The unicist evolutionary approach is based on the development and use of functional knowledge to develop solutions in adaptive environments. Functional knowledge is such when it provides the confirmed functional actions and operational procedures of an adaptive solution.
Functional knowledge requires integrating the “know how” of solutions with the “know why” that defines the fundamentals of the solutions, using the necessary reasoning patterns that allow developing adaptive solutions.
The “know how” is based on the use of reliable knowledge that requires emulating the solution in mind using the specific fundamentals and having the procedural knowledge of the binary actions of what needs to be done.
The “know why” is an epistemological approach that requires knowing the concepts and fundamentals of what is intended to be done and the justifications and foundations that make the knowledge reliable.
The functionality of abductive, deductive, and inductive reasoning processes sustains the development of solutions in adaptive environments and requires the use of the unicist logic (double dialectical logic) to manage their functionality, dynamics, and evolution.
The gravitational force that allows developing functional knowledge is the need of developing structural solutions in adaptive environments.
The catalyst that sustains the building and use of functional knowledge is the use of pilot tests driven reflection processes.
This occurs only when the people involved have decided to assume the responsibility for ensuring the results of these solutions.
The Ontogenetic Structure of Functional Knowledge
The driver of functional knowledge is solution thinking, which is necessary to deal with adaptive environments.
It is based on having the “know how” of problem solving, which requires, on the one hand, having the knowledge of the binary actions that need to be installed to ensure the functionality of the processes and, on the other hand, having the necessary procedural knowledge to define the processes.
Functional knowledge implies defining fully reliable actions that have been confirmed through pilot testing processes.
The Maximal Strategy
Solution thinking begins when the idea of a concept has been achieved. When the concept of the solution has been envisioned, it is necessary to understand the functionality of such solution.
This implies understanding the “what for” that defines the justification of the actions. The true “what for” establishes the basics to be considered to confirm the validity of the conceptual knowledge that defines the “know why” of the functional knowledge.
It must be considered that the justification of actions implicitly defines their true purpose, which is frequently hidden when the actions occur in social environments. Finding the true justifications is a basic condition to access the true functionality of a solution.
After the justifications are evident, it is possible to confirm if the foundations of the solutions are available. The foundations establish the validity of the functionality of the fundamentals that integrate concepts.
This fundamental structure is the catalyst of the functional reasoning process. It establishes the framework of the functional knowledge that is being acquired. It is necessary to have developed destructive tests to confirm the functionality of the foundations. When the foundations have been confirmed the conceptual knowledge becomes confirmed.
The Minimum Strategy
The reasoning process begins by making an abductive approach to the solution that is being sought. Unicist abductive reasoning is based on the development of unicist reflection processes, which require the development of pilot tests and destructive tests to confirm the functionality of knowledge and measure its scope of application.
The inductive process that follows is based on these pilot tests, which are sustained by the fundamental structure that has been defined before. The unicist inductive process is a fundamentals-driven induction.
The deductive process that follows is action driven. The objective of the unicist deductive process is to confirm the functionality of the binary actions that are supposed to drive a solution.
The unicist abductive reasoning becomes validated when this deductive reasoning has been completed. The unicist approach implies that the whole reasoning process occurs within the framework of a unicist reflection process. This approach has been developed to deal with adaptive systems and environments. It is unnecessary in operational environments.
Reflection Processes use Abductive, Inductive and Deductive Reasoning
Unicist Reflection can be defined as the process that integrates abductive, inductive, and deductive reasoning to define the functionality, dynamics and evolution of adaptive systems and environments. The final objective is to define the necessary actions that ensure the functionality of adaptive systems.
Unicist reflection is a pilot test driven reflection process that includes the initial pilot tests until a system is working, the destructive tests to extend the use of a system beyond the limits of the initial functional boundaries until the system becomes dysfunctional and the non-destructive tests that allow measuring the results that can be achieved within the functional boundaries.
The functionality of the different reasoning processes included in the unicist reflection process can be synthesized in:
Abductive reasoning is based on a conceptual mindset and allows:
- Managing complex adaptive environments
- Discovering new solutions
- Creativity
- Designing maximal and minimum strategies
- Backward/Forward chaining thinking
- Conceptual design
- Expanding the boundaries of knowledge
- Hypothesis based approach
- Bottom-up and Top-down approach
- Destructive and non-destructive testing
- Homological confirmation of knowledge
Inductive reasoning is based on an operational mindset and allows:
- Managing operational environments
- For integrating particular effects with universal causes
- Learning processes
- Testing maximal and minimum strategies
- Backward chaining thinking
- Functional design
- Confirming the boundaries of knowledge
- Observations based approach
- Bottom-up approach
- Destructive testing
- Functional confirmation of knowledge
Deductive reasoning is based on an analytical mindset and allows:
- Managing systemic environments
- Deducing from theories or premises
- Studying processes
- Planning maximal and minimum strategies
- Forward chaining thinking
- Systemic design
- Reasoning within existing boundaries
- Logic based approach
- Top down approach
- Non-destructive testing
- True knowledge based on theories or premises
The abductive approach implies managing the concepts and fundamentals of things. One must consider that the basic schooling systems are based on teaching inductive reasoning and mainly deductive (analytical) reasoning, disregarding the use of the abductive reasoning approach.
The unicist reflection process requires managing the unicist logic that allows integrating the abductive, inductive, and deductive processes. The unicist logic was developed to consciously manage the unified field of complex adaptive systems. Conscious reasoning allows developing fallacy-free decisions and actions to ensure the results of what intends to be achieved.
The Use of Functional Knowledge
There are four stages that are necessary to transform ideas into actions.
- Concepts Finding
- Fundamental Analysis
- Solution Building
- Pilot Testing
Concepts Finding
The finding of the concepts and the fundamentals of a solution is an inductive process guided by the need of building the ontogenetic map that describes the functionality of the solution that is being built.
It might be the case that the ontogenetic map has already been discovered. In this case, it is necessary to rediscover it to transform semantic information into live functional concepts that describe a solution.
This inductive process is based on the rules established by the unicist logic and the unicist ontology of evolution. It allows describing the structure of a solution and defining the threshold that is functional for each fundamental that integrates the concepts.
Fundamental Analysis
The conceptual functional structure of a solution needs to be divided into its sub-concepts that define the purpose, the maximal strategy, and the minimum strategy.
This division is what allows confirming the functionality of the conceptual structure by developing logical tests following the complementation and supplementation laws and by making the necessary pilot tests to confirm the functionality of the solutions that are implicit.
The fundamental analysis ends with a universal ontogenetic map of a solution and the specific ontogenetic map that responds to the characteristics of the environment and enables the development of solutions.
Solution Building
The building of solutions is driven by the specific concepts and fundamentals that were found and confirmed and is based on the “what for” of the solution that is being built.
These solutions require using unicist functional design to build, on one hand, the functional solution that ends with a functional design and, on the other hand, an operational solution that transforms the ontogenetic map into binary actions.
In adaptive environments, that are feedback dependent, it is necessary to build binary actions that fit into the concepts of the solution of the problem. To define these binary actions, it is necessary to envision the concept of the solution and have sound operational knowledge to ensure their functionality.
Pilot Testing
There are three different types of pilot tests that need to be done. The first pilot tests are to confirm if the functionality of the actions has been achieved. This functionality needs to fulfill the objectives that have been defined as possible.
The second pilot test is done when the functionality has been confirmed. Its objective is to measure the limits of the knowledge of the solution. It consists of extending its use until it loses its adaptability first and its functionality afterwards. These are the unicist destructive tests that confirm the limits of the functional knowledge.
The third pilot test is done to measure the quantitative results that can be achieved by the solution. They consist of measuring quantitatively the real application of the solutions.
Synthesis
The use of functional knowledge is basic to influence adaptive environments. It allows developing adaptive solutions to influence the environment and manage its influence. It requires using a pragmatic, structural and functionalist framework that allows developing the functional design of adaptive systems and solving problems in adaptive environments.
