<Bob Clark (940202.1550) EST>
At the end of a recent post, Bill Powers (940130.0500 MST) comments
on reorganization.
Changing goals seldom involves reorganization. If you recognize
that in the HPCT model higher systems act by _varying_ lower goals,
a change of goals ceases to be anything special or unusual. It's
the normal way in which higher systems act through lower systems.
What's abnormal is for a goal to be stuck in one state no matter
what happens.
A bit later in the same post:
Reorganization, as conceived in PCT, is really a very, very basic
process and does not occur until all existing control processes have
failed, until real problems have appeared and have begun to have
dangerous effects.
To me, this is a beautifully concise statement. It is exactly the
way I have used the term since it was first proposed.
I have been surprised from time to time to see the term used for the
ordinary processes of changing goals. This process, as discussed in
Bill Powers (940129.1135 MST), consists of choosing from among
alternatives followed by application of the selected goals to the
lower order systems involved.
The relation between pronouns and the DME, the Decision Making
Entity, is discussed in Bob Clark (940202.1540 EST).
The relation between the Hierarchy and the DME is discussed in Bob
Clark (940202.XXXX EST).
These concepts can be applied to the process of Reorganization as
follows.
The individual's DME, when faced with a physiological problem,
whether current or imaginary, seeks a promising action. If the
action is inadequate, it tries again. Now it tries actions that were
less attractive before. With continued failure, less and less
structured actions are applied. Ultimately, there are no more
alternatives available and "random," unplanned efforts are used.
This is "reorganization." If this doesn't find a solution, the
individual loses consciousness -- in the extreme, his life.
I think this is completely consistent with BCP and Bill's post noted
above.
Regards, Bob Clark