Chapter 5. Key Terms

Here is a summary of the key terms of this model:

1.    Rule 1. People compete to benefit themselves, increasing competence.

2.    Rule 2. People cooperate to benefit society, increasing synergy.

3.    Synergy. The performance difference between people acting as a group vs. independently.

4.    Social dilemmas. When Rule 1 contradicts Rule 2 tempting people to anti-social acts.

5.    Anti-social acts. Acts that benefit the individual at the cost of others.

6.    Social collapse. When the social structures that enable synergy fail.

7.    Social order. The degree to which members of a social group act as one.

8.    Social freedom. The degree to which a social group allows its members free choice.

9.    Social hijack. When leaders hijack society for their own ends by:

       a)    Repression: Coercing people to follow them by force or punishment.

       b)    Propaganda: Convincing people to follow them via false media information.

10.  Social invention. Inventing a new way to increase synergy and competence, like:

       a)    Justice: Making anti-social interactions unprofitable by laws, police and sanctions.

       b)    Democracy: To let the group periodically change its leaders by freely voting.

       c)    Legitimacy: The allocation of individual rights that are:

              i.     Fair. That people reap the consequences of their acts (Rule 1).

              ii.     Good. Benefit society as a whole (Rule 2).

11.   The Golden Rule. That individuals should freely serve an environment above themselves.

12.   Social Environment Model. That social units are environments within environments.

13.   Rule 3. That people combine Rules 1 and 2 by minimizing one and maximizing the other:

        a)    Profit Rule 3a. Compete for profit while not breaking social law.

        b)    Service Rule 3b. Serve the community while taking enough for yourself.

14.   Rule 3′. Extends Rule 3 to apply to nested social structures.

15.   Capitalism. To primarily follow Rule 1 to seek individual profit.

16.   Communism. To only follow Rule 2 to seek social good.

17.   Social health. The degree that people in a community freely support social synergy.

18.   Social token. How a social group distributes the value it generates, e.g. money.

19.   Social inflation. When social tokens lose value in the external environment.

20.   External rectification. When ignoring the external environment impacts a society.

21.   Free giving. Choosing to benefit others when one has enough.

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