Human expression amongst postmodern technological advances

Ray Dalio, founder and longtime CEO of Bridgewater Associates, coined the term ‘Principle Level Thinking’ to grow Bridgewater Associates into the biggest hedge fund in the world. This article will cover what Principle Level Thinking is, how Principle Level Thinking is used in the modern day as a form of expression, and why Principle Level Thinking will be critical in a technologically advanced postmodern society.

I invite you to take part in an exercise. Take a look at the following formula to the left.

What does this mean to you? Does it summon memories of high school mathematics class? Perhaps you’ve seen this theorem used as the basis for more complicated formulas in areas such as physics, engineering, architecture, construction surveying, and navigation. It could be that the equation is unfamiliar to you. Nevertheless, let’s study the picture below.

Do you understand or does the meaning continue to be disguised as hieroglyphs? Here’s an explanation, ‘The Pythagorean Theorem states that the sum of the squares of the lengths of the two other sides of a right-angled triangle is equal to the square of the length of the hypotenuse’.

Hopefully, now you understand the theory behind Pythagoras’s Theorem. The significant takeaway here is that I have expressed to you the same idea in two different forms, through English Expression and Algebraic Expression. This is an important concept known as Principle Level Thinking which will underpin the rest of this article and human expression amongst postmodern technological advances.

Principle Level Thinking is the idea that an algorithm or equation is nothing more than an expression of a principle. In a technological context, we can instead substitute mathematical expressions with computer code. Like traditional forms of language, there are hundreds of available computer coding languages which developers or anyone with coding knowledge can express their principles with. The rise of these new ‘languages’ is in itself an assertion that the world is rapidly moving towards expressing ideas in a new and different way. Similar to the example of Pythagorean Theorem above, we can selectively choose to represent the same view through code (algorithms) or word (traditional language).

Principle Level Thinking is not a new movement, as demonstrated by the existence of historically famous algebraic expressions within high school curriculums or by trades executed on the markets by the traders of Wall Street. At its crux is about creating a recipe for success (the principle) and operating in a principled way (adhering to the principle). On a more individual and micro level, Principle Level Thinking is about knowing your own principles, refining them and expressing them in a transparent way (Dubner 2018).

Let us examine the cross section of Principle Level Thinking coupled with the advancement of modern day technology. Across all industries, there has been a rapid influx and adoption of new technology. If we dissect technology as a platform for companies and individuals to aid their own ventures and principles there creates a need for these principles to be expressed in ‘Computenese’. The translation of a principle from an analogue word to a digital algorithm forces ideas to be expressed in a very clear manner. A real world example of this can come from self driving cars. Autopilot is by its nature a set of algorithms and therefore an expression of principles, by a company or a singular developer. Let’s drop in a moral dilemma, if the car with autopilot was ever faced with a situation to either kill the driver or kill a few bystanders to save the driver, which one would it pick? (Dubner 2018) This decision is decided by the code within the autopilot, which is in the form of an algorithm. Taking the algorithm as nothing more than an expression of a principle, the translation of the principles within the algorithm must be apparent in order for the car to react in an emergency situation. Autopilot is just one example of Principle Level Thinking out of countless others including Cyber Warfare Malware, High Frequency Trading, or even Bitcoin.

Let’s expand on Bitcoin as an example. A crusade disguised as a currency, Bitcoin through the lens of Principle Level Thinking is a combination of advanced algorithms which express a set of political principles. When Bitcoin was first released in 2009 by an unknown entity known as ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’, it was released as an ingenious string of computer code which could facilitate the transfer of money from one individual to another online, directly, anonymously and outside government control (Feuer 2013). This was Satoshi’s algorithmic expression of political principles. Additionally accompanying the code was a 500 word essay written by Satoshi that suggested the creation of Bitcoin was in response to anger at the Global Financial Crisis. A direct quote from this essay includes ‘The root problem with conventional currencies is all the trust that’s required to make it work. The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust’ (Nakamoto 2008). This is Satoshi’s word expression of his political principles.

As technology continues to develop at a rapid pace, Principle Level Thinking, therefore, becomes a new higher form of human expression. Principle Level Thinking activates both System 1 and System 2 of the mind, for those familiar with Daniel Kahneman’s ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’. For those unfamiliar with the book, expressing the same idea in both word and algebraic expressions forces the idea to be well thought out and therefore more clearly shown. In a technological context, as technology continues to grow so do the platforms in which Principle Level Thinking can be expressed with. This can be through new forms of computer language and code, new hardware embodied with algorithmic expressions and new types of software to interact with, again underpinned by algorithmic expression. To facilitate this change on a macro level, I believe educational curriculums will need to change to equip humans to adequately express their ideas through algorithmic expressions.

Just as Bitcoin was initially a political and economic movement, there will be more social, technological, environmental, economic and political believes expressed in the form of algorithms within postmodern society. If we backcast the steps necessary to get to this point of human expression, there is need to create an educational movement at a young age. It perplexed me that during my senior years of high school Mathematics was an optional subject while English remained compulsory. In order for Principle Level Thinking to properly emerge, the societal perception surrounding the importance of Mathematics must equal the importance of linguistic expression. We can see the pillars of this movement forming within Australian society today. Modern changes which support Principle Level Thinking include the Women in STEM movement, the introduction of computing electives at the high school level, and Engineers being sought out by human resource departments in non-traditional engineering industries including financial services and professional services.

Another framework to the change Principle Level Thinking will bring within postmodern society is through the Communication Theory framework shown below.

Within this Communication Theory framework, a Sender first encodes their message. This message then travels through a medium to a receiver. The receiver then decodes the message by applying their own personal biases and knowledge to the message. They then send their own feedback, another message, through the same medium back to the sender. Principle Level Thinking will shift they way humans encode their message into forms of mathematics. The mediums in which these messages will be consumed will take the place of hardware, software or a decryption of the algebraic algorithms.

As we think of the fast paced adoption of technology across all industries, how can heightened importance on mathematical expression enable humans to express themselves more concisely? What skills and changes are necessary within the educational sector to give humans the ability to better communicate their own principles in both word expression and algorithmic expression? How will Principle Level Thinking and it’s natural expression within the algorithmic and word realms expression lead to humans better expressing their own principles, refining them and communicating them in a very clear and transparent way?

References

Dubner, J. 2018, Extra: Ray Dalio Full Interview, audio podcast, Freakanomics Radio, WNYC Studios and Dubner Productions, New York City, 8 April, viewed 10 June 2018, <http://freakonomics.com/podcast/ray-dalio/>.

Feuer, A. 2013, ‘The Bitcoin Ideology’, The New York Times, 14 December, viewed 10 June 2018, <https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/sunday-review/the-bitcoin-ideology.html>.

Lasswell, H. 2018, Message Systems and Communication Theory, DePaul University, Chicago, viewed 10 June 2018, <http://condor.depaul.edu/dsimpson/pers/comtheory.html>.

Nakamoto, S. 2008, ‘Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System’, viewed 10 June 2018, <https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf>.