I want a short word that means precisely "PCT Error", ie "the gap between a reference level and a perception, for any ontum at any level of the control system hierarchy." "Error" has "mistake" connotations "Desire" sounds too inherently-meaningful
Searching for a better word for "PCT error"
12 tweets · March 2021 · 16 likes · 0 retweets · read on Twitter
"Urge" comes to mind. I like the connection with how the Coherence Therapy folks talk about how any symptom is "urgently needed" by the client in the context in which it is produced, as they're construing that context.
"Want" is also close to "PCT Error", but is confusable for the concept of the reference level itself. Maybe less so historically, when "want" often meant "lack", as in the Selkirk Grace:
But "want" still connotes umm... okay so like a "goal" is another way to point at "reference level". I guess by definition a goal is something you want to achieve. But there's a diff between a goal you feel stuck on vs one in a state of smooth flow.
Hmm, part of the issue here is that there's a relativeness. For an error at a given level in the PCT hierarchy, the level above is the "why", and the level below is the "how".
@pjeby explores calling this "energy" instead, but that has a bunch of other connotations ranging from the idea that it should be conserved to the thing hippies mean when they talk about somebody's energy. Plus sometimes it's stuck; more like opposing forces than energy.
Force... Robert Fritz's term "creative tension" is almost exactly pointing at the right thing, but first of all it's too LONG. Oh! Second of all, his concept of "oscillating tension" approximately refers to one mode of two PCT Errors being in conflict.
That suggests that "tension" could itself be the word. There's something there! Though ofc connotes muscle tension, stress, etc. There is indeed a kind of pulling. And it highlights how oscillating tension is in some sense still towardsness, not awayness
I'm thinking that a word building on "tension" could be the way to go. We also already have "intention" & "attention" which are very relevant. "Intention" is actually nearly literally the thing! But again, too many connotations or something.
Huh, I'm thinking about something I've been playing with recently, inspired by @meditationstuff's protocol... which is reframing my intentions to "inclinations" - "incline towards" I even added an experimental element to the Complice UI for my own account:
Though "inclinations" is not quite right either, maybe. The obvious downhillness of doing what your control systems intend is cybernetic and loopy, not like actual gravitation which just goes until it stops and doesn't actually fight opposition. malcolmocean.com/2016/06/you-fl…
me rn
