Day of the Gods (Mahana no Atua) by Paul Gauguin, 1894 Paris
“Leibniz, co-inventor of the calculus and co-discoverer of the first infinite series for π, dreamt of the day when courts would be abolished, because disputes would be settled mathematically by solving impartial equations that would show who was right and who was wrong. The intelligent computer that is now being born makes that dream somewhat less fantastic. Perhaps the nth generation of intelligent computers will make a better job of keeping peace among men and nations than men have ever been able to.”
My Hellerian-Leibnizian hypothesis unveiled
“Effective governance is more likely in the presence of guidance from a binary personal-impersonal behavioural and procedural system coding, which reduces problems of complexity, uncertainty and overload, and which introduces some functional automatism into the interactions and decisions of governance actors.”
How are the qualities of the hypothesis to be objectively evaluated? The question of what constitutes a good hypothesis was first addressed in the seventeenth century, and most convincingly by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Leibniz is best known today for his mathematical inventions, including the infinitesimal calculus (concurrently with Isaac Newton) and the binary numbering system. He invented a calculating machine often referred to in the histories of computing and artificial intelligence. His ideas continue to exert an influence, especially in philosophy and mathematics. Everything I have to say about the functions of a good hypothesis when exploring the evolution of governance from a system theory perspective can be said with reference to Leibniz.
My purpose in this post is to justify the method of the hypothesis and apply the method with two concepts—symbols and binaries—on which ‘proofs’ will later be mounted. I want also to show how the social sciences today can most benefit from Leibniz’s insights into the methodology of knowledge-creation. The achievement of a ‘Leibniz-standard’ hypothesis is a goal that all social scientists can aspire to.