Way of the Universe Values and Principles: A Practical Guide to Evidence and Action

Under construction. 10.05.26.

For advanced students, teachers and researchers—written for people who still appreciate a plain sentence. Reviewed 7 October 2026.

Which ideas deserve confident practice? Which deserve a careful trial? Which are better held as questions, metaphors or voluntary beliefs? This guide gives you a practical route through the evaluation: what each principle means, how to use it, where it fits, and what its support can actually establish.

You do not need to practice every virtue before lunch. Choose one real problem, one relevant principle, and one action you can review. The full research report will still be here when your coffee needs reinforcements.

Coverage at a glance: 77 original assessments; 50 added family assessments; all 32 integrated applications; 50 current traditional labels and 10 additional synthesis labels; 22 evolutionary quick-list labels; seven developmental clusters; all 350 enumerated norms across the 20 causes; and all 18 charter principles. These counts overlap; they do not represent independent discoveries.

Choose your route

How to understand the three support groups

  • Best-supported: 59 assessment entries with a comparatively strong, bounded factual mechanism, ethical rationale, or practical foundation. Conditions are part of the principle; this label is not a universal success promise.
  • Medium-supported: 32 entries with plausible ethical or interpretive value, narrower research, indirect transfer, or insufficient direct validation of the complete method.
  • Least-supported formulations and proposals: 36 entries whose broad claims exceed identified evidence, combine different mechanisms, or remain speculative. Useful parts can often be restated more carefully.

The groups are qualitative judgments, not measured scores or a precise order from strongest to weakest. Placement is by the main setting of use; most values travel across settings. The older A/B/C/D classifications are preserved from the original evaluation, with distinctions between a supported core and an overstated extension. New E entries assess missing or revised formulations separately.

Traditional harmony: stronger reasons for responsible action

Honesty, compassion, fairness, courage, restraint and stewardship already offer ethical reasons to act. Research can help us understand when particular practices serve those commitments. When the two fit, we gain clearer aims, practical mechanisms and familiar language—not a shortcut around moral judgment.

Our working bridge: a stated value or need + relevant reliable facts + a causal and context check + attention to alternatives, harms and competing duties → a conditional, revisable recommendation. Hume’s is–ought warning still applies; Moore’s warning against identifying goodness with a natural property is related but different. [F01] [F08]

Example: we value fair participation. Research on commons and cooperation gives reasons to consider participatory rules, appropriate monitoring and fair dispute procedures. We then check consent, burdens, privacy, resources and actual results. Cooperation can also help an exploitative organization, so the ethical goal remains indispensable. [S02] [S01] [F04]

This limited use of evolutionary evidence does not declare the philosophical debate finished. It explains how we make defensible recommendations without pretending that nature has signed our ethics policy. A very old virtue and a very new study can be good collaborators; neither should be appointed dictator.

Five useful harmonies

Best-supported values and principles

Begin here when choosing a practice, while keeping its conditions visible. Best support can be empirical, ethical or methodological; each entry explains the boundary.

Individuals

A01 — Energy throughput

Meaning: Maintain the energy and other resources needed for the particular system, while measuring each resource in its appropriate units.

Use: Budget rest, time and money separately; check whether replenishment matches demand.

Evidence boundary: Strong physical basis for living and dissipative systems; the lifestyle extrapolation is conditional.

Traditional harmony: Moderation, prudence, self-care.

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A03 — Generating alternatives

Meaning: Preserve useful diversity and test alternatives with safeguards, rather than treating change for its own sake as improvement.

Use: Generate several options before committing; evaluate them against your goal.

Evidence boundary: Strong in evolutionary and adaptive search settings; novelty is not automatically beneficial.

Traditional harmony: Creativity, curiosity, practical wisdom.

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A05 — Chance and contingency

Meaning: Allow for chance, assess avoidable conduct separately from outcomes, and choose affordable buffers appropriate to the risk.

Use: Allow for luck and contingency; avoid treating success as proof of superior character.

Evidence boundary: Strong; the practical lesson is sensible but not a guarantee.

Traditional harmony: Humility, compassion, fairness.

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A11 — Cognitive benefits and costs

Meaning: Evaluate cognitive tools by their task-specific accuracy, cost and ethical consequences rather than intelligence alone.

Use: Develop relevant thinking skills while respecting time, energy and task limits.

Evidence boundary: Strong conditional framing; broad adaptive explanations remain hypotheses.

Traditional harmony: Competence, self-discipline, sufficiency.

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A23 — Reachable pathways and inherited constraints

Meaning: Design around demonstrated capacities and constraints while preserving room for cultural change, individual difference and ethical judgment.

Use: Identify reachable steps and constraints before proposing transformation.

Evidence boundary: Strong caution about accessible variation; human-nature prescriptions require humility.

Traditional harmony: Practical wisdom, patience, competence.

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B03 — Novel forms and diversity

Meaning: Preserve beneficial diversity and test novelty within its particular setting.

Use: Preserve useful variety and compare its benefits with coordination costs.

Evidence boundary: Conditional adaptive value; the asserted sequence from complexity is unproven.

Traditional harmony: Inclusion, creativity, resilience.

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B07 — Acquiring knowledge and cognitive skill

Meaning: Cultivate reliable, useful learning and assess error, cost and ethical effects.

Use: Learn the skills and evidence relevant to the task, then test understanding.

Evidence boundary: Strong usefulness under suitable conditions, not a universal evolutionary objective.

Traditional harmony: Curiosity, competence, self-discipline.

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B09 — Adaptation and capacity to evolve

Meaning: Develop adaptability and future options while evaluating the conditions to which adaptation occurs.

Use: Retain ways to change course when conditions change.

Evidence boundary: Conditional value; adaptation and evolvability differ.

Traditional harmony: Flexibility, learning, prudence.

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B13 — Autonomy and responsible choice

Meaning: Protect meaningful autonomy and support responsible choice within fair limits.

Use: Offer meaningful choice with responsibility and protection from domination.

Evidence boundary: Strong philosophical rationale and psychological relevance; a cosmic optimum is unestablished.

Traditional harmony: Autonomy, dignity, tolerance.

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C01 — Accepting existence as it is

Meaning: Acknowledge reality accurately while making explicit ethical judgments and acting to reduce preventable harm.

Use: Acknowledge an event accurately before deciding whether to accept, resist or repair it.

Evidence boundary: Useful acceptance stance; neutrality and absence of intrinsic value are philosophical positions.

Traditional harmony: Grounded judgment, courage, patience.

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C05 — Novel structure and creativity

Meaning: Encourage useful creativity and distinguish physical novelty, living organization and intentional human creativity.

Use: Make something useful or beautiful and evaluate its effects.

Evidence boundary: Real novelty and emergence; creativity as an intentional property of spacetime is unestablished.

Traditional harmony: Creativity, generosity, competence.

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D01 — Monitoring and correcting thought

Meaning: Monitor reasoning, test calibration against outcomes and use external feedback rather than introspection alone.

Use: Record your reasoning, seek outside checks, and revise an error.

Evidence boundary: Credible cognitive construct; broad life and civilization benefits require outcome evidence.

Traditional harmony: Awareness, humility, honesty.

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D02 — Foresight rational inquiry and systems modeling

Meaning: Choose models proportionate to the problem, expose assumptions, compare alternatives and score predictions when outcomes become observable.

Use: Use explicit assumptions, rival explanations and calibrated forecasts.

Evidence boundary: Strong methodological rationale; forecasting and model choice remain task-dependent.

Traditional harmony: Discernment, foresight, truthfulness.

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D07 — Honesty and reliable conduct

Meaning: Cultivate truthful and reliable behavior with context-sensitive protections for privacy and vulnerability.

Use: Tell the truth, honor fair commitments and correct misleading statements.

Evidence boundary: Strong ethical rationale and relevant behavioral evidence; particular interventions require testing.

Traditional harmony: Honest, truthful, trustworthy, consistent.

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D08 — Compassion and reducing suffering

Meaning: Treat compassion as an explicit ethical commitment and evaluate interventions by actual, fairly distributed reductions in suffering.

Use: Notice suffering, ask what help is wanted, and assess effects of your help.

Evidence boundary: Defensible moral commitment with limited intervention evidence.

Traditional harmony: Compassionate, humane, considerate, generous.

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E04 — Self-discipline and reliable follow-through

Meaning: Turn a chosen, defensible commitment into repeatable conduct.

Use: Use a small if–then plan, a realistic schedule, and a review date.

Evidence boundary: Reliability serves good and bad goals. Habits depend on context; no fixed practice duration works for everyone.

Traditional harmony: Committed, consistent, responsible, self-disciplined, trustworthy.

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E05 — Courage, initiative and thoughtful decisions

Meaning: Face a justified difficulty and act after considering consequences.

Use: Name the risk, seek support, choose one authorized step, and explain your decision.

Evidence boundary: Bravery is an ethical virtue when its aim and proportionality are defensible; risk-taking alone is not virtue or evidence of expertise.

Traditional harmony: Courageous, decisive, willing.

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E07 — Patience, moderation and sufficiency

Meaning: Use enough resources and restraint to meet needs without avoidable excess.

Use: Set a realistic enough point, leave recovery time, and distinguish needs from status demands.

Evidence boundary: Scarcity and excess differ by person. Moderation must not become a demand that deprived people accept deprivation.

Traditional harmony: Patient, balanced, self-disciplined, sufficiency.

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E42 — The explicit bridge from facts to responsible recommendations

Meaning: A stated ethical goal and relevant causal evidence can support a conditional recommendation.

Use: State the value, check the mechanism and alternatives, examine harms, then revise in light of results.

Evidence boundary: This does not derive an unconditional moral duty from nature or identify goodness with survival. Values and competing duties remain open to argument.

Traditional harmony: Honest, discerning, humble, responsible.

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Groups and practice circles

A04 — Differential persistence

Meaning: Identify the actual mechanism selecting behavior, distinguish selection from other causes, and evaluate outcomes by explicit ethical standards.

Use: Compare which approaches persist and why, including privileges and hidden harms.

Evidence boundary: Strong biological mechanism; social and cosmic extensions need specified mechanisms.

Traditional harmony: Discernment, humility, justice.

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A08 — Order from local interactions

Meaning: Use local initiative where it works, while monitoring emergent harms and preserving accountable coordination.

Use: Let local initiative work within clear rules and safeguards.

Evidence boundary: Strong conditional phenomenon; emergence does not ensure welfare.

Traditional harmony: Autonomy, cooperation, initiative.

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A14 — Safeguarded cooperation

Meaning: Cooperate through accountable rules that deter exploitation and protect both members and affected outsiders.

Use: Make cooperation fair, protect contributors, and monitor effects on outsiders.

Evidence boundary: Among the strongest principles when mechanisms and scope are specified.

Traditional harmony: Cooperation, justice, trustworthiness.

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A15 — Managing conflict

Meaning: Expect possible conflicts of interest, distinguish their causes, and create fair ways to resolve them without treating hostility as destiny.

Use: Offer clear procedures for disagreement, appeal and proportionate resolution.

Evidence boundary: Strong descriptive caution; conflict is not inevitable in each particular relationship.

Traditional harmony: Peacefulness, courage, fairness.

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A16 — Higher level evolutionary units

Meaning: Study documented transitions and evaluate interactions across levels without assuming that larger units are always fitter or morally superior.

Use: Study real transitions to generate hypotheses; assess human institutions independently.

Evidence boundary: Strong for documented transitions; no automatic progression through all levels.

Traditional harmony: Cooperation, humility, inclusion.

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B10 — Exchange and fair terms

Meaning: Promote sustainable exchange through explicit fairness standards, rights and accountability.

Use: Agree clear, fair terms and remedies before an exchange.

Evidence boundary: Physical exchange is established; fairness is a separate ethical and institutional standard.

Traditional harmony: Fairness, reciprocity, honesty.

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B12 — Forming durable cooperative groups

Meaning: Build groups at demonstrably useful scales with accountable management, member rights and suitable reserves.

Use: Build groups with clear commitments, protected criticism and fair exit.

Evidence boundary: Credible conditional mechanism; larger scale and alignment with cosmic interests are unproven.

Traditional harmony: Cooperation, loyalty, dignity.

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C02 — Shared membership in physical reality

Meaning: Recognize shared origins and demonstrable dependencies; justify social inclusion directly through ethical commitments.

Use: Use shared origins to encourage belonging while stating equal dignity as an ethical commitment.

Evidence boundary: Common cosmic history is credible; universal active cohesion and moral inclusion require qualification.

Traditional harmony: Inclusion, humility, humanity.

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C14 — Connections dependencies and sharing

Meaning: Trace relevant dependencies and justify fair sharing through ethics rather than an all-to-all quantum connection claim.

Use: Map concrete relationships and duties rather than assuming everything affects everything equally.

Evidence boundary: Measured dependencies are strong; all-to-all dependence and the normative inference are unproven.

Traditional harmony: Care, reciprocity, consideration.

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E09 — Care, love and loyalty with boundaries

Meaning: Support relationships and dependents without giving insiders permission to harm outsiders.

Use: Keep a care commitment while refusing secrecy, retaliation or discrimination.

Evidence boundary: Loyalty can enable nepotism or abuse. Equal dignity and consent limit special obligations; affectionate language does not prove safety.

Traditional harmony: Loving, loyal, humane, considerate.

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E21 — Protected correction and learning from error

Meaning: Make it possible to report errors and revise decisions without retaliation.

Use: Thank early reporting, distinguish mistakes from deception, and document correction.

Evidence boundary: A field association with team learning is not a universal causal guarantee. Safety to speak must coexist with competent review and proportionate accountability.

Traditional harmony: Humble, honest, courageous, flexible.

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Businesses and organizations

A06 — Costs and competing objectives

Meaning: Look for opportunity costs and synergies, and assess how each choice distributes benefits and burdens.

Use: Name costs, competing goals and who bears the trade-offs.

Evidence boundary: Strong as a decision framework; the absolute wording and childbirth story need qualification.

Traditional harmony: Prudence, fairness, restraint.

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A07 — Feedback and regulation

Meaning: Map the loop, delay, gain and outcome measure; test whether the proposed stabilizer actually reduces harmful variation.

Use: Choose a measure, review delays, and correct the practice when feedback warrants it.

Evidence boundary: Strong in specified dynamical systems; feedback signs alone do not establish stability.

Traditional harmony: Attention, humility, responsibility.

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A12 — Buffers and backups

Meaning: Build affordable backups that address distinct failure modes and verify that they remain usable under stress.

Use: Keep a realistic reserve and test independent backups.

Evidence boundary: Strong conditional engineering and ecological principle; more backup is not always better.

Traditional harmony: Preparedness, moderation, responsibility.

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A13 — Containing failure

Meaning: Identify common dependencies and contain failures while maintaining the coordination and relationships the system needs.

Use: Separate failures where feasible while preserving necessary communication.

Evidence boundary: Strong conditional structural principle.

Traditional harmony: Prudence, competence, cooperation.

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A18 — Dependencies and systemic risk

Meaning: Map critical dependencies, shared failure causes and useful substitutes before deciding what to localize or coordinate.

Use: Map important dependencies and test how disruption could spread.

Evidence boundary: Strong conditional claim.

Traditional harmony: Foresight, prudence, care.

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B15 — Reserves against severe shocks

Meaning: Prepare for plausible severe shocks with diverse tested backups, stated costs and an explicit risk tolerance.

Use: Plan for specified shocks with diversified, tested reserves.

Evidence boundary: Strong conditional resilience principle; absolute protection is impossible.

Traditional harmony: Preparedness, prudence, reliability.

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E06 — Competence and useful productivity

Meaning: Develop the skill needed to do beneficial work reliably.

Use: Define the task, demonstrate ability, check quality, and include maintenance and care work in success.

Evidence boundary: Output volume, status and credentials can mislead. Performance must include harm and distribution, not only profit.

Traditional harmony: Capable, competent, productive, discerning.

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E14 — Privacy, consent and freedom from manipulation

Meaning: Respect control over personal information, bodies and consequential choices.

Use: Explain the purpose, limit access, seek valid consent, and allow meaningful challenge.

Evidence boundary: Consent is inadequate when coercion or dependency prevents choice. Security and public interests require justified, proportionate balancing.

Traditional harmony: Autonomous, honest, considerate, humane.

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E17 — Responsibility for foreseeable consequences

Meaning: Identify significant effects and prevent or repair avoidable harm within capacity.

Use: Map the decision through suppliers and affected people; name an owner for prevention and repair.

Evidence boundary: All consequences cannot be known or fully captured. Duties depend on foreseeability, causation, power and fair distribution.

Traditional harmony: Responsible, fair, honest, humane.

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E28 — Revisable institutions and accountable experiments

Meaning: Keep useful aims while changing methods that fail.

Use: Run a limited authorized pilot with a baseline, harm measure, stop rule and review date.

Evidence boundary: Innovation can threaten rights and shift costs. A local result does not justify automatic expansion; knowledge may be lost during reform.

Traditional harmony: Flexible, humble, creative, decisive.

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E30 — Maintainability, simplicity and graceful failure

Meaning: Build systems people can understand, repair and keep safe when components fail.

Use: Track dependencies, include fallback modes, and remove complexity that has no demonstrated benefit.

Evidence boundary: Oversimplification can remove needed capacity. Backups and modularity work only if failure modes and operational demands are understood.

Traditional harmony: Capable, grounded, balanced, responsible.

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E31 — Resilient supply networks and reserves

Meaning: Balance efficient exchange with protection against specified disruptions.

Use: Test upstream dependencies and independent backups; retain realistic reserves and local skills.

Evidence boundary: Redundancy costs resources; nominal supplier variety may share the same failure. Complete localization can also reduce resilience.

Traditional harmony: Responsible, cooperative, balanced; preparedness and self-reliance.

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Communities

A19 — Changing the environment

Meaning: Evaluate how activities alter shared environments and assign responsibility in proportion to influence and foreseeable effects.

Use: Notice how your activity changes the environment others must inhabit.

Evidence boundary: Strong biological mechanism; individual-to-global extrapolation requires scale analysis.

Traditional harmony: Stewardship, consideration, responsibility.

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A20 — Demand beyond replenishment

Meaning: Track resource flows and ecological risks, reduce damaging demand fairly, and avoid assigning a single cause or inevitable date to collapse.

Use: Compare withdrawals with replenishment and reduce avoidable depletion.

Evidence boundary: Strong risk mechanism; sweeping historical and global claims require evidence.

Traditional harmony: Thrift, sufficiency, stewardship.

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D10 — Sustaining life and enabling flourishing

Meaning: Aim to sustain life-supporting conditions and enable equitable flourishing, measured with ecological, social and rights-based indicators.

Use: Protect ecological foundations and opportunities for a dignified life.

Evidence boundary: Strong ethically chosen aim supported by relevant mechanisms, not a universal natural command.

Traditional harmony: Stewardship, humane care, sufficiency.

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E10 — Generosity and practical service

Meaning: Use available capacity to help others while respecting their agency.

Use: Ask what help is wanted, agree a manageable contribution, and check whether it helped.

Evidence boundary: Aid can patronize, create dependency or exhaust caregivers. It cannot substitute for fair institutions or impose unwanted beliefs.

Traditional harmony: Altruistic, benevolent, generous, ministering, charitable.

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E12 — Tolerance, pluralism and peaceful coexistence

Meaning: Protect conscience and disagreement while confronting coercion and abuse.

Use: Let people question, practice different beliefs and leave; mediate disputes fairly.

Evidence boundary: Tolerance does not require allowing rights violations. Suppressing every conflict can protect powerful wrongdoers.

Traditional harmony: Tolerant, inclusive, peaceful, humble.

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E23 — Rational, scientific and metacognitive education

Meaning: Teach people to question claims, reason about uncertainty and inspect their thinking.

Use: Practice a claim ledger with a source, a rival explanation and possible counterevidence.

Evidence boundary: Educational transfer is not automatic. A literacy label or course completion cannot certify judgment in every field.

Traditional harmony: Aware, humble, discerning, truthful; curiosity and learning.

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E25 — Commons stewardship and fair contribution

Meaning: Maintain shared resources through locally workable rules and fair obligations.

Use: Agree use limits, visible contributions, proportionate monitoring and appeals.

Evidence boundary: Successful local commons do not prove that every global commons can use the same rules. Poverty, unequal capacity and captured sanctions matter.

Traditional harmony: Cooperative, fair, trustworthy, sufficiency.

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Nations and public institutions

A02 — Physical and ecological feasibility

Meaning: Treat established physical limits as constraints and ecological estimates as uncertain risk boundaries that require precaution and updating.

Use: Check resource and environmental feasibility before promising a project.

Evidence boundary: Strong as a feasibility principle; particular ecological thresholds retain uncertainty.

Traditional harmony: Stewardship, competence, responsibility.

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A24 — Conditional evolutionary trends

Meaning: Describe specific trends, domains and enabling conditions, and justify social progress through explicit values and measurable outcomes.

Use: Define the particular capacity and period in which you claim improvement.

Evidence boundary: Scientifically much stronger than a universal drive toward improvement.

Traditional harmony: Honesty, humility, discernment.

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C11 — Expansion and other forms of growth

Meaning: Distinguish cosmic expansion from measured biological, cultural and economic changes.

Use: Distinguish physical expansion from organizational growth and moral improvement.

Evidence boundary: Cosmic expansion is established within models; cultural acceleration is a separate empirical claim.

Traditional harmony: Discernment, sufficiency, honesty.

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D09 — Fairness as an independent value

Meaning: State the fairness criteria explicitly and evaluate effects on members, outsiders and future generations.

Use: State the fairness rule, inspect burdens and allow challenge and remedy.

Evidence boundary: Strong philosophical justification; competing conceptions need acknowledgment.

Traditional harmony: Fair, just, inclusive.

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E13 — Dignity, justice, participation and protection

Meaning: Treat people as having equal standing and give affected people meaningful voice.

Use: Publish who benefits and bears burdens; provide accessible participation, review and remedy.

Evidence boundary: This has strong ethical and rights support, rather than physical proof. Fairness criteria conflict and participation can be tokenistic.

Traditional harmony: Just, fair, humane, inclusive, considerate.

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E15 — Accountable power and independent oversight

Meaning: Those with greater influence should face stronger answerability and checks.

Use: Disclose conflicts, distribute oversight, protect complaints, and provide appeal and replacement.

Evidence boundary: Checks can be captured or paralyze necessary action. Independence requires actual resources and authority; disclosure alone is insufficient.

Traditional harmony: Responsible, just, trustworthy; service and integrity.

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E18 — Stewardship for future generations

Meaning: Protect important ecological, institutional and knowledge foundations for people who come later.

Use: Record long-lived harms, maintain shared assets, and preserve future choices.

Evidence boundary: Future needs are uncertain and present deprivation matters. Trustees must not claim unlimited power by speaking for future people.

Traditional harmony: Responsible, humane, sufficiency; care for children and descendants.

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E26 — Coordination at the scale of the problem

Meaning: Use local authority where capable and broader cooperation where spillovers require it.

Use: Map the boundary, preserve useful local experiments, and arrange cross-boundary responsibility.

Evidence boundary: Neither local nor global rule is always best. Jurisdictions, costs and rights must be assessed for the particular problem.

Traditional harmony: Cooperative, autonomous, integrative; practical wisdom.

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E29 — Capable government with bounded coercion

Meaning: Protect public safety through lawful institutions that remain answerable and rights-respecting.

Use: Require due process, independent review and a visible end to exceptional powers.

Evidence boundary: Weak government and unchecked government can both harm. Exact powers depend on applicable law, necessity and proportionality.

Traditional harmony: Just, responsible, peaceful; civic duty and legitimate authority.

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E34 — Preparedness for interacting and extreme risks

Meaning: Examine how disruptions can combine, propagate and threaten shared essentials.

Use: Test compound scenarios, exchange warnings, protect critical services, and name response responsibilities.

Evidence boundary: Risk models depend on assumptions. Low probability is not itself decisive; preparation can divert resources or justify coercion without proportionate benefit.

Traditional harmony: Prudent, responsible, cooperative, humane.

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Medium-supported values and principles

Use these as thoughtful proposals or carefully bounded practices. Observe their effects and compare alternatives; a promising idea does not need to wear a lab coat to deserve investigation.

Individuals

B08 — Self production and self regulation

Meaning: Separate spontaneous organization, biological self-production, human self-regulation and ethical accountability.

Use: Support useful self-regulation while checking dependence on outside resources.

Evidence boundary: Credible as distinct concepts; equating them obscures different meanings.

Traditional harmony: Agency, responsibility, self-discipline.

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C07 — Open development without presumed deficiency

Meaning: Treat development as an available possibility rather than proof that all things are unfinished or deserve replacement.

Use: Pursue improvement without branding present people inherently deficient.

Evidence boundary: Useful developmental metaphor; universal incompleteness is not a physics finding.

Traditional harmony: Compassion, dignity, realistic hope.

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D04 — Examining what previously defined the self

Meaning: Use reflective distance as a practical developmental possibility and assess task-specific outcomes rather than presumed stage superiority.

Use: Question inherited assumptions without demanding that anyone surrender identity or relationships.

Evidence boundary: Influential developmental theory; universal stages and general superiority need qualification.

Traditional harmony: Autonomy, authenticity, openness.

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E01 — Friendliness and appreciation

Meaning: Treat people warmly and notice help or benefits received.

Use: Thank someone for a specific contribution and invite a respectful conversation.

Evidence boundary: Gratitude experiments address particular practices; they do not establish that gratitude solves injustice or that friendliness is safe with an abuser.

Traditional harmony: Amiable, appreciative, attentive, benevolent.

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E02 — Attention, steadiness and grounded judgment

Meaning: Notice the situation and regulate your response before acting.

Use: Pause, name your emotion, check a fact, and choose a proportionate response.

Evidence boundary: Introspection can be mistaken. These broad qualities need observable definitions and external feedback; they are not cures for distress.

Traditional harmony: Attentive, aware, balanced, centered, grounded.

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E03 — Authenticity and willing commitment

Meaning: Act with honest self-understanding and choose commitments freely.

Use: Explain your real reasons, invite questions, and decline commitments you cannot fairly keep.

Evidence boundary: Authenticity cannot excuse cruelty or make every impulse wise. Stated identity can change and self-reports can mislead.

Traditional harmony: Authentic, autonomous, willing, committed, devoted.

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E11 — Hope, imagination and wonder

Meaning: Hold a realistic possibility of improvement and imagine alternatives.

Use: Pair one hopeful goal with a workable next step and evidence that would change your plan.

Evidence boundary: Hope is a chosen stance, not evidence of guaranteed progress. Wonder and innocence should not displace careful inquiry.

Traditional harmony: Hopeful, creative; developmental imagination and enchantment.

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E19 — Realistic human design and attention protection

Meaning: Design choices around human limitations without covertly exploiting them.

Use: Notice emotional triggers, disclose significant nudges, and add deliberation before high-stakes choices.

Evidence boundary: A specific accuracy intervention is not proof of all nudges. Protective friction can burden people or become paternalistic.

Traditional harmony: Aware, discerning, patient, self-disciplined.

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E37 — Voluntary planetary and universe belonging

Meaning: Choose a wider civic perspective while retaining concrete responsibilities and local identities.

Use: Translate wider belonging into one Earth-based care or learning commitment.

Evidence boundary: A chosen identity is not legal citizenship, higher human status or evidence of cosmic intention; its added practical benefit is unmeasured here.

Traditional harmony: Inclusive, humane, responsible, cooperative.

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Groups and practice circles

B14 — Visibility and coordination

Meaning: Make relevant institutional conduct observable while protecting privacy, dissent and failure containment.

Use: Share consequential information at the level needed for accountability, with privacy safeguards.

Evidence boundary: Useful selectively; complete visibility or harmony can be harmful.

Traditional harmony: Truthfulness, directness, responsibility.

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C09 — Complexity and spontaneous outcomes

Meaning: Measure the relevant complexity and test its relation to novelty, predictability and useful function.

Use: Use emergence as a question about interactions, not an excuse to omit causal explanation.

Evidence boundary: Conditional relationships; the claimed universal sequence is unestablished.

Traditional harmony: Curiosity, humility, competence.

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D03 — DMAP as an analytical practice

Meaning: Present DMAP as a disciplined framework with testable expected benefits; validate it against suitable alternative methods on defined tasks.

Use: Apply DMAP as a proposed framework and record its added contribution.

Evidence boundary: Credible structured method proposal; general comparative superiority is not established here.

Traditional harmony: Humility, multiple perspectives, inquiry.

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D05 — Dialectical perspectives on systems

Meaning: Use dialectical perspectives as prompts for inquiry, then evaluate reliability, omissions and decision outcomes.

Use: Examine context, relationships, process and change while checking resulting claims.

Evidence boundary: Conceptually useful framework; empirical added value requires task-specific testing.

Traditional harmony: Discernment, integration, humility.

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E08 — Apology, forgiveness and repair

Meaning: Acknowledge harm and make room for repair when this protects those affected.

Use: Describe the harm, accept responsibility, offer restitution, and let the harmed person set safe boundaries.

Evidence boundary: Forgiveness is voluntary. It does not replace protection, evidence, justice or a remedy, and reconciliation is not always appropriate.

Traditional harmony: Forgiving, charitable, peaceful, responsible.

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E36 — Developmental perspectives as a listening aid

Meaning: Different people emphasize belonging, agency, order, achievement, inclusion or integration.

Use: Ask which needs a disagreement expresses; compare perspectives without assigning a stage.

Evidence boundary: Interpretive usefulness needs testing. Culture, circumstance and overlapping values can explain differences without an ordered stage model.

Traditional harmony: Loyalty, initiative, civic duty, competence, compassion.

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E38 — Multiple methods with clear knowledge boundaries

Meaning: Use science, history, experience and ethics for the kinds of questions they can answer.

Use: Label each claim type and test public causal claims against independent evidence.

Evidence boundary: Subjective meaning cannot verify public physical claims. Integrating methods adds no validity unless the standards and actual contributions are explicit.

Traditional harmony: Discerning, humble, open-minded, honest.

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E49 — Visible values and a supportive microculture

Meaning: Align shared expectations, rewards and routines with the virtues a group endorses.

Use: Agree one practice, model it, examine incentives, and welcome outside evidence and voluntary exit.

Evidence boundary: Small groups can become controlling or insular; norm effects depend on context. They supplement broader reform rather than replacing it.

Traditional harmony: Cooperative, honest, inclusive, reliable.

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Businesses and organizations

B16 — Environmental influence

Meaning: Improve responsible influence over specified conditions while respecting limits, rights and uncertainty.

Use: Review the environmental effects of an intervention and avoid exported harms.

Evidence boundary: Real local influence; unrestricted control and intrinsic goodness are unsupported.

Traditional harmony: Stewardship, consideration, humility.

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E16 — Competent leadership and succession

Meaning: Select, support, constrain and replace leaders through transparent criteria.

Use: Test role-specific competence, hear critical advisers, and prepare successors.

Evidence boundary: No universal selection method is validated here. Charisma is not sufficient, but operational competence alone does not ensure ethical leadership.

Traditional harmony: Competent, humble, courageous, responsible, ministering.

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E20 — Information provenance and calibrated skepticism

Meaning: Track important claims and match confidence to evidence and relevant expertise.

Use: Label fact, inference and forecast; attach sources, corrections and material AI involvement.

Evidence boundary: Traceability can help without establishing truth. Blanket disclosure can damage privacy; algorithm audits need access and expertise.

Traditional harmony: Honest, truthful, direct, communicative.

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E22 — Premortems, near-miss learning and review triggers

Meaning: Look for ways a plan could fail and learn from warning events.

Use: Ask independent reviewers for failure scenarios; assign a review trigger and response owner.

Evidence boundary: A checklist or imagined failure is not calibrated evidence. Poor scenarios can reinforce fear or group consensus; comparative outcomes need testing.

Traditional harmony: Prudent, discerning, grounded, responsible.

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E32 — Calibrated AI trust and human accountability

Meaning: Use AI according to demonstrated task competence while keeping responsibility with people and institutions.

Use: Verify consequential outputs, disclose material use, preserve skills and provide meaningful review.

Evidence boundary: An official framework is guidance, not evidence that these safeguards are implemented or sufficient. Human oversight can become ceremonial.

Traditional harmony: Discerning, honest, autonomous, responsible.

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E33 — Correctable and auditable AI behavior

Meaning: Require systems to expose material uncertainty and support legitimate correction.

Use: Test deception and failure, record proportionate audit trails, and provide escalation and shutdown authority.

Evidence boundary: Desirable behavior is not a guarantee of reliable implementation. Explanations can mislead; audit access must respect privacy and security.

Traditional harmony: Truthful, humble, trustworthy, considerate.

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Communities

E24 — Nested belonging and bridge-building

Meaning: Combine local loyalties with wider concern and evaluate people individually.

Use: Work on a shared task across differences without demanding a common identity.

Evidence boundary: Contact research has gaps; contact can go badly under hostility or unequal power. Wider identity must stay voluntary.

Traditional harmony: Loyal, loving, inclusive, tolerant, cooperative.

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E27 — Repair, circularity and ecological regeneration

Meaning: Reduce avoidable waste and restore the living systems a practice depends on.

Use: Compare whole-life effects of repair and replacement, including resource demand and rebound.

Evidence boundary: A circular product or restoration slogan need not reduce total harm. Life-cycle evidence and limits on total demand remain necessary.

Traditional harmony: Sufficiency, appreciative, eco-friendly; stewardship and thrift.

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E45 — Nonhuman welfare and the moral value of living systems

Meaning: Give animals and ecological communities serious consideration while distinguishing experience from ecological function.

Use: Reduce avoidable suffering and assess habitat effects; explain the ethical grounds of protection.

Evidence boundary: Intrinsic value and the scope of rights remain contested. Ecological interdependence does not prove that microbes experience welfare or can consent.

Traditional harmony: Humane, compassionate, benevolent, eco-friendly.

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E47 — Cultural continuity and freedom of meaning

Meaning: Preserve useful heritage and allow voluntary spiritual or secular meaning.

Use: Invite people to explain traditions, question harmful practices, and choose belief freely.

Evidence boundary: Age or popularity does not prove moral value. Spiritual freedom protects belief, not unsupported claims of scientific validation.

Traditional harmony: Loyal, tolerant, authentic, appreciative.

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E48 — Restorative and peaceful institutional change

Meaning: Seek proportionate remedies and change harmful arrangements through accountable participation.

Use: Work with affected people, verify harms, compare remedies, and retain complaint and exit routes.

Evidence boundary: Repair cannot require victims to surrender protection; peaceful methods may face repression. Neither a single strategy nor a guaranteed outcome is validated.

Traditional harmony: Peaceful, just, forgiving, courageous.

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Nations and public institutions

E39 — Open and revisable governance designs

Meaning: Make rules inspectable and allow authorized adaptation without sacrificing protections.

Use: Publish rationales and revision procedures; preserve records and clear responsibilities.

Evidence boundary: Forking software and dividing political authority differ. Fragmentation, legal conflicts and accountability costs require separate assessment.

Traditional harmony: Direct, flexible, inclusive, responsible.

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E44 — Possible future artificial and extraterrestrial interests

Meaning: Consider protection if evidence reveals unfamiliar beings with interests or experience.

Use: Require independent assessment, precaution and consultation before consequential contact or creation.

Evidence boundary: Current existence, consciousness and applicable duties cannot be assumed. These are proposed conditional protections, not established universal legal rights.

Traditional harmony: Humane, compassionate, tolerant; restraint and hospitality.

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E46 — Fair opportunity, livelihoods and bounded competition

Meaning: Create opportunities to develop abilities and compete without exploitation or exclusion.

Use: Examine access barriers, decent work, shared services and fair rules alongside performance.

Evidence boundary: Merit measures inherit unequal opportunities; competition and economic growth can undermine the goods they aim to provide.

Traditional harmony: Fair, competent, productive, just.

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E50 — Dignity, stewardship and relational responsibility as a charter

Meaning: Combine three stated ethical commitments to guide institutional decisions.

Use: Explain how each option affects people, living foundations and obligations to others.

Evidence boundary: Calling these three commitments irreducible does not settle their foundations or their conflicts. Competing ethical approaches deserve engagement.

Traditional harmony: Just, humane, considerate, responsible.

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Least-supported formulations and proposals

Read these with the greatest caution about their wording and evidence. The useful practice below is a narrower alternative or a way to explore meaning responsibly, not confirmation of the original broad claim.

Individuals

A09 — Usable information

Meaning: Seek reliable, task-relevant information and evaluate its marginal benefit, cost and independence.

Use: Collect relevant, reliable information without assuming that more data is always better.

What needs caution: Strong for task-relevant information; the universal superiority claim is overstated. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Discernment, truthfulness, moderation.

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A10 — Rapid behavioral adaptation

Meaning: Use learning when its speed and reliability suit the task, and retain evidence checks and stable inherited capabilities.

Use: Test learned changes rather than assuming rapid change is beneficial.

What needs caution: Well supported in many contexts, but learning is not necessarily faster or better. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Flexibility, patience, prudence.

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C10 — Limits of certainty and prediction

Meaning: Specify whether uncertainty is quantum, stochastic, chaotic or informational; replace the water example with a valid nonlinear-system example.

Use: State what is unknown and what evidence could narrow the uncertainty.

What needs caution: Real limits to prediction; relativism and the chemical example are not sound as written. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Humility, truthfulness, patience.

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D06 — Absorbed and effective engagement

Meaning: Describe flow as a possible experience and test the specific claim without equating pleasant absorption with correctness.

Use: Seek manageable, meaningful engagement; do not expect this philosophy to guarantee flow.

What needs caution: Flow is a recognized psychological topic; the specific package-to-flow claim is untested here. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Attention, competence, willing commitment.

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D11 — An evolutionary ethical framework

Meaning: State the ethical ends openly, use science to assess means and consequences, and avoid claiming universality or completeness without comparative argument.

Use: Use the explicit ethics bridge in E42 while retaining objections to a duty derived from nature alone.

What needs caution: A defensible ethics can use scientific knowledge, but needs explicit normative premises. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Discernment, responsibility, humility.

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D12 — Cosmic goals life and ultimate meaning

Meaning: Present the worldview as an ethically motivated philosophical synthesis informed by science, and distinguish its interpretations from tested laws.

Use: Treat ultimate meaning as an optional interpretation and test practical claims separately.

What needs caution: Philosophical synthesis rather than demonstrated cosmic agency or a complete scientific theory. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Authenticity, hope, tolerance.

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D13 — An alleged master field of attitudes

Meaning: Remove scientific claims about a master attitudinal field; retain virtues as human practices supported by appropriate ethical and behavioral evidence.

Use: Use attitudes as ordinary practices; do not claim they manipulate a quantum virtue field.

What needs caution: Physics provides fields and constraints; a master attitudinal field is not established. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Humility, honest inquiry, care.

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D15 — Daily practice and a fixed duration

Meaning: Offer a voluntary practice period with specific behaviors, baseline measures and review points; present ninety days as a program choice, not a scientific threshold.

Use: Choose a manageable practice and evaluate it; no universal ninety-day threshold is assumed.

What needs caution: Practice can help; a universal minimum or complete-package requirement lacks evidence. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Patience, consistency, self-discipline.

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D16 — Religious interpretations and ultimate reality

Meaning: Present religious parallels as optional, accurately attributed interpretations and acknowledge doctrinal differences.

Use: Explore religious meaning freely while distinguishing tradition from scientific confirmation.

What needs caution: Legitimate comparative interpretation if accurately qualified; not scientific confirmation or doctrinal consensus. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Tolerance, conscience, respect.

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E35 — A universal ladder of developmental superiority

Meaning: The claim that all people or cultures must pass through one prescribed sequence is not established.

Use: Use the listed priorities as questions; avoid diagnosing people or ranking their worth.

What needs caution: Graves and later models propose frameworks; their existence does not validate the website’s exact clusters or a universal hierarchy. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Care, civic duty, competence and inclusion can each remain valuable.

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E40 — Guaranteed cosmic safety or universal improvement

Meaning: Nature does not establish that every whole improves, that the universe is generally safe, or that events are morally optimal.

Use: Keep evidence-based hope while identifying real risks and protecting people from harm.

What needs caution: Selection can favor exploitation; extinction and irreversible loss occur. No universal safety or moral-progress mechanism is demonstrated. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Hopeful, appreciative, accepting—when bounded by reality.

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Groups and practice circles

C03 — Abundant feasible possibilities

Meaning: Explore worthwhile possibilities within demonstrated constraints without asserting cosmic intention.

Use: Explore feasible options without claiming the universe intends to realize them all.

What needs caution: Credible possibilities under constraints; a universal intention to exhaust them is speculative. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Creativity, curiosity, restraint.

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C04 — Reality as open to investigation

Meaning: Reality is partly investigable through evidence, within fundamental and practical limits; promote appropriate institutional transparency with privacy protections.

Use: Investigate what can be observed; protect privacy and acknowledge measurement limits.

What needs caution: Scientific investigation is valuable; literal universal transparency is contradicted by physical limits. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Honesty, discernment, humility.

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C08 — Emergence and differentiation

Meaning: Recognize emergent functions and useful differences, while identifying energy sources and managing conflict ethically.

Use: Check the physical mechanism and do not equate conflict with beneficial creativity.

What needs caution: Emergence and gradients are credible; automatic useful conflict and creation of energy need correction. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Discernment, peace, prudence.

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C12 — Directed development

Meaning: State particular developmental pathways or measured trends; avoid attributing universal intention to matter.

Use: Choose goals explicitly rather than attributing desires to all matter.

What needs caution: Developmental pathways and some trends are real; universal striving is unsupported. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Agency, humility, responsibility.

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C13 — Aggregation and compression

Meaning: Name specific aggregation mechanisms and distinguish them from institutional coordination and social motivation.

Use: Keep gravitational effects, material compression and social affiliation conceptually distinct.

What needs caution: Specific physical interactions are established; one universal attractive process is inaccurate. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Discernment, honesty, inquiry.

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C16 — Movement toward larger unions

Meaning: Describe particular cooperative transitions and identify cosmic super-organism claims as speculative.

Use: Coordinate at useful scales while protecting members from domination.

What needs caution: Documented local transitions support an analogy, not a universal destiny. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Cooperation, autonomy, fairness.

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C17 — Unity within parts and within a whole

Meaning: Use clearly defined functional wholes and acknowledge the observational limits of claims about ultimate totality.

Use: Use wholeness as a perspective while retaining meaningful boundaries and individual rights.

What needs caution: Useful system-level perspective; ultimate indivisibility is metaphysical. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Inclusion, dignity, discernment.

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C18 — Going beyond earlier limits

Meaning: Use transcendence for specified developmental or organizational changes and separate spiritual meaning from cosmic prediction.

Use: Describe the actual transformation and its limits; avoid claiming departure from reality.

What needs caution: Credible for defined transformations; universal self-transcendence is unsupported. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Creativity, humility, practical wisdom.

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Businesses and organizations

A21 — The marginal cost of complexity

Meaning: Compare the marginal benefits and costs of particular complexity, retaining safeguards and capabilities that justify their burden.

Use: Compare the benefits of added complexity with operating and maintenance costs.

What needs caution: Credible conditional hypothesis, not a universal theorem of growing complexity. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Simplicity, competence, moderation.

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B01 — Realizing available possibilities

Meaning: Develop beneficial feasible capacities; treat cosmic intention as an interpretation rather than a scientific fact.

Use: Choose attainable, worthwhile possibilities rather than attempting every conceivable option.

What needs caution: Human aspiration is defensible; a universal drive is unestablished. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Creativity, prudence, sufficiency.

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B02 — Increasing organization

Meaning: Value organization that serves worthwhile functions and assess its costs.

Use: Add organization only where its benefits exceed its costs and harms.

What needs caution: Supported in some histories, not as a universal increase or intrinsic good. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Competence, restraint, responsibility.

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B04 — Uncertainty as an evolutionary feature

Meaning: Acknowledge uncertainty, reduce avoidable ignorance and preserve options where exploration has value.

Use: Acknowledge uncertainty and reduce it where the decision requires greater confidence.

What needs caution: Uncertainty is real; universal monotonic increase and intrinsic goodness are unestablished. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Humility, prudence, truthfulness.

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B05 — Growth and productive activity

Meaning: Promote beneficial development within ecological limits and distinguish it from simple expansion.

Use: Choose beneficial work and development without making endless growth the goal.

What needs caution: Real processes; their universal growth and moral equivalence are unsupported. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Productivity, sufficiency, stewardship.

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B06 — Sensing and conscious experience

Meaning: Separate sensing, cognition, consciousness and spiritual interpretation; label AI and cosmic predictions as hypotheses.

Use: Improve observation and learning; keep claims about machine or cosmic consciousness provisional.

What needs caution: Some mechanisms are credible; the fixed developmental ladder and cosmic endpoint are speculative. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Awareness, curiosity, humility.

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B11 — Consequences and accountability

Meaning: Improve traceability and responsibility for foreseeable harms through fair institutions, with privacy and uncertainty safeguards.

Use: Assign responsibility for significant foreseeable effects; do not promise perfect cosmic enforcement.

What needs caution: Strong institutional purpose; universal complete moral enforcement is unsupported. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Responsibility, repair, justice.

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Communities

A22 — Breakdown and renewal

Meaning: Prevent avoidable collapse, preserve valuable capacities during disruption, and treat recovery as a task rather than a guaranteed reward.

Use: Prevent damaging breakdown; learn and rebuild where possible without celebrating loss.

What needs caution: Material turnover is established; beneficial renewal after collapse is contingent. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Care, preparedness, realistic hope.

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Nations and public institutions

A17 — Choosing the level of coordination

Meaning: Assign decisions to levels that can handle their consequences, with shared standards, local flexibility and accountability.

Use: Choose coordination levels by the problem and its spillovers.

What needs caution: Useful governance heuristic; a universal alternating cycle is unestablished. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Subsidiarity, autonomy, responsibility.

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B17 — A future conscious cosmic union

Meaning: Label cosmic super-unification as speculative philosophy and make empirical claims about measurable, causally connected systems.

Use: Treat cosmic union as an optional aspiration; make present cooperation independently worthwhile.

What needs caution: Speculation rather than an established scientific forecast. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Cooperation, hope, voluntary belonging.

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B18 — Exhausting possibilities and exceeding the universe

Meaning: Use transcendence for specified transformations; identify a cosmic endpoint as metaphysical speculation.

Use: Use exceeding old limits as a metaphor for learning; retain physical and ethical constraints.

What needs caution: No direct scientific support for the literal cosmic claim. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Creativity, humility, restraint.

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B19 — Renewal or recycling after an ending

Meaning: Recover materials and preserve capacities, prevent avoidable collapse and treat renewal as conditional.

Use: Use recycling responsibly in specific systems; do not assume collapse causes improvement.

What needs caution: Recycling and conditional renewal are useful; universal cycles and beneficial collapse are unsupported. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Stewardship, prudence, repair.

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C06 — Change and evolving processes

Meaning: Describe observed changes and their local drivers without positing an unmeasured external cosmic energy supply.

Use: Track actual change without assuming that energy enters from outside the universe.

What needs caution: Dynamic processes are real; continual cosmic creation through energy inflow is unsupported. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Flexibility, truthfulness, inquiry.

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C15 — Maintained balance

Meaning: Define the system boundary, exchange channels and regulated variables; avoid claiming an established global cosmic balance or constant total energy.

Use: Seek workable local balance; do not assume a conserved total cosmic energy budget.

What needs caution: Strong for specified systems; whole-universe balance and global constancy require correction. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Moderation, awareness, grounded judgment.

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D14 — Cosmic age origin and energy supply

Meaning: Use a dated, model-qualified age estimate and describe ultimate origin questions and external-creation ideas as unresolved or speculative.

Use: Use a coherent cosmological model and distinguish early-universe evidence from origin speculation.

What needs caution: Early cosmic history is scientifically constrained; ultimate origin and external energy supply remain open. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Truthfulness, curiosity, humility.

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E41 — An equal fixed planetary fraction as everyone’s fair share

Meaning: An identical mathematical fraction does not determine a person’s moral responsibility.

Use: Allocate contribution by capacity, power, causation and benefit while protecting basic needs.

What needs caution: The older fixed population denominator is dated. Equal fractions ignore radically unequal resources and consequences; arithmetic cannot choose fairness. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Fair, responsible, generous, humane.

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E43 — Unconditional laws of institutional viability

Meaning: Claims that every lasting institution must increase coordination, processing or transparency go beyond the evidence.

Use: Specify a measurable mechanism and failure condition rather than promising inevitable collapse or success.

What needs caution: Institutions can persist through coercion, secrecy or favorable conditions. Survival does not establish justice; universal necessity requires more evidence. This group concerns the formulation or evidence, not the worth of people who find meaning in it.

Traditional harmony: Competence, adaptability and accountability remain useful narrower goals.

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The newer 32-principle practical list

These are the website’s integrated applications, kept distinct from the original A/B/C/D assessment codes. Business entries are labeled Biz1–Biz8 here; the source labels them B1–B8. A practical formulation can be supported even when a stronger cosmic version is not.

Individuals

I1 — Adapt to actual conditions

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Develop adaptability and future options while evaluating the conditions to which adaptation occurs. Retain ways to change course when conditions change.

Traditional harmony: Flexibility, learning, prudence. Conditions: Conditional value; adaptation and evolvability differ.

Component assessments: B09 — Adaptation and capacity to evolve; A23 — Reachable pathways and inherited constraints; E42 — The explicit bridge from facts to responsible recommendations. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

I2 — Learn, test and revise

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Cultivate reliable, useful learning and assess error, cost and ethical effects. Learn the skills and evidence relevant to the task, then test understanding.

Traditional harmony: Curiosity, competence, self-discipline. Conditions: Strong usefulness under suitable conditions, not a universal evolutionary objective.

Component assessments: B07 — Acquiring knowledge and cognitive skill; E21 — Protected correction and learning from error; E23 — Rational, scientific and metacognitive education. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

I3 — Develop self-awareness and self-regulation

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Monitor reasoning, test calibration against outcomes and use external feedback rather than introspection alone. Record your reasoning, seek outside checks, and revise an error.

Traditional harmony: Awareness, humility, honesty. Conditions: Credible cognitive construct; broad life and civilization benefits require outcome evidence.

Component assessments: D01 — Monitoring and correcting thought; E04 — Self-discipline and reliable follow-through. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

I4 — Practice reciprocity with boundaries

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Maintain shared resources through locally workable rules and fair obligations. Agree use limits, visible contributions, proportionate monitoring and appeals.

Traditional harmony: Cooperative, fair, trustworthy, sufficiency. Conditions: Successful local commons do not prove that every global commons can use the same rules. Poverty, unequal capacity and captured sanctions matter.

Component assessments: E25 — Commons stewardship and fair contribution; E09 — Care, love and loyalty with boundaries. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

I5 — Take responsibility for effects

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Identify significant effects and prevent or repair avoidable harm within capacity. Map the decision through suppliers and affected people; name an owner for prevention and repair.

Traditional harmony: Responsible, fair, honest, humane. Conditions: All consequences cannot be known or fully captured. Duties depend on foreseeability, causation, power and fair distribution.

Component assessments: E17 — Responsibility for foreseeable consequences. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

I6 — Learn from others while checking judgment

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Cultivate reliable, useful learning and assess error, cost and ethical effects. Learn the skills and evidence relevant to the task, then test understanding.

Traditional harmony: Curiosity, competence, self-discipline. Conditions: Strong usefulness under suitable conditions, not a universal evolutionary objective.

Component assessments: B07 — Acquiring knowledge and cognitive skill; D01 — Monitoring and correcting thought; E23 — Rational, scientific and metacognitive education. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

I7 — Consider dependencies and delayed effects

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Map critical dependencies, shared failure causes and useful substitutes before deciding what to localize or coordinate. Map important dependencies and test how disruption could spread.

Traditional harmony: Foresight, prudence, care. Conditions: Strong conditional claim.

Component assessments: A18 — Dependencies and systemic risk; D02 — Foresight rational inquiry and systems modeling. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

I8 — Keep recovery options

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Build affordable backups that address distinct failure modes and verify that they remain usable under stress. Keep a realistic reserve and test independent backups.

Traditional harmony: Preparedness, moderation, responsibility. Conditions: Strong conditional engineering and ecological principle; more backup is not always better.

Component assessments: A12 — Buffers and backups; E07 — Patience, moderation and sufficiency. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

Groups and practice circles

G1 — Organize beneficial cooperation

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Cooperate through accountable rules that deter exploitation and protect both members and affected outsiders. Make cooperation fair, protect contributors, and monitor effects on outsiders.

Traditional harmony: Cooperation, justice, trustworthiness. Conditions: Among the strongest principles when mechanisms and scope are specified.

Component assessments: A14 — Safeguarded cooperation; E25 — Commons stewardship and fair contribution. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

G2 — Make shared rules participatory

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Treat people as having equal standing and give affected people meaningful voice. Publish who benefits and bears burdens; provide accessible participation, review and remedy.

Traditional harmony: Just, fair, humane, inclusive, considerate. Conditions: This has strong ethical and rights support, rather than physical proof. Fairness criteria conflict and participation can be tokenistic.

Component assessments: E13 — Dignity, justice, participation and protection; E25 — Commons stewardship and fair contribution. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

G3 — Protect contributors from exploitation

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Treat people as having equal standing and give affected people meaningful voice. Publish who benefits and bears burdens; provide accessible participation, review and remedy.

Traditional harmony: Just, fair, humane, inclusive, considerate. Conditions: This has strong ethical and rights support, rather than physical proof. Fairness criteria conflict and participation can be tokenistic.

Component assessments: E13 — Dignity, justice, participation and protection; E25 — Commons stewardship and fair contribution. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

G4 — Resolve conflict and repair trust

Support: Medium-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Expect possible conflicts of interest, distinguish their causes, and create fair ways to resolve them without treating hostility as destiny. Offer clear procedures for disagreement, appeal and proportionate resolution.

Traditional harmony: Peacefulness, courage, fairness. Conditions: Strong descriptive caution; conflict is not inevitable in each particular relationship.

Component assessments: A15 — Managing conflict; E08 — Apology, forgiveness and repair. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

G5 — Combine different knowledge and skills

Support: Medium-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Preserve useful diversity and test alternatives with safeguards, rather than treating change for its own sake as improvement. Generate several options before committing; evaluate them against your goal.

Traditional harmony: Creativity, curiosity, practical wisdom. Conditions: Strong in evolutionary and adaptive search settings; novelty is not automatically beneficial.

Component assessments: A03 — Generating alternatives; B03 — Novel forms and diversity; D05 — Dialectical perspectives on systems. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

G6 — Coordinate roles while protecting persons

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Protect meaningful autonomy and support responsible choice within fair limits. Offer meaningful choice with responsibility and protection from domination.

Traditional harmony: Autonomy, dignity, tolerance. Conditions: Strong philosophical rationale and psychological relevance; a cosmic optimum is unestablished.

Component assessments: B13 — Autonomy and responsible choice; E13 — Dignity, justice, participation and protection. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

Businesses and organizations

Biz1 — Align rewards with worthwhile outcomes

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Identify significant effects and prevent or repair avoidable harm within capacity. Map the decision through suppliers and affected people; name an owner for prevention and repair.

Traditional harmony: Responsible, fair, honest, humane. Conditions: All consequences cannot be known or fully captured. Duties depend on foreseeability, causation, power and fair distribution.

Component assessments: E17 — Responsibility for foreseeable consequences; E15 — Accountable power and independent oversight. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

Biz2 — Account for costs imposed on others

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Identify significant effects and prevent or repair avoidable harm within capacity. Map the decision through suppliers and affected people; name an owner for prevention and repair.

Traditional harmony: Responsible, fair, honest, humane. Conditions: All consequences cannot be known or fully captured. Duties depend on foreseeability, causation, power and fair distribution.

Component assessments: E17 — Responsibility for foreseeable consequences. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

Biz3 — Make leadership accountable

Support: Medium-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Those with greater influence should face stronger answerability and checks. Disclose conflicts, distribute oversight, protect complaints, and provide appeal and replacement.

Traditional harmony: Responsible, just, trustworthy; service and integrity. Conditions: Checks can be captured or paralyze necessary action. Independence requires actual resources and authority; disclosure alone is insufficient.

Component assessments: E15 — Accountable power and independent oversight; E16 — Competent leadership and succession. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

Biz4 — Experiment responsibly and preserve learning

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Keep useful aims while changing methods that fail. Run a limited authorized pilot with a baseline, harm measure, stop rule and review date.

Traditional harmony: Flexible, humble, creative, decisive. Conditions: Innovation can threaten rights and shift costs. A local result does not justify automatic expansion; knowledge may be lost during reform.

Component assessments: E28 — Revisable institutions and accountable experiments; B07 — Acquiring knowledge and cognitive skill. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

Biz5 — Build reliable partnerships

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Cultivate truthful and reliable behavior with context-sensitive protections for privacy and vulnerability. Tell the truth, honor fair commitments and correct misleading statements.

Traditional harmony: Honest, truthful, trustworthy, consistent. Conditions: Strong ethical rationale and relevant behavioral evidence; particular interventions require testing.

Component assessments: D07 — Honesty and reliable conduct; E25 — Commons stewardship and fair contribution. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

Biz6 — Combine specialization with coordination

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Develop the skill needed to do beneficial work reliably. Define the task, demonstrate ability, check quality, and include maintenance and care work in success.

Traditional harmony: Capable, competent, productive, discerning. Conditions: Output volume, status and credentials can mislead. Performance must include harm and distribution, not only profit.

Component assessments: E06 — Competence and useful productivity; E26 — Coordination at the scale of the problem. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

Biz7 — Retain resilience and useful variety

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Build affordable backups that address distinct failure modes and verify that they remain usable under stress. Keep a realistic reserve and test independent backups.

Traditional harmony: Preparedness, moderation, responsibility. Conditions: Strong conditional engineering and ecological principle; more backup is not always better.

Component assessments: A12 — Buffers and backups; B03 — Novel forms and diversity; E31 — Resilient supply networks and reserves. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

Biz8 — Protect truthful information and correction

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Cultivate truthful and reliable behavior with context-sensitive protections for privacy and vulnerability. Tell the truth, honor fair commitments and correct misleading statements.

Traditional harmony: Honest, truthful, trustworthy, consistent. Conditions: Strong ethical rationale and relevant behavioral evidence; particular interventions require testing.

Component assessments: D07 — Honesty and reliable conduct; E21 — Protected correction and learning from error. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

Communities

G7 — Manage shared resources explicitly

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Maintain shared resources through locally workable rules and fair obligations. Agree use limits, visible contributions, proportionate monitoring and appeals.

Traditional harmony: Cooperative, fair, trustworthy, sufficiency. Conditions: Successful local commons do not prove that every global commons can use the same rules. Poverty, unequal capacity and captured sanctions matter.

Component assessments: E25 — Commons stewardship and fair contribution; D10 — Sustaining life and enabling flourishing. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

G8 — Connect groups at the required scale

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Use local authority where capable and broader cooperation where spillovers require it. Map the boundary, preserve useful local experiments, and arrange cross-boundary responsibility.

Traditional harmony: Cooperative, autonomous, integrative; practical wisdom. Conditions: Neither local nor global rule is always best. Jurisdictions, costs and rights must be assessed for the particular problem.

Component assessments: E26 — Coordination at the scale of the problem. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

Nations and public institutions

N1 — Connect public power to its consequences

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Those with greater influence should face stronger answerability and checks. Disclose conflicts, distribute oversight, protect complaints, and provide appeal and replacement.

Traditional harmony: Responsible, just, trustworthy; service and integrity. Conditions: Checks can be captured or paralyze necessary action. Independence requires actual resources and authority; disclosure alone is insufficient.

Component assessments: E15 — Accountable power and independent oversight; E17 — Responsibility for foreseeable consequences. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

N2 — Coordinate on cross-border problems

Support: Medium-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Use local authority where capable and broader cooperation where spillovers require it. Map the boundary, preserve useful local experiments, and arrange cross-boundary responsibility.

Traditional harmony: Cooperative, autonomous, integrative; practical wisdom. Conditions: Neither local nor global rule is always best. Jurisdictions, costs and rights must be assessed for the particular problem.

Component assessments: E26 — Coordination at the scale of the problem; E24 — Nested belonging and bridge-building. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

N3 — Match institutions to effects and spillovers

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Use local authority where capable and broader cooperation where spillovers require it. Map the boundary, preserve useful local experiments, and arrange cross-boundary responsibility.

Traditional harmony: Cooperative, autonomous, integrative; practical wisdom. Conditions: Neither local nor global rule is always best. Jurisdictions, costs and rights must be assessed for the particular problem.

Component assessments: E26 — Coordination at the scale of the problem. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

N4 — Make rules and policies revisable

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Keep useful aims while changing methods that fail. Run a limited authorized pilot with a baseline, harm measure, stop rule and review date.

Traditional harmony: Flexible, humble, creative, decisive. Conditions: Innovation can threaten rights and shift costs. A local result does not justify automatic expansion; knowledge may be lost during reform.

Component assessments: E28 — Revisable institutions and accountable experiments. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

N5 — Protect ecological foundations and future options

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Aim to sustain life-supporting conditions and enable equitable flourishing, measured with ecological, social and rights-based indicators. Protect ecological foundations and opportunities for a dignified life.

Traditional harmony: Stewardship, humane care, sufficiency. Conditions: Strong ethically chosen aim supported by relevant mechanisms, not a universal natural command.

Component assessments: D10 — Sustaining life and enabling flourishing; E18 — Stewardship for future generations. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

N6 — Widen care while restraining exclusion

Support: Medium-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Treat people as having equal standing and give affected people meaningful voice. Publish who benefits and bears burdens; provide accessible participation, review and remedy.

Traditional harmony: Just, fair, humane, inclusive, considerate. Conditions: This has strong ethical and rights support, rather than physical proof. Fairness criteria conflict and participation can be tokenistic.

Component assessments: E13 — Dignity, justice, participation and protection; E24 — Nested belonging and bridge-building. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

N7 — Protect learning, dissent and distributed skill

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Protect conscience and disagreement while confronting coercion and abuse. Let people question, practice different beliefs and leave; mediate disputes fairly.

Traditional harmony: Tolerant, inclusive, peaceful, humble. Conditions: Tolerance does not require allowing rights violations. Suppressing every conflict can protect powerful wrongdoers.

Component assessments: E12 — Tolerance, pluralism and peaceful coexistence; E23 — Rational, scientific and metacognitive education. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

N8 — Prepare for setbacks as well as improvements

Support: Best-supported values and principles. Meaning and use: Build affordable backups that address distinct failure modes and verify that they remain usable under stress. Keep a realistic reserve and test independent backups.

Traditional harmony: Preparedness, moderation, responsibility. Conditions: Strong conditional engineering and ecological principle; more backup is not always better.

Component assessments: A12 — Buffers and backups; E34 — Preparedness for interacting and extreme risks. The classifications assess this bounded application, not its biological origin or universal success.

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Coverage index: find every named value

Use your browser’s Find command for a familiar term. Repeated labels appear under each source collection but link to one assessed family. A family assessment does not establish every synonym or every proposed policy as equally effective. The description and practical use are in the linked entry; the source page supplies its original wording.

All 50 labels on the current traditional virtues page

Good is an umbrella ethical term, not a measurable physical property. Its use needs a stated standard; see E42. Communicative and direct conduct require listening, clarity and appropriate privacy as well as honest speech.

Additional labels retained in the synthesis inventory

All 22 evolutionary quick-list labels

Two separate qualifications: realistic hope maps to E11; the older universal safety and improvement language maps to E40 — Guaranteed cosmic safety or universal improvement. Fair shared responsibility maps to E25; a fixed equal planetary fraction maps to E41 — An equal fixed planetary fraction as everyone’s fair share. Literal claims that the universe experiments or learns map to D12 — Cosmic goals life and ultimate meaning; human experimentation and learning map to E28 and B07.

All seven developmental clusters and their named contributions

The clusters are a proposed interpretive model. Their values can be examined separately. The model as an aid is E36; a compulsory universal ladder is E35. No stage label determines anyone’s dignity or permits coercion.

Tribal

Warrior

Traditional

Modernist

Postmodern

Integral

Universe

Confidence in progress is responsible only when bounded by evidence (E11), rather than a guarantee (E40). Wider cosmic alignment and spiritual meaning are optional interpretations (E37 and E47); empirical cosmology is assessed separately in C02 and D14.

All 350 enumerated value and norm statements linked to the 20 causes

The following short action labels are paraphrases in source order. Each links to its assessed family and support group. They preserve all enumerated items, including repeated virtues and the separate human–AI and AI-behavior expectations. The 20-cause taxonomy itself is a research proposal, not an independently validated exhaustive diagnosis of civilization.

1. Consequences and incentives

  1. Accept reasonable responsibility for harm — E17; best-supported.
  2. Practice reciprocity without exporting costs — E25; best-supported.
  3. Repair preventable harm — E08; medium-supported.
  4. Report costs honestly — D07; best-supported.
  5. Steward resources for affected people — E18; best-supported.
  6. Disclose material effects in fair exchange — B10; best-supported.
  7. Follow foreseeable effects through the whole chain — E17; best-supported.
  8. Make important external costs visible — E17; best-supported.
  9. Reject private gain that transfers catastrophic risk — E17; best-supported.
  10. Count foreseeable harms to future people — E18; best-supported.
  11. Trace benefits, burdens, places and timing — E17; best-supported.
  12. Match responsibility to power over consequences — E15; best-supported.

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2. Power, capture and extraction

  1. Maintain integrity in public and organizational service — D07; best-supported.
  2. Uphold the rule of law — E29; best-supported.
  3. Treat leadership as stewardship — E15; best-supported.
  4. Disclose conflicts of interest — E15; best-supported.
  5. Reject bribery and nepotism — E15; best-supported.
  6. Maintain checks and balances — E15; best-supported.
  7. Respect independent oversight — E15; best-supported.
  8. Transfer and relinquish authority peacefully — E29; best-supported.
  9. Protect legitimate dissent — E12; best-supported.
  10. Assess concentrated power as a possible systemic risk — E15; best-supported.
  11. Require continuing justification of power — E15; best-supported.
  12. Provide oversight independent of the institution reviewed — E15; best-supported.
  13. Increase proportionate disclosure as power grows — E20; medium-supported.
  14. Honor good-faith challenges to powerful actors — E05; best-supported.
  15. Examine concentration across interacting domains — E15; best-supported.
  16. Check whether regulators have been captured — E15; best-supported.

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3. Human motives and misleading cues

  1. Practice self-restraint — E04; best-supported.
  2. Practice moderation — E07; best-supported.
  3. Exercise prudence — E07; best-supported.
  4. Practice reciprocity — E25; best-supported.
  5. Cultivate empathy — D08; best-supported.
  6. Exercise patience — E07; best-supported.
  7. Accept responsibility — E17; best-supported.
  8. Cooperate with safeguards — A14; best-supported.
  9. Notice temptation and manipulation — E19; medium-supported.
  10. Develop character without assuming perfect rationality — E04; best-supported.
  11. Design for actual human behavior — E19; medium-supported.
  12. Recognize cues disconnected from consequences — E19; medium-supported.
  13. Reject exploitation of psychological vulnerabilities — E19; medium-supported.
  14. Protect finite attention — E19; medium-supported.
  15. Add deliberation before consequential choices — E19; medium-supported.
  16. Disclose significant behavior-shaping interventions — E19; medium-supported.

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4. Injustice, domination and unequal burdens

  1. Respect equal human dignity — E13; best-supported.
  2. Apply an explicit fairness standard — D09; best-supported.
  3. Practice reciprocity — E25; best-supported.
  4. Provide equal protection — E13; best-supported.
  5. Protect due process — E29; best-supported.
  6. Practice compassion — D08; best-supported.
  7. Build solidarity — E24; medium-supported.
  8. Protect vulnerable people — E13; best-supported.
  9. Oppose arbitrary domination — E13; best-supported.
  10. Give affected people a meaningful hearing — E13; best-supported.
  11. Show how policies distribute benefits, risks and power — E13; best-supported.
  12. Represent those bearing major consequences — E13; best-supported.
  13. Do not erase responsibility through geographic distance — E17; best-supported.
  14. Do not erase responsibility through generational distance — E18; best-supported.
  15. Keep small and marginalized populations visible — E13; best-supported.
  16. Include risk exposure in justice assessments — E13; best-supported.
  17. Hear those least able to leave the system — E13; best-supported.

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5. Leadership selection, support and replacement

  1. Require relevant competence — E06; best-supported.
  2. Require integrity — D07; best-supported.
  3. Treat leadership as service — E10; best-supported.
  4. Practice humility — E21; best-supported.
  5. Exercise justified courage — E05; best-supported.
  6. Speak truthfully — D07; best-supported.
  7. Accept responsibility — E17; best-supported.
  8. Exercise stewardship — E18; best-supported.
  9. Assess merit with attention to opportunity — E46; medium-supported.
  10. Accept accountability — E15; best-supported.
  11. Value competence more than charisma alone — E16; medium-supported.
  12. Treat uncertainty admission as compatible with competence — E16; medium-supported.
  13. Respect error correction rather than image protection — E21; best-supported.
  14. Avoid dependence on an irreplaceable leader — E16; medium-supported.
  15. Develop capable successors — E16; medium-supported.
  16. Preserve channels that can challenge leaders — E21; best-supported.
  17. Include long-term downstream effects in evaluation — E16; medium-supported.
  18. Assess advisers, information, constraints and succession together — E16; medium-supported.

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6. Group identity and conflict

  1. Practice hospitality — E01; medium-supported.
  2. Respect tolerance — E12; best-supported.
  3. Practice neighborliness — E01; medium-supported.
  4. Respect equal dignity — E13; best-supported.
  5. Practice empathy — D08; best-supported.
  6. Prefer proportionate nonviolent remedies — E48; medium-supported.
  7. Cooperate across differences — A14; best-supported.
  8. Protect religious and cultural pluralism — E12; best-supported.
  9. Protect minorities — E13; best-supported.
  10. Resolve conflict peacefully where workable — E48; medium-supported.
  11. Allow several layers of belonging — E24; medium-supported.
  12. Preserve local identities within wider belonging — E24; medium-supported.
  13. Never infer individual guilt from group membership alone — E29; best-supported.
  14. Recognize bridge-building as useful work — E24; medium-supported.
  15. Cooperate on shared threats without cultural uniformity — E24; medium-supported.
  16. Distinguish evidence of threat from identity-driven fear — E19; medium-supported.
  17. Practice loyalty without hostility to outsiders — E09; best-supported.

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7. Free-riding and commons

  1. Contribute fairly according to circumstances — E25; best-supported.
  2. Practice reciprocity — E25; best-supported.
  3. Keep fair promises — E04; best-supported.
  4. Steward shared resources — E25; best-supported.
  5. Oppose cheating — E25; best-supported.
  6. Offer mutual aid within capacity — E10; best-supported.
  7. Build reliability through conduct — D07; best-supported.
  8. Accept community responsibilities — E25; best-supported.
  9. Use proportionate responses to chronic free-riding — E25; best-supported.
  10. Extend commons care to planetary systems — E25; best-supported.
  11. Care for shared digital information environments — E20; medium-supported.
  12. Help maintain commons you use — E25; best-supported.
  13. Make contributions and withdrawals appropriately visible — E25; best-supported.
  14. Question harmful free-riding even when formally legal — E25; best-supported.
  15. Combine local and planetary stewardship — E26; best-supported.

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8. Reasoning, education and metacognition

  1. Cultivate curiosity — E23; best-supported.
  2. Support education — E23; best-supported.
  3. Practice scientific inquiry — E23; best-supported.
  4. Use relevant evidence — E23; best-supported.
  5. Develop literacy — E23; best-supported.
  6. Develop numeracy — E23; best-supported.
  7. Maintain intellectual honesty — D07; best-supported.
  8. Keep learning throughout life — E23; best-supported.
  9. Ask questions — E23; best-supported.
  10. Respect expertise without blind obedience — E23; best-supported.
  11. Teach examination of one’s own thinking — D01; best-supported.
  12. Teach systems literacy — D02; best-supported.
  13. Make acknowledgment of uncertainty respectable — E23; best-supported.
  14. Teach probability and risk reasoning — E23; best-supported.
  15. Teach detection of manipulation and misinformation — E19; medium-supported.
  16. Teach task-relevant AI literacy — E32; medium-supported.
  17. Respect evidence-based changes of mind — E21; best-supported.
  18. Ask what would change a conclusion — E23; best-supported.

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9. Information integrity

  1. Be honest — D07; best-supported.
  2. Be truthful — D07; best-supported.
  3. Protect free inquiry — E12; best-supported.
  4. Protect independent journalism — E20; medium-supported.
  5. Check sources — E20; medium-supported.
  6. Correct false statements — E21; best-supported.
  7. Prefer evidence to rumor — E20; medium-supported.
  8. Protect good-faith whistleblowers — E21; best-supported.
  9. Maintain intellectual honesty — D07; best-supported.
  10. Verify important claims before sharing — E20; medium-supported.
  11. Identify authentic, altered and synthetic media — E20; medium-supported.
  12. Distinguish facts, inferences, forecasts, values and opinions — E20; medium-supported.
  13. Attach corrections to the original claim — E20; medium-supported.
  14. Provide proportionate scrutiny of information algorithms — E20; medium-supported.
  15. Protect shared attention from exploitation — E19; medium-supported.
  16. Distinguish manufactured doubt from honest disagreement — E20; medium-supported.
  17. Match trust to evidence rather than rejecting everything — E20; medium-supported.

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10. Denial, blame and correction

  1. Practice intellectual humility — E21; best-supported.
  2. Acknowledge wrongdoing — E08; medium-supported.
  3. Offer an honest apology — E08; medium-supported.
  4. Leave forgiveness voluntary and appropriate — E08; medium-supported.
  5. Offer restitution — E08; medium-supported.
  6. Learn from mistakes — E21; best-supported.
  7. Take personal responsibility — E17; best-supported.
  8. Speak truthfully — D07; best-supported.
  9. Face failure with courage — E05; best-supported.
  10. Respect error ownership accompanied by correction — E21; best-supported.
  11. Surface bad news early — E21; best-supported.
  12. Distinguish error, negligence, recklessness and deception — E21; best-supported.
  13. Investigate near misses — E22; medium-supported.
  14. Consider failure scenarios before major commitments — E22; medium-supported.
  15. Review systems as well as individuals after failure — E22; medium-supported.
  16. Track the timeliness of correction — E21; best-supported.
  17. Keep every institution and identity open to correction — E21; best-supported.

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11. Short-termism and future responsibility

  1. Exercise prudence — E07; best-supported.
  2. Retain reasonable savings — A12; best-supported.
  3. Exercise patience — E07; best-supported.
  4. Care for children within fair limits — E09; best-supported.
  5. Exercise stewardship — E18; best-supported.
  6. Plan with uncertainty in view — D02; best-supported.
  7. Practice proportionate delayed gratification — E04; best-supported.
  8. Maintain inherited land, infrastructure and institutions — E18; best-supported.
  9. Leave useful foundations for descendants — E18; best-supported.
  10. Include future people as ethical stakeholders — E18; best-supported.
  11. Identify long-term effects in major decisions — E18; best-supported.
  12. Give special attention to irreversible future harms — E18; best-supported.
  13. Account for inherited assets and liabilities — E18; best-supported.
  14. Value maintenance and long-term stewardship — E18; best-supported.
  15. Specify evidence that triggers reconsideration — E22; medium-supported.
  16. Keep long-term plans revisable — E28; best-supported.

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12. Appropriate scales of cooperation

  1. Support capable local self-government — E26; best-supported.
  2. Practice mutual aid — E10; best-supported.
  3. Use subsidiarity or federal arrangements where suitable — E26; best-supported.
  4. Practice diplomacy — E48; medium-supported.
  5. Honor legitimate treaty commitments — E04; best-supported.
  6. Cooperate with neighbors — A14; best-supported.
  7. Accept national public responsibilities — E29; best-supported.
  8. Cooperate internationally on cross-border problems — E26; best-supported.
  9. Match governance to capability and spillovers — E26; best-supported.
  10. Judge local and global options by context — E26; best-supported.
  11. Accept responsibility for cross-boundary consequences — E17; best-supported.
  12. Do not use autonomy to export serious harm — E26; best-supported.
  13. Preserve useful local experimentation — E28; best-supported.
  14. Coordinate across scales without erasing identity — E24; medium-supported.

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13. Ecological demand and regeneration

  1. Exercise stewardship — E18; best-supported.
  2. Practice thrift — E07; best-supported.
  3. Avoid unnecessary waste — E27; medium-supported.
  4. Practice moderation — E07; best-supported.
  5. Care for land and water — E18; best-supported.
  6. Accept intergenerational responsibility — E18; best-supported.
  7. Prefer repair when its overall effects are better — E27; medium-supported.
  8. Respect ecological limits — A02; best-supported.
  9. Practice gratitude without entitlement — E01; medium-supported.
  10. Recognize sufficiency as a form of success — E07; best-supported.
  11. Reduce status incentives tied to material consumption — E27; medium-supported.
  12. Teach ecological-boundary literacy — E23; best-supported.
  13. Consider resource regeneration time — E27; medium-supported.
  14. Compare circular and repair practices by actual effects — E27; medium-supported.
  15. Include imported environmental costs — E17; best-supported.
  16. Allocate transition burdens according to needs and capacity — E13; best-supported.
  17. Value ecological regeneration — E27; medium-supported.

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14. Belief, identity and revision

  1. Protect freedom of conscience — E12; best-supported.
  2. Respect religious tolerance — E12; best-supported.
  3. Practice intellectual humility — E21; best-supported.
  4. Allow open debate — E12; best-supported.
  5. Specify tests for empirical claims — E23; best-supported.
  6. Protect pluralism — E12; best-supported.
  7. Protect freedom to dissent — E12; best-supported.
  8. Prevent belief from becoming rights-violating coercion — E29; best-supported.
  9. Combine explicit values with revisable factual models — E42; best-supported.
  10. Allow belief revision without identity humiliation — E24; medium-supported.
  11. Do not exempt favored empirical claims from evidence — E23; best-supported.
  12. Distinguish ethical commitments from factual descriptions — E42; best-supported.
  13. Specify evidence that separates competing accounts — E23; best-supported.
  14. Allow uncertainty alongside moral commitment — E23; best-supported.
  15. Avoid identities built on alleged infallibility — E24; medium-supported.

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15. Institutional adaptation

  1. Keep learning — E23; best-supported.
  2. Experiment responsibly — E28; best-supported.
  3. Practice practical flexibility — E28; best-supported.
  4. Maintain useful systems — E30; best-supported.
  5. Pursue measured improvement — E28; best-supported.
  6. Hear frontline experience — E21; best-supported.
  7. Correct obsolete procedures — E28; best-supported.
  8. Practice institutional humility — E21; best-supported.
  9. Preserve defensible aims while revising methods — E28; best-supported.
  10. Provide routes to review major rules — E28; best-supported.
  11. Retire obsolete rules deliberately — E28; best-supported.
  12. Pilot before irreversible expansion where practicable — E28; best-supported.
  13. Budget for adaptation — E28; best-supported.
  14. Protect dissent and anomaly reporting — E21; best-supported.
  15. Test whether past successful methods still fit — E28; best-supported.
  16. Allow orderly institutional replacement when beneficial — E28; best-supported.

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16. Coercion and the security trap

  1. Uphold the rule of law — E29; best-supported.
  2. Protect due process — E29; best-supported.
  3. Respect human rights — E13; best-supported.
  4. Protect expression and conscience — E12; best-supported.
  5. Protect legitimate dissent — E12; best-supported.
  6. Limit coercive authority — E29; best-supported.
  7. Provide independent review — E15; best-supported.
  8. Practice civic responsibility — E29; best-supported.
  9. Correct institutions peacefully — E28; best-supported.
  10. Make emergency powers temporary and reviewable — E29; best-supported.
  11. Increase accountability for coercive power — E15; best-supported.
  12. Protect internal reports of abuse and failure — E21; best-supported.
  13. Recognize protective dissent — E21; best-supported.
  14. Constrain surveillance through justified oversight — E14; best-supported.
  15. Combine government capability with effective limits — E29; best-supported.
  16. Specify a route back to normal governance — E29; best-supported.

Back to the twenty-cause index

17. Complexity and maintainability

  1. Prefer sufficient simplicity — E30; best-supported.
  2. Build reliability — E30; best-supported.
  3. Provide maintenance — E30; best-supported.
  4. Develop practical competence — E06; best-supported.
  5. Prepare for disruption — E34; best-supported.
  6. Provide redundancy where failure is dangerous — A12; best-supported.
  7. Listen to experienced operators — E21; best-supported.
  8. Remove unnecessary bureaucracy — E30; best-supported.
  9. Budget the costs of complexity — E30; best-supported.
  10. Consider removing a layer before adding another — E30; best-supported.
  11. Keep critical systems diagnosable under stress — E30; best-supported.
  12. Plan graceful degradation — E30; best-supported.
  13. Defer to relevant safety expertise rather than rank alone — E06; best-supported.
  14. Account for hidden dependencies — A18; best-supported.
  15. Provide practical fallback modes — E30; best-supported.
  16. Include maintenance and comprehension in optimization — E30; best-supported.

Back to the twenty-cause index

18. Supply networks and resilience

  1. Prepare for disruption — E34; best-supported.
  2. Maintain useful self-reliance — E31; best-supported.
  3. Offer mutual assistance — E10; best-supported.
  4. Diversify real failure exposure — A12; best-supported.
  5. Retain savings and reserves — A12; best-supported.
  6. Use appropriate risk-pooling arrangements — E31; best-supported.
  7. Maintain local competence — E31; best-supported.
  8. Cooperate internationally — E26; best-supported.
  9. Build reliable supplier relationships — E04; best-supported.
  10. Allow justified spending on resilience — E31; best-supported.
  11. Identify critical single points of failure — E31; best-supported.
  12. Test whether suppliers fail independently — E31; best-supported.
  13. Retain strategic redundancy where justified — A12; best-supported.
  14. Examine several upstream dependency layers — E31; best-supported.
  15. Combine local fallback with beneficial trade — E31; best-supported.
  16. Include fragility costs in efficiency measures — E31; best-supported.
  17. Recognize the protective value of reserve capacity — E31; best-supported.

Back to the twenty-cause index

19. Technology and AI

  1. Respect human dignity — E13; best-supported.
  2. Accept responsibility — E17; best-supported.
  3. Build for safety — E30; best-supported.
  4. Exercise prudence — E07; best-supported.
  5. Protect privacy — E14; best-supported.
  6. Seek meaningful informed consent — E14; best-supported.
  7. Provide accountability — E15; best-supported.
  8. Provide appropriate transparency — E20; medium-supported.
  9. Test scientific claims — E23; best-supported.
  10. Maintain engineering safety practices — E30; best-supported.
  11. Apply professional ethics — E06; best-supported.
  12. Steward powerful tools — E17; best-supported.
  13. Match AI trust to demonstrated task competence — E32; medium-supported.
  14. Treat AI output as material for judgment — E32; medium-supported.
  15. Retain human accountability for delegated decisions — E32; medium-supported.
  16. Disclose material AI involvement in consequential decisions — E20; medium-supported.
  17. Make human challenge and override acceptable — E32; medium-supported.
  18. Demand evidence rather than fluent confidence — E32; medium-supported.
  19. Retain sources for important AI-assisted claims — E20; medium-supported.
  20. Allow questions about uncertainty and possible error — E32; medium-supported.
  21. Separate technical capability from permission to deploy — E32; medium-supported.
  22. Demand stronger evidence for higher-consequence use — E32; medium-supported.
  23. Preserve human skills worth retaining — E32; medium-supported.
  24. Keep independent capacity to detect machine failure — E32; medium-supported.
  25. Use AI to support meaningful human agency — E32; medium-supported.
  26. Communicate material AI uncertainty — E33; medium-supported.
  27. Test and prevent deceptive manipulation — E33; medium-supported.
  28. Distinguish AI evidence from inference and speculation — E33; medium-supported.
  29. Make material limitations discoverable — E33; medium-supported.
  30. Preserve meaningful human agency in system design — E33; medium-supported.
  31. Escalate high-risk uncertainty instead of bluffing — E33; medium-supported.
  32. Reveal material conflicts with safety constraints — E33; medium-supported.
  33. Support correction and legitimate oversight — E33; medium-supported.
  34. Avoid false claims of authority — E33; medium-supported.
  35. Provide risk-appropriate audits and traceability — E33; medium-supported.
  36. Help users examine systemic consequences — E33; medium-supported.
  37. Design systems to receive correction — E33; medium-supported.

Back to the twenty-cause index

20. Interacting crises and extreme risks

  1. Prepare for disruption — E34; best-supported.
  2. Exercise prudence — E07; best-supported.
  3. Offer mutual aid — E10; best-supported.
  4. Make realistic emergency plans — E34; best-supported.
  5. Maintain justified redundancy — A12; best-supported.
  6. Cooperate with safeguards — A14; best-supported.
  7. Exercise foresight — D02; best-supported.
  8. Use proportionate precaution for extreme stakes — E34; best-supported.
  9. Learn from disasters — E22; medium-supported.
  10. Maintain reasonable reserves — A12; best-supported.
  11. Protect critical infrastructure — E34; best-supported.
  12. Examine how failures propagate — E34; best-supported.
  13. Account for foreseeable cross-sector cascades — E17; best-supported.
  14. Test interactions as well as components — E34; best-supported.
  15. Share material warnings across domains — E34; best-supported.
  16. Assess severe low-probability outcomes carefully — E34; best-supported.
  17. Value resilience reserves as shared assets — E34; best-supported.
  18. Exchange information about shared dependencies — E34; best-supported.
  19. Rehearse compound crises — E34; best-supported.
  20. Include resilience in major optimization — E34; best-supported.
  21. Let unknowns prompt humility rather than false precision — E23; best-supported.
  22. Keep polycrisis claims specific and testable — E34; best-supported.
  23. Allow justified preparation even when events never occur — E34; best-supported.

Back to the twenty-cause index

The charter’s 18 numbered principles

The charter introduction still mentions 17 framing areas, but its body numbers 18. All 18 are included here. Conditional physical and governance ideas are separated from universal claims about viability. Its three ethical anchors are assessed as a chosen charter in E50.

The synthesis’s 16 Stewart themes and 18 other research themes

These themes explain the source map behind the 32 integrated applications. They are not a second A/B ranking, and a source theory is not necessarily scientific consensus. Kin care is compatible with equal rights for non-relatives; cooperation, reputation and sanctions can also serve harmful ends.

Related declarations and constitutional principles

The proposed declaration and constitution apply many of these values to rights, governance and unfamiliar future beings. Their governing value families are included below. This is an ethical and evidence crosswalk, not a clause-by-clause legal opinion or validation of every constitutional procedure. Established human rights are not earned by adopting this movement or completing a duty.

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One principle, one action, one honest review

A small personal practice needs a simple review. An institutional change needs legitimate authority, affected people’s input, resources and safeguards. Scale the preparation to the consequences.

  1. Name the value and the outcome: what are you protecting?
  2. Read the linked assessment, including its strongest challenge.
  3. Choose a feasible action and a meaningful baseline or starting observation.
  4. Check consent, rights, unequal burdens, dependencies and possible harm.
  5. Set a review date, a stop condition and who can act on it.
  6. Record results and alternative explanations; keep, revise or stop.

Examples at five scales

  • Individual: practice D07 by correcting one consequential claim you shared; observe whether the correction reaches the people affected.
  • Group: apply E21 by adding a respectful error-reporting routine; review participation, correction and retaliation concerns.
  • Business: apply E17 by tracing a product’s major foreseeable harms; assign prevention and remedy, then review with affected stakeholders.
  • Community: apply E25 to a shared resource; agree accessible rules and review both use and unequal burdens.
  • Nation or public institution: use E26 and E34 to examine cross-border risk coordination. A classroom model is preparatory work; actual policy needs authorized expertise and public accountability.

Optional AI learning prompt

Use anonymized material and verify sources independently. AI can help generate questions; it can also invent a citation with the confidence of a committee that has not read its own agenda.

Using this principle and its full assessment, separate factual evidence, ethical premises and optional interpretations. Explain the strongest support and challenge. Suggest a small authorized application, a meaningful outcome, possible unfair burdens and a stopping rule. Identify what remains unknown. Do not invent citations or infer a universal moral duty from evolution.

Frequently asked questions

Does best-supported mean scientifically proven moral truth?

No. A physical or biological mechanism can be well established; a value can have strong ethical reasons. Neither establishes the other. Labels identify the defensible core and state which kind of support applies.

Why put some valuable ideas in the medium-supported group?

A value can be worth exploring while its proposed method, scope or claimed effects remain under-tested. Medium support is an invitation to careful use and research, not a rejection.

Does least-supported mean false, useless or forbidden?

No. It means the formulation has the weakest direct support, substantial overreach or unresolved assumptions in this review. A metaphor or personal spiritual meaning can still matter without becoming a scientific finding.

Does evolution decide what we ought to value?

No. We state an ethical goal, use relevant facts to examine means, check harms and alternatives, and make a revisable recommendation. Natural success is not synonymous with goodness.

Do traditional parallels add strength?

They can supply ethical arguments, practical language, continuity and motivation. Agreement across traditions does not provide an independent experiment, and age or popularity does not make a practice just.

Why does the same idea appear in different groups?

Different claims require different assessments. Accountable cooperation is better supported than inevitable cosmic union; realistic hope is different from guaranteed universal improvement. Source indexes also preserve repeated wording across collections.

Are beginner, intermediate and advanced levels evidence rankings?

No. They describe learning routes and demands. The three support groups assess claims. Someone’s course level or developmental label never ranks their human worth.

Can a business or nation use an individual principle directly?

Use it to ask a question, then investigate the institution’s mechanisms, authority, incentives, resources and effects. Individual habits alone cannot repair institutions that reward harm.

Was the entire Way of the Universe independently validated?

No. This is an AI-assisted, targeted cross-disciplinary evaluation and editorial synthesis. It is not a preregistered systematic review, independent certification, or a test of the complete philosophy’s effectiveness.

Where can I read both sides?

The linked expanded research review preserves all 77 assessments from the original 65-page document and adds 50 family assessments. Each assessment separates support, counterarguments, a bounded formulation and supporting and challenging bibliographies by field.

Is the new review still exactly 65 pages?

No. Sixty-five pages describes the original document. The expanded website edition adds substantial material and is not represented as a newly typeset 65-page file.

How complete is this master list?

It accounts for all entries in the original evaluation and the named collections identified in the coverage index, as retrieved on 7 October 2026. It also maps the related governance frameworks at value-family level. The website is evolving; this is not a guarantee that every unindexed page or future addition has been examined.

Glossary

  • Value: Something considered worth protecting or pursuing.
  • Principle: A guiding statement connecting a value to a way of choosing or acting.
  • Virtue: A quality of character developed through practice and judgment.
  • Cultural norm: A shared expectation about conduct; it may describe what people do or what they approve.
  • Evidence: Information relevant to a factual claim, assessed for quality, causation and applicability.
  • Ethical justification: Reasons for treating a goal, duty or limit as morally defensible; distinct from measuring effectiveness.
  • Conditional recommendation: Advice that follows from stated goals and circumstances and can be defeated by new evidence or competing duties.
  • Is–ought gap: Hume’s warning about moving from descriptive premises to an obligation without explaining the normative step.
  • Naturalistic fallacy: In Moore’s usage, identifying goodness with a natural property; distinct from, though related to, the is–ought issue.
  • Evolutionary fitness: Reproductive success in a specified setting, not moral worth or human flourishing.
  • Limited progressive evolution: Measurable improvements in specified capacities under stated conditions; not universal, inevitable moral progress.
  • Externality: An effect on people or systems outside the immediate decision or transaction.
  • Consequence responsibility: A duty to consider significant foreseeable effects and fair prevention or repair, rather than perfect prediction.
  • Resilience: Capacity to sustain or recover important functions under specified disruptions.
  • Polycentric governance: Coordination among several decision centers with workable boundaries, responsibilities and links.
  • Metacognition: Monitoring and revising one’s own thinking, preferably with external checks.
  • DMAP: Dialectical metasystemic analysis and problem-solving, assessed here as a proposed analytical framework rather than a universally validated method.
  • Provenance: A record of where information came from and how it was changed.
  • Calibrated trust: Confidence proportionate to demonstrated competence and evidence in the relevant task.
  • Traditional harmony: A conceptual or practical match with an inherited virtue; not proof of common origin or independent scientific confirmation.

Bibliography by support group

The three sections below divide the literature into supporting and challenging or limiting sources, then by field. A source can appear on both sides because its assumptions support a narrow claim while limiting a broader one. Challenging sources need not oppose the value itself. Full citations and direct URLs are in the source catalog that follows; per-principle bibliographies are in the expanded review.

Best-supported values and principles

Supporting literature

Physics
  • [P01] Prigogine 1977 Time Structure and Fluctuations
  • [P03] OpenStax The Carnot Cycle
  • [P02] OpenStax First Law of Thermodynamics
  • [P05] Planck Collaboration 2020 Cosmological Parameters
Mathematics and formal systems
  • [M05] Wolpert and Macready 1997 No Free Lunch Theorems
  • [M03] Ashby 1956 An Introduction to Cybernetics
  • [M04] Simon 1962 The Architecture of Complexity
  • [M02] Lorenz 1963 Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow
Philosophy
  • [F03] Mill 1859 On Liberty
  • [F04] Rawls 1971 A Theory of Justice
  • [F01] Hume 1739 to 1740 A Treatise of Human Nature
  • [F02] Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics Book II
  • [G06] United Nations General Assembly (1948)
  • [G05] UNESCO (2021)
Other natural sciences and engineering
  • [B12] Aiello and Wheeler 1995 Expensive Tissue Hypothesis
  • [B07] Richardson and colleagues 2023 Planetary Boundaries
  • [B01] Price 1970 Selection and Covariance
  • [B02] Kimura 1968 Evolutionary Rate at the Molecular Level
  • [B08] Tilman Reich and Knops 2006 Biodiversity and Stability
  • [B10] Holling 1973 Resilience and Stability
  • [B11] Buldyrev and colleagues 2010 Cascading Network Failures
  • [B04] Szathmary and Maynard Smith 1995 Major Evolutionary Transitions
  • [B06] Laland Odling Smee and Feldman 1999 Niche Construction
  • [B14] Gould and Lewontin 1979 Spandrels of San Marco
  • [B03] McShea 1994 Mechanisms of Large Scale Evolutionary Trends
  • [B05] Varela Maturana and Uribe 1974 Autopoiesis
Social sciences
  • [S02] Ostrom 2009 Beyond Markets and States
  • [S04] Bowles 2008 Incentives and Moral Sentiments
  • [S11] Mellers and colleagues 2014 Forecasting Tournament
  • [S10] Flavell 1979 Metacognition and Cognitive Monitoring
  • [S01] Nowak 2006 Five Rules for Cooperation
  • [S03] Fehr and Gachter 2002 Altruistic Punishment
  • [S07] Tomasello Kruger and Ratner 1993 Cultural Learning
  • [S09] Deci and Ryan 2000 Goal Pursuits
  • [S08] Henrich 2004 Demography and Cultural Evolution
  • [S13] Lally and colleagues 2010 Habit Formation
  • [S20] Hayes and colleagues 2006 Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
  • [S15] Cohn and colleagues 2019 Civic Honesty
  • [S14] Weng and colleagues 2013 Compassion Training
  • [S27] Gollwitzer, P
  • [G01] OECD (2020)
  • [G02] World Bank (2017)
  • [S06] Coase 1960 The Problem of Social Cost
  • [S22] Edmondson, A
  • [G03] OECD (2025)
  • [S28] Lawrence, M
Religion
  • [R03] Genesis 2 Verse 15
  • [R01] Dhammapada Verses 183 and 277 to 279
  • [R02] Francis 2015 Laudato Si

Challenging and limiting literature

Physics
  • [P01] Prigogine 1977 Time Structure and Fluctuations
  • [P08] Krauss and Starkman 2000 Life The Universe and Nothing
  • [P06] Bell 1964 On the Einstein Podolsky Rosen Paradox
  • [P05] Planck Collaboration 2020 Cosmological Parameters
Mathematics and formal systems
  • [M02] Lorenz 1963 Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow
  • [M03] Ashby 1956 An Introduction to Cybernetics
  • [M04] Simon 1962 The Architecture of Complexity
  • [M05] Wolpert and Macready 1997 No Free Lunch Theorems
Philosophy
  • [F01] Hume 1739 to 1740 A Treatise of Human Nature
  • [F04] Rawls 1971 A Theory of Justice
  • [F03] Mill 1859 On Liberty
  • [G06] United Nations General Assembly (1948)
  • [F05] Kegan 1994 In Over Our Heads
  • [F08] Moore, G
Other natural sciences and engineering
  • [B07] Richardson and colleagues 2023 Planetary Boundaries
  • [B02] Kimura 1968 Evolutionary Rate at the Molecular Level
  • [B14] Gould and Lewontin 1979 Spandrels of San Marco
  • [B13] Dunsworth and colleagues 2012 Metabolic Hypothesis
  • [B05] Varela Maturana and Uribe 1974 Autopoiesis
  • [B11] Buldyrev and colleagues 2010 Cascading Network Failures
  • [B09] May 1972 Will a Large Complex System Be Stable
  • [B04] Szathmary and Maynard Smith 1995 Major Evolutionary Transitions
  • [B06] Laland Odling Smee and Feldman 1999 Niche Construction
  • [B03] McShea 1994 Mechanisms of Large Scale Evolutionary Trends
  • [B10] Holling 1973 Resilience and Stability
  • [G04] NIST (2023)
Social sciences
  • [S12] Nisbett and Wilson 1977 Verbal Reports on Mental Processes
  • [S04] Bowles 2008 Incentives and Moral Sentiments
  • [S01] Nowak 2006 Five Rules for Cooperation
  • [S06] Coase 1960 The Problem of Social Cost
  • [S18] Tainter 1995 Sustainability of Complex Societies
  • [S07] Tomasello Kruger and Ratner 1993 Cultural Learning
  • [S08] Henrich 2004 Demography and Cultural Evolution
  • [S02] Ostrom 2009 Beyond Markets and States
  • [S20] Hayes and colleagues 2006 Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
  • [S15] Cohn and colleagues 2019 Civic Honesty
  • [S14] Weng and colleagues 2013 Compassion Training
  • [S13] Lally and colleagues 2010 Habit Formation
  • [G02] World Bank (2017)
  • [S05] Bernstein 2012 The Transparency Paradox
  • [S03] Fehr and Gachter 2002 Altruistic Punishment
  • [G03] OECD (2025)
  • [S28] Lawrence, M
Religion
  • [R02] Francis 2015 Laudato Si

Back to bibliography overview

Medium-supported values and principles

Supporting literature

Physics
  • [P01] Prigogine 1977 Time Structure and Fluctuations
Mathematics and formal systems
  • [M04] Simon 1962 The Architecture of Complexity
  • [M03] Ashby 1956 An Introduction to Cybernetics
  • [M02] Lorenz 1963 Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow
Philosophy
  • [F02] Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics Book II
  • [F05] Kegan 1994 In Over Our Heads
  • [F06] Laske 2015 Dialectical Thinking for Integral Leaders
  • [F07] Universe Institute DMAP Methodology
  • [F03] Mill 1859 On Liberty
  • [G05] UNESCO (2021)
  • [G06] United Nations General Assembly (1948)
  • [F01] Hume 1739 to 1740 A Treatise of Human Nature
  • [G07] United Nations (1967)
  • [F04] Rawls 1971 A Theory of Justice
Other natural sciences and engineering
  • [B05] Varela Maturana and Uribe 1974 Autopoiesis
  • [B06] Laland Odling Smee and Feldman 1999 Niche Construction
  • [B04] Szathmary and Maynard Smith 1995 Major Evolutionary Transitions
  • [G04] NIST (2023)
  • [B07] Richardson and colleagues 2023 Planetary Boundaries
Social sciences
  • [S13] Lally and colleagues 2010 Habit Formation
  • [S02] Ostrom 2009 Beyond Markets and States
  • [S07] Tomasello Kruger and Ratner 1993 Cultural Learning
  • [S11] Mellers and colleagues 2014 Forecasting Tournament
  • [S10] Flavell 1979 Metacognition and Cognitive Monitoring
  • [S21] Emmons, R
  • [S09] Deci and Ryan 2000 Goal Pursuits
  • [G01] OECD (2020)
  • [G02] World Bank (2017)
  • [S23] Pennycook, G
  • [S25] Paluck, E
  • [S24] Schwartz, S
  • [S26] Graves, C
  • [S17] Butlin and colleagues 2023 Consciousness in AI
  • [S22] Edmondson, A
Religion
  • [R01] Dhammapada Verses 183 and 277 to 279
  • [R02] Francis 2015 Laudato Si

Challenging and limiting literature

Physics

No separate source identified in this category; see individual assessment limits.

Mathematics and formal systems
  • [M02] Lorenz 1963 Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow
Philosophy
  • [F03] Mill 1859 On Liberty
  • [F01] Hume 1739 to 1740 A Treatise of Human Nature
  • [F07] Universe Institute DMAP Methodology
  • [F05] Kegan 1994 In Over Our Heads
  • [F06] Laske 2015 Dialectical Thinking for Integral Leaders
  • [F04] Rawls 1971 A Theory of Justice
  • [G06] United Nations General Assembly (1948)
  • [F08] Moore, G
Other natural sciences and engineering
  • [B05] Varela Maturana and Uribe 1974 Autopoiesis
  • [B11] Buldyrev and colleagues 2010 Cascading Network Failures
  • [B07] Richardson and colleagues 2023 Planetary Boundaries
  • [B03] McShea 1994 Mechanisms of Large Scale Evolutionary Trends
  • [B14] Gould and Lewontin 1979 Spandrels of San Marco
  • [G04] NIST (2023)
Social sciences
  • [S13] Lally and colleagues 2010 Habit Formation
  • [S05] Bernstein 2012 The Transparency Paradox
  • [S21] Emmons, R
  • [S12] Nisbett and Wilson 1977 Verbal Reports on Mental Processes
  • [G02] World Bank (2017)
  • [S25] Paluck, E
  • [S06] Coase 1960 The Problem of Social Cost
  • [S17] Butlin and colleagues 2023 Consciousness in AI
  • [S24] Schwartz, S
  • [S16] COGITATE Consortium 2025 Consciousness Theory Testing
  • [S03] Fehr and Gachter 2002 Altruistic Punishment
  • [S04] Bowles 2008 Incentives and Moral Sentiments
Religion

No separate source identified in this category; see individual assessment limits.

Back to bibliography overview

Least-supported formulations and proposals

Supporting literature

Physics
  • [P02] OpenStax First Law of Thermodynamics
  • [P03] OpenStax The Carnot Cycle
  • [P01] Prigogine 1977 Time Structure and Fluctuations
  • [P07] Robertson 1929 The Uncertainty Principle
  • [P05] Planck Collaboration 2020 Cosmological Parameters
  • [P11] CERN The Standard Model
  • [P04] Noether 1918 Invariant Variation Problems
Mathematics and formal systems
  • [M01] Shannon 1948 A Mathematical Theory of Communication
  • [M03] Ashby 1956 An Introduction to Cybernetics
  • [M04] Simon 1962 The Architecture of Complexity
  • [M05] Wolpert and Macready 1997 No Free Lunch Theorems
  • [M02] Lorenz 1963 Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow
Philosophy
  • [F03] Mill 1859 On Liberty
  • [F02] Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics Book II
  • [F05] Kegan 1994 In Over Our Heads
  • [F01] Hume 1739 to 1740 A Treatise of Human Nature
  • [F04] Rawls 1971 A Theory of Justice
Other natural sciences and engineering
  • [B06] Laland Odling Smee and Feldman 1999 Niche Construction
  • [B09] May 1972 Will a Large Complex System Be Stable
  • [B10] Holling 1973 Resilience and Stability
  • [B04] Szathmary and Maynard Smith 1995 Major Evolutionary Transitions
  • [B01] Price 1970 Selection and Covariance
  • [B02] Kimura 1968 Evolutionary Rate at the Molecular Level
  • [B14] Gould and Lewontin 1979 Spandrels of San Marco
  • [B03] McShea 1994 Mechanisms of Large Scale Evolutionary Trends
  • [B05] Varela Maturana and Uribe 1974 Autopoiesis
Social sciences
  • [S07] Tomasello Kruger and Ratner 1993 Cultural Learning
  • [S11] Mellers and colleagues 2014 Forecasting Tournament
  • [S02] Ostrom 2009 Beyond Markets and States
  • [S18] Tainter 1995 Sustainability of Complex Societies
  • [S09] Deci and Ryan 2000 Goal Pursuits
  • [S16] COGITATE Consortium 2025 Consciousness Theory Testing
  • [S10] Flavell 1979 Metacognition and Cognitive Monitoring
  • [S06] Coase 1960 The Problem of Social Cost
  • [S03] Fehr and Gachter 2002 Altruistic Punishment
  • [S01] Nowak 2006 Five Rules for Cooperation
  • [S19] Csikszentmihalyi 1990 Flow
  • [S13] Lally and colleagues 2010 Habit Formation
  • [S26] Graves, C
  • [S29] Stewart, J
Religion
  • [R01] Dhammapada Verses 183 and 277 to 279
  • [R02] Francis 2015 Laudato Si
  • [R03] Genesis 2 Verse 15

Challenging and limiting literature

Physics
  • [P10] Landauer 1961 Irreversibility and Heat Generation
  • [P05] Planck Collaboration 2020 Cosmological Parameters
  • [P08] Krauss and Starkman 2000 Life The Universe and Nothing
  • [P03] OpenStax The Carnot Cycle
  • [P07] Robertson 1929 The Uncertainty Principle
  • [P02] OpenStax First Law of Thermodynamics
  • [P09] OpenStax Physical and Chemical Properties
  • [P11] CERN The Standard Model
  • [P04] Noether 1918 Invariant Variation Problems
Mathematics and formal systems
  • [M05] Wolpert and Macready 1997 No Free Lunch Theorems
  • [M03] Ashby 1956 An Introduction to Cybernetics
  • [M04] Simon 1962 The Architecture of Complexity
  • [M02] Lorenz 1963 Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow
Philosophy
  • [F01] Hume 1739 to 1740 A Treatise of Human Nature
  • [F03] Mill 1859 On Liberty
  • [G06] United Nations General Assembly (1948)
  • [F05] Kegan 1994 In Over Our Heads
  • [F04] Rawls 1971 A Theory of Justice
Other natural sciences and engineering
  • [B02] Kimura 1968 Evolutionary Rate at the Molecular Level
  • [B09] May 1972 Will a Large Complex System Be Stable
  • [B04] Szathmary and Maynard Smith 1995 Major Evolutionary Transitions
  • [B03] McShea 1994 Mechanisms of Large Scale Evolutionary Trends
  • [B14] Gould and Lewontin 1979 Spandrels of San Marco
  • [B07] Richardson and colleagues 2023 Planetary Boundaries
  • [B11] Buldyrev and colleagues 2010 Cascading Network Failures
  • [B05] Varela Maturana and Uribe 1974 Autopoiesis
Social sciences
  • [S08] Henrich 2004 Demography and Cultural Evolution
  • [S12] Nisbett and Wilson 1977 Verbal Reports on Mental Processes
  • [S18] Tainter 1995 Sustainability of Complex Societies
  • [S11] Mellers and colleagues 2014 Forecasting Tournament
  • [S16] COGITATE Consortium 2025 Consciousness Theory Testing
  • [S17] Butlin and colleagues 2023 Consciousness in AI
  • [S06] Coase 1960 The Problem of Social Cost
  • [S05] Bernstein 2012 The Transparency Paradox
  • [S19] Csikszentmihalyi 1990 Flow
  • [S13] Lally and colleagues 2010 Habit Formation
  • [S24] Schwartz, S
  • [G02] World Bank (2017)
Religion
  • [R01] Dhammapada Verses 183 and 277 to 279
  • [R03] Genesis 2 Verse 15

Back to bibliography overview

Full source catalog: primary research, theory and normative texts

Physics

  • [P01] Prigogine, I. (1977). Time, Structure and Fluctuations. Nobel Lecture, 8 December. Read source. Original scientific lecture
  • [P02] Ling, S. J., Sanny, J., & Moebs, W. University Physics Volume 2, section 3.3, First Law of Thermodynamics. OpenStax. Read source. Open educational textbook
  • [P03] Ling, S. J., Sanny, J., & Moebs, W. University Physics Volume 2, section 4.5, The Carnot Cycle. OpenStax. Read source. Open educational textbook
  • [P04] Noether, E. (1918). Invariante Variationsprobleme. Nachrichten von der Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 235–257. English translation by M. A. Tavel (1971), archived 2005. Read source. Original mathematical paper in translation
  • [P05] Planck Collaboration (2020). Planck 2018 results. VI. Cosmological parameters. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 641, A6. DOI 10.1051/0004-6361/201833910. Read source. Original observational analysis
  • [P06] Bell, J. S. (1964). On the Einstein Podolsky Rosen paradox. Physics Physique Fizika, 1, 195–200. DOI 10.1103/PhysicsPhysiqueFizika.1.195. Read source. Original theoretical paper
  • [P07] Robertson, H. P. (1929). The Uncertainty Principle. Physical Review, 34, 163–164. DOI 10.1103/PhysRev.34.163. Read source. Original theoretical paper
  • [P08] Krauss, L. M., & Starkman, G. D. (2000). Life, the Universe, and Nothing: Life and Death in an Ever-Expanding Universe. Astrophysical Journal, 531, 22–30. DOI 10.1086/308434. Read source. Original theoretical paper with conditional cosmology
  • [P09] Flowers, P., Theopold, K., Langley, R., & Robinson, W. R. Chemistry 2e, section 1.3, Physical and Chemical Properties. OpenStax. Read source. Open educational textbook
  • [P10] Landauer, R. (1961). Irreversibility and Heat Generation in the Computing Process. IBM Journal of Research and Development, 5, 183–191. DOI 10.1147/rd.53.0183. Read source. Original theoretical paper
  • [P11] CERN. The Standard Model. Official explanation of fundamental interactions and the limits of the model. Accessed 7 October 2026. Read source. Official scientific institutional explanation

Mathematics and formal systems

  • [M01] Shannon, C. E. (1948). A Mathematical Theory of Communication. Bell System Technical Journal, 27, 379–423 and 623–656. Read source. Original mathematical paper
  • [M02] Lorenz, E. N. (1963). Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 20, 130–141. DOI 10.1175/1520-0469(1963)020<0130:DNF>2.0.CO;2. Read source. Original mathematical model
  • [M03] Ashby, W. R. (1956). An Introduction to Cybernetics. Chapman & Hall. Particularly chapters 10–13 on regulation and requisite variety. Read source. Original theoretical monograph
  • [M04] Simon, H. A. (1962). The Architecture of Complexity. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 106, 467–482. Read source. Original theoretical paper
  • [M05] Wolpert, D. H., & Macready, W. G. (1997). No Free Lunch Theorems for Optimization. IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation, 1, 67–82. DOI 10.1109/4235.585893. Read source. Original mathematical paper

Philosophy

  • [F01] Hume, D. (1739–1740). A Treatise of Human Nature, Book III, Part I, section I, especially paragraph 27 on is and ought. Read source. Primary philosophical text
  • [F02] Aristotle (fourth century BCE). Nicomachean Ethics, Book II, especially chapters 1–6 on habituation and virtue. W. D. Ross translation excerpt. Read source. Primary philosophical text
  • [F03] Mill, J. S. (1859). On Liberty, chapters III and IV, on individuality, experiments in living, and limits on social authority. Read source. Primary philosophical text
  • [F04] Rawls, J. (1971). A Theory of Justice. Harvard University Press. Original edition. DOI 10.4159/9780674042605. Theory reference and publisher synopsis; full monograph not reviewed in this audit. Read source. Primary philosophical monograph publisher synopsis
  • [F05] Kegan, R. (1994). In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674445888. Theory reference and publisher synopsis; full book not reviewed in this audit. Read source. Primary developmental theory monograph publisher synopsis
  • [F06] Laske, O. (2015). Dialectical Thinking for Integral Leaders: A Primer. Integral Publishers. Original methodology; author and publisher descriptions checked, full book not reviewed in this audit. Read source. Primary methodology monograph publisher description
  • [F07] Universe Institute. What is the Advanced DMAP Dialectical Metasystemic Analysis and Problem-Solving Methodology. Accessed 7 October 2026. Read source. Primary description by proponents not independent validation
  • [F08] Moore, G. E. (1903). Principia Ethica, chapter I, especially the open-question argument. Read source. Primary philosophical argument; different from Hume’s is–ought point and itself philosophically contested.
  • [G05] UNESCO (2021). Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. Adopted 23 November. Read source. Intergovernmental normative instrument; not an empirical test or assurance of implementation.
  • [G06] United Nations General Assembly (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights, resolution 217 A (III), 10 December. Read source. Foundational normative declaration; distinct from the legal status of particular treaties and national laws.
  • [G07] United Nations (1967). Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, especially article IX. Read source. Primary treaty text supporting precautions concerning contamination; does not establish extraterrestrial life or its rights.

Other natural sciences and engineering

  • [B01] Price, G. R. (1970). Selection and Covariance. Nature, 227, 520–521. DOI 10.1038/227520a0. Read source. Original mathematical biology paper
  • [B02] Kimura, M. (1968). Evolutionary Rate at the Molecular Level. Nature, 217, 624–626. DOI 10.1038/217624a0. Read source. Original theoretical biology paper
  • [B03] McShea, D. W. (1994). Mechanisms of Large-Scale Evolutionary Trends. Evolution, 48, 1747–1763. DOI 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1994.tb02211.x. Read source. Original theoretical and empirical trend analysis
  • [B04] Szathmáry, E., & Maynard Smith, J. (1995). The major evolutionary transitions. Nature, 374, 227–232. DOI 10.1038/374227a0. Read source. Original synthesis by theory originators
  • [B05] Varela, F. G., Maturana, H. R., & Uribe, R. (1974). Autopoiesis: The organization of living systems, its characterization and a model. BioSystems, 5, 187–196. DOI 10.1016/0303-2647(74)90031-8. Read source. Original conceptual model abstract retrieved
  • [B06] Laland, K. N., Odling-Smee, F. J., & Feldman, M. W. (1999). Evolutionary consequences of niche construction and their implications for ecology. PNAS, 96, 10242–10247. DOI 10.1073/pnas.96.18.10242. Read source. Original population genetic model
  • [B07] Richardson, K., et al. (2023). Earth beyond six of nine planetary boundaries. Science Advances, 9, eadh2458. DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adh2458. Read source. Research synthesis dated 2023 not a 2026 status update
  • [B08] Tilman, D., Reich, P. B., & Knops, J. M. H. (2006). Biodiversity and ecosystem stability in a decade-long grassland experiment. Nature, 441, 629–632. DOI 10.1038/nature04742. Read source. Original field experiment
  • [B09] May, R. M. (1972). Will a Large Complex System be Stable? Nature, 238, 413–414. DOI 10.1038/238413a0. Read source. Original mathematical model with random interaction assumptions
  • [B10] Holling, C. S. (1973). Resilience and Stability of Ecological Systems. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 4, 1–23. DOI 10.1146/annurev.es.04.110173.000245. Read source. Original conceptual synthesis
  • [B11] Buldyrev, S. V., Parshani, R., Paul, G., Stanley, H. E., & Havlin, S. (2010). Catastrophic cascade of failures in interdependent networks. Nature, 464, 1025–1028. DOI 10.1038/nature08932. Read source. Original network model
  • [B12] Aiello, L. C., & Wheeler, P. (1995). The Expensive-Tissue Hypothesis: The Brain and the Digestive System in Human and Primate Evolution. Current Anthropology, 36, 199–221. DOI 10.1086/204350. Read source. Original anthropological hypothesis
  • [B13] Dunsworth, H. M., Warrener, A. G., Deacon, T., Ellison, P. T., & Pontzer, H. (2012). Metabolic hypothesis for human altriciality. PNAS, 109, 15212–15216. DOI 10.1073/pnas.1205282109. Read source. Original competing evolutionary hypothesis
  • [B14] Gould, S. J., & Lewontin, R. C. (1979). The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the adaptationist programme. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 205, 581–598. DOI 10.1098/rspb.1979.0086. Read source. Original methodological critique
  • [G04] NIST (2023). Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0), NIST AI 100-1. Read source. Voluntary technical governance framework. The 2023 edition is cited; NIST reports a revision in progress as of access, 7 October 2026.

Social sciences

  • [S01] Nowak, M. A. (2006). Five Rules for the Evolution of Cooperation. Science, 314, 1560–1563. DOI 10.1126/science.1133755. Read source. Mathematical synthesis by original researcher
  • [S02] Ostrom, E. (2009). Beyond Markets and States: Polycentric Governance of Complex Economic Systems. Nobel Lecture. Published in American Economic Review (2010), 100, 641–672. DOI 10.1257/aer.100.3.641. Read source. Original research lecture and institutional synthesis
  • [S03] Fehr, E., & Gächter, S. (2002). Altruistic punishment in humans. Nature, 415, 137–140. DOI 10.1038/415137a. Read source. Original economic experiment
  • [S04] Bowles, S. (2008). Policies designed for self-interested citizens may undermine the moral sentiments: evidence from economic experiments. Science, 320, 1605–1609. DOI 10.1126/science.1152110. Read source. Research synthesis caution about incentive design
  • [S05] Bernstein, E. S. (2012). The Transparency Paradox: A Role for Privacy in Organizational Learning and Operational Control. Administrative Science Quarterly, 57, 181–216. DOI 10.1177/0001839212453020. Read source. Original field research and experiment
  • [S06] Coase, R. H. (1960). The Problem of Social Cost. Journal of Law and Economics, 3, 1–44. DOI 10.1086/466560. Read source. Original economic analysis
  • [S07] Tomasello, M., Kruger, A. C., & Ratner, H. H. (1993). Cultural learning. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 16, 495–511, followed by commentaries. DOI 10.1017/S0140525X0003123X. Read source. Original developmental theoretical synthesis
  • [S08] Henrich, J. (2004). Demography and Cultural Evolution: How Adaptive Cultural Processes Can Produce Maladaptive Losses—The Tasmanian Case. American Antiquity, 69, 197–214. DOI 10.2307/4128416. Read source. Original model with contested historical application
  • [S09] Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The What and Why of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and the Self-Determination of Behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227–268. DOI 10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01. Read source. Theory originators synthesis
  • [S10] Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive-developmental inquiry. American Psychologist, 34, 906–911. DOI 10.1037/0003-066X.34.10.906. Read source. Original theoretical paper
  • [S11] Mellers, B., et al. (2014). Psychological Strategies for Winning a Geopolitical Forecasting Tournament. Psychological Science, 25, 1106–1115. DOI 10.1177/0956797614524255. Read source. Original field forecasting study
  • [S12] Nisbett, R. E., & Wilson, T. D. (1977). Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on mental processes. Psychological Review, 84, 231–259. DOI 10.1037/0033-295X.84.3.231. Read source. Original research based methodological critique
  • [S13] Lally, P., van Jaarsveld, C. H. M., Potts, H. W. W., & Wardle, J. (2010). How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40, 998–1009. DOI 10.1002/ejsp.674. Read source. Original prospective study
  • [S14] Weng, H. Y., et al. (2013). Compassion Training Alters Altruism and Neural Responses to Suffering. Psychological Science, 24, 1171–1180. DOI 10.1177/0956797612469537. Read source. Original randomized training experiment
  • [S15] Cohn, A., Maréchal, M. A., Tannenbaum, D., & Zünd, C. L. (2019). Civic honesty around the globe. Science, 365, 70–73. DOI 10.1126/science.aau8712. Read source. Original multinational field experiment
  • [S16] COGITATE Consortium et al. (2025). Adversarial testing of global neuronal workspace and integrated information theories of consciousness. Nature, 642, 133–142. DOI 10.1038/s41586-025-08888-1. Read source. Original preregistered adversarial experiment
  • [S17] Butlin, P., et al. (2023). Consciousness in Artificial Intelligence: Insights from the Science of Consciousness. arXiv:2308.08708. DOI 10.48550/arXiv.2308.08708. Read source. Expert theory based report preprint not a proof of AI consciousness
  • [S18] Tainter, J. A. (1995). Sustainability of complex societies. Futures, 27, 397–407. DOI 10.1016/0016-3287(95)00016-P. Read source. Original historical explanatory framework
  • [S19] Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Harper & Row. ISBN 9780060162535. Original monograph; edition metadata checked, full book not reviewed in this audit. Read source. Original psychology monograph metadata only
  • [S20] Hayes, S. C., Luoma, J. B., Bond, F. W., Masuda, A., & Lillis, J. (2006). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Model, processes and outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, 1–25. DOI 10.1016/j.brat.2005.06.006. Read source. Theory originators review not an isolated acceptance intervention
  • [S21] Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 377–389. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.84.2.377. Read source. Original experiments; abstract and methods summary reviewed; not proof of every gratitude practice.
  • [S22] Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44, 350–383. doi:10.2307/2666999. Read source. Original field study of 51 teams; abstract reviewed; associations do not establish universal causation.
  • [S23] Pennycook, G., Epstein, Z., Mosleh, M., Arechar, A. A., Eckles, D., & Rand, D. G. (2021). Shifting attention to accuracy can reduce misinformation online. Nature, 592, 590–595. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03344-2. Read source. Original survey and field experiments; findings concern specified accuracy interventions.
  • [S24] Schwartz, S. H. (2012). An overview of the Schwartz theory of basic values. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1). doi:10.9707/2307-0919.1116. Read source. Theory originator’s research synthesis; value structure and tensions, not a moral ranking.
  • [S25] Paluck, E. L., Green, S. A., & Green, D. P. (2019). The contact hypothesis re-evaluated. Behavioural Public Policy, 3, 129–158. doi:10.1017/bpp.2018.25. Read source. Researchers’ review of randomized studies; important gaps constrain claims about prejudice reduction.
  • [S26] Graves, C. W. (1970). Levels of existence: An open system theory of values. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 10(2), 131–155. doi:10.1177/002216787001000205. Read source. Original developmental theory; publisher metadata reviewed. Not independent validation of the website’s seven clusters.
  • [S27] Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist, 54, 493–503. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.54.7.493. Read source. Original theorist’s account of if–then planning; university citation reviewed. No claim here of a universal effect size.
  • [S28] Lawrence, M., Homer-Dixon, T., Janzwood, S., Rockström, J., Renn, O., & Donges, J. F. (2024). Global polycrisis: The causal mechanisms of crisis entanglement. Global Sustainability, 7, e6. doi:10.1017/sus.2024.1. See also the December 2024 erratum. Read source. Original conceptual research synthesis; open-access CC BY. Framework, not validation of an exact twenty-cause taxonomy.
  • [S29] Stewart, J. (2008). The Evolutionary Manifesto: Our role in the future evolution of life. 6 June. Read source. Proponent’s theoretical and advocacy text; scientific mechanisms, forecasts and chosen purposes must be assessed separately.
  • [G01] OECD (2020). OECD Public Integrity Handbook. OECD Publishing. doi:10.1787/ac8ed8e8-en. Read source. Institutional guidance informed by governance research; recommendations are not randomized proof.
  • [G02] World Bank (2017). World Development Report 2017: Governance and the Law. Read source. Institutional research synthesis; power, incentives and implementation conditions matter.
  • [G03] OECD (2025). OECD Supply Chain Resilience Review: Navigating Risks. doi:10.1787/94e3a8ea-en. Read source. Policy research synthesis; resilience involves costs and does not imply total localization.

Religion

  • [R01] Dhammapada, verses 183 and 277–279. Bhikkhu Buddharakkhita translation, The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom. Read source. Primary Buddhist scripture religious reasoning only
  • [R02] Francis (2015). Laudato Si, especially paragraphs 67, 137–162 and 203–208 on stewardship, integral ecology, limits, and education. Read source. Primary theological text not scientific validation
  • [R03] Genesis 2:15. New American Bible Revised Edition, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Read source. Primary Jewish and Christian scripture stewardship interpretation

Way of the Universe pages used to define the inventory

Continue into the full evaluation

The expanded research evaluation includes the complete original 65-page review plus the new family assessments. Every assessment separates supporting considerations, counterarguments, a responsible formulation, and bibliographies for both positions, subdivided by physics, mathematics, philosophy, other natural sciences, social sciences and religion where relevant. Missing evidence is identified rather than supplied by analogy.

Use the code beside any principle to find its detailed review. The original 77 assessments retain their A/B/C/D codes; the added families use E01–E50. You can disagree with a conclusion and still use the source trail to improve it. Research earns its keep when it helps us ask a better question—and occasionally retire a very confident bad answer.

Open the original assessment index · Open the added assessments

Advanced practice · Universe Institute: thinking and research · Job One for Humanity: preparation · Universe Spirit: voluntary meaning and spirituality

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  • Lawrence Wollersheim
    published this page in Advanced Level 2026-10-07 14:06:09 -0700
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