Principles of coherence
Fundamental consistency provides uninterrupted focus, attention retention, problem awareness, and information integration for their solution throughout the agent's entire life span. It is called fundamental because it is sufficiently stable in life circumstances and also scalable: the principles underlying fundamental consistency are equally applicable to agents of various complexities, from individuals to societies.
Fundamentality is ensured by the existence of principles (laws or rules) that rarely change over time. Principles (fundamental laws) are familiar to us from physics: in school, you most likely studied the principles of thermodynamics, conservation laws, and so on. Fundamental laws allow us to identify patterns of change in a wide range of object classes, that is, to build meta-meta-models, and then build meta-models in different fields of activity based on those.
Principles too can be subject to review, but this happens less frequently than the revision of applied theories and especially trendy ideas in various knowledge sectors, for example, in operations management. Therefore, studying the first principles gives us a certain "core" of knowledge to rely on throughout life - and from which to build problem-solving solutions. The "first principle method"[1], applied, in particular, by Elon Musk: the problem solution is proposed to be reassembled under a goal relying primarily on the first principles of disciplines that provide general models, "how it works". Only then should these principles be supplemented with previous experience and analogies. Such an approach to problem-solving differs from the more common "copy successful experiences in whole or in part and then see if it fits or not" and can lead to the emergence of non-trivial solutions not previously considered by scientists and engineers. In addition, first principles are useful for quick problem diagnostics: if any of the fundamental laws are violated, then we almost certainly have a problem in that area.
Let's list some (not all!) principles of consistency:
- Giving priority to the physical world
- Building models
- Taking into account the time gap
- Planning different changes and knowing their different speeds
- Using the exo-cortex
- Minimizing efforts
- Doing what resources are available
The list is incomplete and subject to change: some principles may be removed, some may be added, as happens with physical laws. For example, in classical mechanics, it was believed that the mass of an object is constant and does not depend on speed. After the discovery of the theory of relativity, it turned out that this is not the case[2]. The same can happen with the first principles of consistency.