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At the end of the page on the
5 Necessary & Sufficient Causes Model
I mentioned a Caution:
In our abstract conceptual worlds things are quite black & white, they either exist or they don't; they fit into a category or they don't. But in the real, shared, experiential world there are always degrees of presence. Try to buy some 'pure' copper, or gold, or lead, or even water or oxygen, it's almost impossible. All things in the experiential world are 'impure'; a given sample has more or less of the substance we want. So how much of each substance is 'necessary & sufficient' to say - Yes it's present! Or if we are trying to eliminate something, - Yes, it's absent! When looking at these sometimes small differences, that can make a huge impact, the relevant question is:
The answer is not universal, but personal, because Meanings are always personal, even if shared.
Why is a new model or Scale necessary?
Because in the common real, experiential world, as contrasted with our many individual abstract conceptual worlds, 2 facts stand out as extremely important:
Another way of saying this is that the critical thresholds of life, sometimes called 'tipping points', are not absolute, like ice, water, and steam, but vary significantly from individual to individual AND within each individual over time. Indeed, even water freezes and boils at different temperatures dependent on altitude above the earth and the impurities present.
So these thresholds are viewpoints which appear:
Failure of the "black and white" model:
When watching my fellow humans, I noticed that often situations would escalate fairly predictably, up to a point. At that point, radical behavior changes occurred, I call them thresholds. An argument of words goes up and up in volume, with yelling, but at a certain point the first punch is thrown. After many, many punches, a knife or gun may be drawn. Conventional wisdom, writes it off as a strange phenomenon, I could not, or rather would not, accept this. All behaviors happen for a reason, often a very personal reason, but still a reason.
At: The Violence Chain
I list 5 stages of violence escalation. But what I want to emphasize here is the thresholds that separate each stage because:
In the physical, economic, technical and other realms there are often many levels or stages, or phases. However, in human relationships and the boundaries between them, typically there are 3 main stages, or states, or phases with 2 boundaries or thresholds or tipping points separating them.
Learning to drive example:
When you first decide to get a drivers license to drive a car, here's what typically happens:
First, you get into a car, and immediately you are overwhelmed, because there's a gas and brake pedal, and maybe a clutch, there are rearview mirrors both inside and outside, plus an array of gauges or lights warning you about a host of possibly serious conditions. You try very hard for a few months, but make little progress. You are frustrated. You're putting in a lot of effort, and seemingly getting little results. I call this the Overwhelm Phase. Graphically, it's a sad face.
Then comes the first threshold, the drivers exam. You have to get in a car with this big burly state trooper, and convince him you're really OK to go out on the road and not kill too many of your neighbors! I call this The Critical Mass Threshold.
Eventually, you pass and get your driver's license. This puts you in the second or Proportional phase. The more you practice, the better driver you become. You like this, since your world is more in control. The more effort you invest, the better driving results you achieve. Graphically, this is a happy face.
This can go on for many years, but eventually you reach another threshold point where you're probably as good as you'll ever get. I call this The Saturation Threshold.
Beyond that you have to put in a lot of effort to improve even a little bit. Unless you're going for the Olympics, you're Underwhelmed or Bored! I call this the Underwhelm or Boredom phase. Graphically, it's a sad face.
This happy face, sad face was actually important to me in my last year of college, 1962. To me, it showed the failure of the Symptom - Remedy Model of therapy. People in the Proportional zone or phase are happy and hence unlikely to ever seek psychological help. But people in both the Overwhelm and Underwhelm phases show up on therapy's doorstep. Their world is not working; they are putting a lot of effort and only getting little results. BUT, the advice they both need is exactly the opposite. To folks in the Overwhelm zone or phase, they need to hear: "Stay with it, don't give up, persevere, the end is in sight." But to folks in the Underwhelm zone or phase, they need to hear the exact opposite: "Back off, relax, take a vacation".
Combining these Experiential World Threshold levels:
| Threshold Level Names | Definition | Water Example | Driving Example | |
| Underwhelm |  |
More than enough, excess is waste | Steam >212°F | Olympic Racing |
| Saturation Threshold | Change of state, Evaporate, Condense | 212°F | Driving Trophy | |
| Proportional |  |
Output is proportional to input | Water >32°F <212°F | Experience |
| Critical Mass Threshold | Change of state, Liquefy, Solidify | 32°F | Driver's license | |
| Overwhelm | |
Less than bare minimum, treat as 0 | Ice <32°F | Learning to Drive |
There is a flip side to this in the physical sciences:
Example of a Physical Threshold: Water
If you heat an ice cube, the temperature of the ice goes up at a very smooth predictable rate. However, at 32o Fahrenheit (or 0o Centigrade), something strange occurs: for 80 calories/gram added no change of temperature occurs! However, during this period, a change of state occurs, namely ice turns to water. Then a nice smooth temperature rise occurs. This nice, intellectually satisfying curve continues until 212o Fahrenheit (or 100o Centigrade) occurs. Then, a similar phenomenon to what happened at 32o Fahrenheit occurs. For 540 calories/gram the temperature does not increase but another change of state occurs, as water changes to steam!
After that the temperature rises again smoothly.
Here's what it looks like:
The Ice to water and back again is a useful metaphor for the way we often form and later change our beliefs.
For more details, see: Natural & Trauma Learning
More examples, please think up even more yourself. Thresholds are all around us, but sometimes they are subtle, so we have to look for them.
Emotional Thresholds:
Mental Thresholds:
Spiritual Thresholds:
Relationship Thresholds:
Skills Thresholds:
Applications:
Social impact:
Since time immemorial people have often preferred 1 of 2 very different ways of perceiving their world, popularly called Absolute and Relative. This difference has been in the kitchen, classroom, pub, legislatures, and even international negotiations.
To the Absolutist, things are Black & White with nothing in between.
To the Relativist things are relatively more or less with no limiting points.
The Absolutist, is often more comfortable in their world of ideas, where things almost always seem black or white, in or out of a category.
The Relativist, is often more comfortable with the concrete world of individuals, where all things exist only to a certain degree, more or less.
This model, or scale, is designed to understand both viewpoints and provide a way for them to co-exist without the personal violence that has existed for centuries. Neither is likely to ever adopt the others viewpoint, but to live in peace is preferable to enduring endless wars. And indeed, as I'll show, both viewpoints are necessary for us all to grow.
By showing, first with physical examples, then psychological examples, hopefully we can convince both groups that the relative values, the shades of gray, or brillant colors, lie right between the threshold points of black & white.
More to come...
Related pages:
The 5 Necessary and Sufficient Causes Model
About the Founder
Bob's Blog
World Views blog entry
Feedback:
Certified RFR - Rat Free Research:
All my studies have been conducted with humans, by humans, and for humans.
No rats have ever been harmed or even inconvenienced.
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