is bad.

Propaganda:

72. The exploitation of psychological weakness is a prohibited tool of propaganda.

73. The Four Ds of Propaganda—Divert, Deflect, Deceive, and Deny—are prohibited tools of propaganda.

74. The technique of Priming the Unconscious to manipulate perception psychologically is a prohibited tool of propaganda.

75. The technique of Social Learning Theory as a way to manipulate public perception is a prohibited tool of propaganda.

76. The psychological manipulation of an audience’s aggression is a prohibited tool of propaganda.

77. The use of frequency, prominence, and framing to manipulate a target audience psychologically are prohibited tools of propaganda.

78. Using any psychological technique outlined in Joseph Goebbels’ Nineteen Principles of Propaganda are prohibited tools of propaganda.

79. Repetition of an otherwise unsupported idea in support of an argument is a prohibited tool of propaganda called ad nauseam.

80. A lie so “colossal” that no one would believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously" (Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler) is a prohibited tool of propaganda called The Big Lie.

81. Characterizing others as fundamentally different is a prohibited tool of propaganda called The Other.

82. A message that dictates what is expected from an audience by eliminating the possibility of choice is a prohibited tool of propaganda called Direct Order.

83. The intentional spread of manipulated information is a prohibited tool of propaganda called Disinformation.

84. The use of public spectacle to generate emotional exhilaration is a prohibited tool of propaganda called Euphoria.

85. Arguments that rely on emotionally appealing words for substance is a prohibited tool of propaganda called Glittering Generalities.

86. Arguments that rely on deliberately vague generalities are a prohibited tool of propaganda called Intentional Vagueness.

87. Arguments that rely on euphemism to increase the value of a particular idea, or arguments that rely on dysphemism (stigma) to decrease the value of a particular idea, use a prohibited tool of propaganda called labeling.

88. Selectively editing quotes or hiding the source of a quote to manipulate meaning is a prohibited tool of propaganda called Quoting out-of-Context.

89. Relying on favorable generalities to justify questionable acts or beliefs is a prohibited tool of propaganda called Rationalization.

90. Projecting responsibility for a problem onto another without cause, in order to distract attention away from the actual cause of the problem, is a prohibited tool of propaganda called Scapegoating.

91. Relying on brief and striking phrases (see Labeling) that are emotionally appealing is a prohibited tool of propaganda called Slogans.

92. Relying on the arousal of prejudices in an audience by labeling the object of the propaganda campaign as something the target audience should fear, hate, loathe, or find undesirable (see Labeling) is a prohibited tool of propaganda called Stereotyping.

93. Redirecting blame or praise away from or toward one group or person is a prohibited tool of propaganda called Transfer.

94. Using words in the value system of the target audience to produce a positive image when attached to a person or issue (see Transfer) is a prohibited tool of propaganda called Virtue Words.

95. Relying on intentionally complex presumptions is a prohibited tool of propaganda called Complex Questions.

96. Relying on a conclusion that does not follow from the premises is a prohibited tool of propaganda called Non Sequitur.