https://github.com/perspectivesonatheme/patterns

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A framework of abstract patterns

This repository contains a collection of abstract patterns. These patterns involve concepts including abstraction, language, knowledge, design, models, and systems, and are useful mental tools for reasoning about areas such as politics, economics, psychology, technology, and science.

WARNING: This is a work in progress. Parts may be outright or subtley wrong, incomplete, oversimplified, or inconsistent, and many statements are given little to no justification or explanation. Some patterns are not yet ready to be made public because they need verification, cleanup, or refactoring. Consequently, some links don't point to anything. These remaining patterns will be added as they reach an acceptable state.

See Philosophy.md for (an initial version of) this project's guiding principles and rationale, along with caveats about its use. Organization.md contains an overview of the patterns grouped roughly by correspondence, which may be useful for guiding exploration. A good place to start is with Framing, which is broadly representative of the type of content and format of the project as a whole.

Format

• {note}: a side-note about the presentation or construction of a pattern, not about the pattern itself
• {alt1, alt2}: a list of alternative words or phrases
• a heading designates the start of a sub-pattern

Each pattern is composed of some or all of the following:

• a description
• examples
• properties
• analogies and sayings/proverbs
• useful terminology
• relationships to other patterns

Feedback

If something can be improved, please let me know. I'm specifically looking for feedback in the following areas:

• title for the project as a whole
• pattern names: any that have unfitting names or already have conventional names
• language/terminology issues, improvements, additions
• oversimplifications (if they can be improved without sacrificing concision)
• new and interesting examples, counterexamples, issues with existing examples
• writing style
• presentation format, general approach
• related works (other than those already listed)

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