2. TCQs in Brief
The seven qualities are like the ingredients of this model. I’ve abbreviated the qualities necessary for existence as “TCQs”, for “The Core Qualities”. As this model evolves, new qualities may be discovered, so I didn’t call them “the seven qualities.”
The Big Answer (TBA) is based on the central idea that all our higher-level values are derived from TCQs. To be very clear, what's being proposed is not a prescription for what we “should” value, but rather an objective explanation for why we have the values we do.
As we go through them, notice that they are all objective, meaning they exist independently of any observer’s mind or consciousness.
The first quality is “distinctiveness”. When we talk about something that exists, we’re talking about something that “acts and interacts with its environment as a separate, independent whole”. This doesn’t necessarily mean something is physical in nature - a relationship, culture, ecosystem, etc., are all things that this model can apply to.
The rest of TCQs all support something’s “principles”, so let’s quickly cover what those are. Something’s “principles” include its properties, features, characteristics, behaviours, etc. However, there’s an important difference - while we say something “has” properties, features, characteristics, behaviours, etc., something literally “is” its principles. Everything that exists is basically just a set of principles in action.
Something’s principles define “what something is and can be, as well as what it does and can do”. I am warm-blooded, like ice cream, and I can run and play chess (badly). I don’t glow in the dark or fly, so those are not in my set of principles. The total number of principles gives us something’s “complexity”, and how closely the principles are being followed give us something’s “order”, the second and third qualities.
“Complexity” doesn’t refer to how complex any individual principle is, nor how complex a conscious being subjectively thinks something is. It only refers to “the number of principles”. However, pragmatically, since everything we interact with has so many principles we couldn’t possibly know them all, let alone count them, for the purposes of TBA we still use complexity as a quality. Even though we can't count the number of principles, we can usually tell, close enough at least, whether one thing is more complex than another, or whether something is gaining or losing complexity.
“Order” is not a matter of following externally imposed rules, but rather something’s internal principles. For example, I mentioned that one of my principles is that I can run. What if I sprained my ankle? I could still have the principle “can run”, just not well, which would be a decrease in my order. If I had an amputation, the principle “can run” is now gone completely, representing a decrease in complexity. If I get slight dementia and have a harder time playing chess, that’s a decrease in order. If it advances to the point I can’t play at all, that’s a decrease in complexity.
The ability for something to resist deterioration of its distinctiveness, order and complexity is “Stability” - the fourth quality. Something only exists when it does so “over some appreciable amount of time due to an inherent ability to persist despite outside forces or events”. Note that being able to change and adapt can make something more stable, according to this definition. A seed, caterpillar, relationship or civilization can all change drastically while being completely stable. It’s not the principles that need to be stable - they can change over time - as long as the amounts of distinctiveness, order and complexity are reasonably stable, then something has stability.
The four objective qualities of distinctiveness, stability, order and complexity are necessary for anything to exist. It’s impossible to lack any one of these qualities and still be a “thing”.
The fifth quality is needed for anything comprised of smaller “parts”. An atom is made of protons, neutrons and electrons. I am made of cells. A society is made of people. In order for something to arise from these parts, they need to have a “specific arrangement and/or interaction that gives rise to a new whole, with its own emergent set of novel principles”, what I call “dynamics”.
For example, the arrangement and interaction of elementary particles form an atom with a new set of principles that the elementary particles don’t have, like colour. What if this dynamic between the elementary particles breaks down? While the parts still exist (the elementary particles in this case), the atom’s principles disappear, and it no longer exists.
The sixth quality is “resourcefulness”, and is needed by anything that needs resources to maintain its dynamic. Atoms don’t need resources to exist, but all living things and systems of living things do. I need food, water, and oxygen. Plants need CO2, sunlight and water. A relationship needs time. A business needs money. A political party needs votes. If any of these things couldn't get the resources they needed, their dynamic would stop, and they would no longer exist.
The last quality is “efficiency”. Since nothing has access to unlimited resources, everything needs to be able to maintain its dynamic with only the resources it can acquire. I can’t need more food than I can get, a business can’t need more money than it can acquire, a relationship can’t need more time than the people involved can give it, or these things will cease to exist.
And we’re done! These seven qualities are the core ingredients of this model. When the sum total of these qualities is increased for living things or systems of living things, that defines “good”. When they’re decreased, that defines “bad”. This means they are self-balancing - when a strategy to increase one or some of the qualities disproportionately decreases the other qualities, that’s bad.
Of course, this only answers the question “What are the qualities necessary to exist?” in about as much detail as if someone asked, “How do birds fly?” and was told, “By flapping their wings.” There is definitely a lot more to it. However, before delving deeper into these individual qualities, it is important to first grasp the full scope of the model. The next section will explore why any conscious organism would logically evolve a value system aligned with these principles.
