Murray Gell-Mann in this TED.com video reveals a core truth in the beauty of physics that explains my adherence to the six interrogatives. The core truth is “you don’t need something more to get something more”. You don’t need more than the six interrogatives to explain most systems. What you need is a better understanding of the six interrogatives. It does not diminish all the other concepts to say they are emergent from the core concept. The core concept offers something not the product of the human mind, unity, symmetry, self-similarity across the scales.
- Why – Cause
- Who – Observer
- How – Energy
- What – Mass
- Where – Space
- When – Time
As Einstein put it:
Energy = Mass * Space * Space / Time / Time
This gives us the equation:
How = What * Where * Where / When / When
Or as Zachman puts it:
Function = Data * Network * Network / Time / Time
Can you see systems differently?
