Testing: one two three. . . .

i have just created this blog. now let's see whether i can post to it, and whether a friend or two can call it up. the purpose is to help me keep moving ahead at developing two theoretical frameworks:

one is about social evolution -- past, present, and future -- as a function of how societies use and combine four major forms of organization: tribes, hierarchical institutions, markets, and networks. the idea occurred to me in the early 1990s, and i already have a small body of writings about it, which i will eventually link here. but i also have quite a ways to go, and maybe this blog will help me to post occasional points now and then while i keep working at a long professional write-up. as an abbreviation, i call it the "timn" framework. for more in the meantime, see my 1994 paper on "Tribes, Institutions, Markets, Networks—A Framework about Societal Evolution" (1994).

the other idea is about how minds work in terms of people's perceptions about the nature of social space, social time, and social action. i think there is a module in the mind that consists of people's space-time-action orientations, and understanding this may provide keys to not only how people think but also how cultures work and historical eras differ. this idea occurred to me in the late 1960s, almost as an epiphany. but i've not managed to write it up thoroughly yet. again, i'm hoping this blog serves as a way to make some progress expressing pieces of the idea. as an abbreviation, i call it the "sta" framework. for more in the meantime, see the few pages on the idea inside my my paper on "The Hubris-Nemesis Complex: A Concept for Leadership Analysis" (1994).

so that's what this blog is about. along the way i may raise other matters, but only apropos some aspect of one or both theories.

onward.