Get Oriented to the Taxonomy
Re-set Your Awareness
The Taxonomy of Human Elements in Endeavour (THEE) is also a taxonomy of elements that enter consciousness due to a need for self-awareness. So you can think of it as a Taxonomy of Consciousness for Endeavour or a Taxonomy of Endeavour Elements in Awareness.
The essential discovery is that there is a dynamic structure of distinct and definable elements in what we commonly take to be intangible, fluid and multi-faceted: inner experience, inter-personal interaction, social situations and social institutions.
It seems that we all operate through and with this structure, whether we realize it or not. That is to say: «we structure the world using the structure that structures us».
The world referred to here is our «psychosocial world», which is:
• a world of endeavour, personal and social.
• a world we create, can know well and call our own.
The psychosocial world is natural, but it is nothing like the physical world studied by natural scientists. Still, once its reality is faced and models dealing with this world are accepted as valid, then conjectures can be developed and tested in the usual way. This should lead to a deeper understanding of human evolution and brain function.
Visit the Architecture Room to learn about some investigations relevant to this scientific effort.
THEE makes sense of the world of endeavour, providing frameworks that we can use for our own benefit. This website aims progressively to post the Taxonomy on the internet for free availability and wider scientific study. Anyone who is seriously interested can contribute to its development and applications.
If you have a philosophical or scientific background and are ready for a little complexity:
Analogy: Software of the Mind
You can think of THEE as software for the mind when you are doing your best.
The formal taxonomic architecture is equivalent to an operating system that both enables and constrains the building of applications. Most users notice the OS but take its operation for granted and are nervous about any upgrade. The same applies to THEE.
Each major framework in THEE is equivalent to an application—its power makes it a killer-app. Each entity within a framework is a natural tool. Such a taxonomic tool modifies other entities, much like one menu item in an app may modify what you do with other menu items.
Software is a tool not content: you use it to create content intuitively and easily. In exactly the same way, THEE frameworks do not give you an answer. They are flexible and functional tools that help you draw on your intuition to develop judgements and decisions. They also lend themselves to further specialized development for practical use.
Acceptance of any new software technology is never straightforward. Even if a new computer application is helpful, most resist mastering it unless its necessity is blatantly evident. Yet once we do accept and use an app, we often wonder how we ever managed without it.
Other similarities also apply:
- You are responsible for your use.
- You do not want to be the first user.
- You expect support and upgrades.
Next Steps
Get comfortable by reading within this More Orientation section:
- Try exploring some analogies.
- See what is distinctive about this taxonomy.
- Distinguish a model from a theory.
- Recognize that we create (psychosocial) reality.
- Look at identity implications.
Then move to these more complex sections:
Originally posted: July 2009; Last amended: 14-Jan-2014
