Searching for a Guiding Principle

Ideas have tremendous power, and their power grows exponentially when they synergise into a cohesive vision, and compound even further when they are structured as a resonant Visionary Strategy under the arbitrage of a central guiding principle.

A guiding principle is what governs how configurations and events unfold, spanning from the microcosmic to the macrocosmic.

Naturally this raises the question: what guiding principle should we use for value-judgments in a Visionary Strategy? Let us go back to first principles:

When we try to orient ourselves in the world to understand our place within it and decide what to do next, we are trying to find a point of reference from which to apprehend relative phenomena.

This process is foundational to our interaction with the world, and it is also at the heart of data-driven decision-making and scientific inquiry, which is none other than the process of seeking the truth.

All phenomena are apprehended through the recognition of truth in them. For instance, although it is often taken for granted, a chicken recognises the truth that it has a body, and the truth that the street it stands on exists, and this is what enables the chicken to get to the other side.

We recognise truth when perception reflects the reality of the respective domain, and that recognition can be apprehended differently depending on the perspective and methods taken.

Additionally, in order to apprehend the truth in a given system, we also need to step outside of that system, onto a higher domain, that enables us to appreciate the limitations of the system in question.

This means that ‘capital T’ Truth is what is present in every observable domain of reality, and so it acts as a transcendental guiding principle that connects all possible observable domains.

Organisms or systems that align with the fundamental truths of their environment continue to exist.

Something that is closer to the Truth is deemed more valuable and authentic. The "right" action or choice is the one that best embodies or moves towards the Truth.

Those who uphold and act in line with Truth demonstrate integrity. Actions and decisions that uphold Truth are seen as moral.

In this sense, Truth underlies the very core of existence, as the Universal Guiding Principle, and following its path leads to the development of traits which we recognise as virtuous and desirable.

This suggests that if we align all the data, metrics, and goals from our Visionary Strategy under the arbitrage of Truth, that must inevitably guide us through all layers of complexity, to a future where our existence is true and we can flourish, even if we cannot see the full causal chain yet.

This is the revelation that Truth is not merely an arbitrator, but the shortest route, the straight path, that cuts through the landscape of possibility towards the best possible future.

This is the ethos behind the Visionary Atlas™, a nested set of strategic frameworks with a star at the centre, encapsulating the essence of Truth, forever beyond anyone’s grasp and ownership.