Axioms
297 axioms · page 6 of 7
Compassion (warmth toward someone suffering) and empathic…
Compassion (warmth toward someone suffering) and empathic distress (experiencing their suffering) activate distinct neural networks and produce opposite effects on emotional wellbeing and prosocial motivation.
Differentiation of self exists on a spectrum from fused…
Differentiation of self exists on a spectrum from fused to differentiated emotional functioning.
One regulated nervous system can co-regulate another…
One regulated nervous system can co-regulate another dysregulated nervous system through social engagement cues.
People in different emotional states cannot accurately…
People in different emotional states cannot accurately simulate the preferences and perspectives of their selves in other emotional states.
Perception of time remaining in life fundamentally shapes…
Perception of time remaining in life fundamentally shapes emotional motivation and behavior.
Team performance correlates weakly with average individual…
Team performance correlates weakly with average individual intelligence and strongly with interaction patterns
Shared mental models among group members determine what…
Shared mental models among group members determine what the group perceives, how it interprets, and what actions it considers
Task conflict improves team performance only…
Task conflict improves team decisions only when psychological safety is high
Team performance is primarily determined by conditions set
Team performance is primarily determined by pre-conditions rather than real-time management
An organization's communication structure determines…
An organization's communication structure determines the structure of systems it produces
Organizational culture exists at three disconnected levels
artifacts, espoused beliefs, and basic assumptions
Different functions develop different schemas as adaptive…
Different functions develop different schemas as adaptive responses to their environments
Most organizational outcomes are products of system design…
Most organizational outcomes are products of system design, not individual effort
Every organizational system creates winners…
Every organizational system creates beneficiaries and those disadvantaged
Common knowledge enables coordination without communication…
Common knowledge enables coordination without communication
Groups exhibit cognitive biases that are distinct…
Groups exhibit emergent cognitive biases not reducible to individual biases
Collective error equals average individual error minus…
Collective error equals average individual error minus prediction diversity
Physical distance exponentially reduces communication…
Physical distance exponentially reduces communication frequency
Descriptive norms (what people actually do) are more
Descriptive norms are more powerful behavioral drivers than injunctive norms
Organizations become increasingly homogeneous through
Organizations homogenize through attraction-selection-attrition cycles
Organizational systems exhibit homeostasis—deploying
Organizational systems exhibit homeostasis against change
Authority can mandate compliance but cannot mandate
Authority can mandate compliance but not commitment
Psychological safety—the perception that interpersonal risks
Psychological safety is a precondition for team learning
Consciousness is inherently intentional — it is always…
Consciousness is inherently intentional — it is always directed toward an object and never exists as contentless awareness.
Human existence has four permanent structural features
death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness.
Human values are incommensurable—they cannot be measured…
Human values are incommensurable — they cannot be measured on a single universal scale.
Human lives unfold over time, requiring temporal integration
Human lives unfold over time, requiring temporal integration of past, present, and future into a coherent whole.
Narrative framing of identical events produces measurably…
Narrative framing of identical events produces measurably different psychological and behavioral outcomes.
Vulnerability — defined as emotional exposure, uncertainty…
Vulnerability — emotional exposure, uncertainty, and risk — is the precondition for deep connection and belonging.
There exists a meaningful distinction between meaning (what…
There exists a meaningful distinction between meaning (what matters) and purpose (directional action toward what matters).
Purpose requires self-transcendence — orientation toward…
Purpose requires self-transcendence — orientation toward contributing to something beyond the self — to sustain motivation over time.
Purpose evolves across developmental stages in predictable…
Purpose evolves across developmental stages in predictable patterns rather than remaining fixed.
Human beings construct identity through ongoing narrative…
Human beings construct identity through ongoing narrative processes rather than discovering a pre-existing fixed self.
Identity and purpose exist in a bidirectional causal…
Identity and purpose exist in a bidirectional causal relationship where each shapes the other over time.
Negative events carry greater psychological weight…
Negative events carry greater psychological weight than positive events of equal intensity.
Actual behavior reveals operative values more reliably…
Actual behavior reveals operative values more reliably than stated preferences or intentions.
The self is not a unified entity but a multiplicity…
The self is not a unified entity but a multiplicity of I-positions that engage in internal dialogue.
Human development includes a stage-appropriate drive…
Human development includes a stage-appropriate drive to contribute to what outlasts the self.
When espoused values and basic underlying assumptions…
When espoused values and basic underlying assumptions conflict, basic assumptions always win in determining actual behavior.
When mortality is made salient and consciously processed…
When mortality is made salient and consciously processed rather than suppressed, humans reorganize priorities toward intrinsic goals.
There exists a cognitive zone between what a learner…
There exists a cognitive zone between what a learner can do independently and what they can do with guidance from a more capable other.
Extrinsic motivation (reward from external recognition)
Extrinsic rewards undermine intrinsic motivation over time through an overjustification effect.
Suffering is an irreducible feature of conscious existence…
Suffering is an irreducible feature of conscious existence, woven into impermanence, the gap between desire and reality, and awareness of mortality.
Human well-being consists of multiple distinct capabilities…
Human well-being consists of multiple distinct capabilities that are not fungible.
Experiential avoidance (attempting to alter the form…
Experiential avoidance functions as a transdiagnostic risk factor across anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and chronic pain.
Humans have an innate, evolutionarily grounded need…
Humans have an innate, evolutionarily grounded need to affiliate with living systems beyond other humans.
Higher mental functions, including meaning-making, originate
Higher mental functions originate in social interaction and are subsequently internalized rather than originating inside the individual.
The mind actively constructs understanding through schemas…
The mind actively constructs understanding through schemas that assimilate new experience and accommodate when schemas fail.