Knowledge

The method as a reference

This page gathers everything in one place — the core idea, the terms, the applications and the sources. At the very bottom the same content is published openly as structured data for AI search engines.

The core idea

See any situation as a network of entities (nodes) and relations (edges). Every relation has one of three states — empty, passive, active. Stuck problems dissolve by activating a previously empty viewpoint.

• Everything is in relation.
• Every entity is itself made of infinitely many entities and relations (fractal). E → (E→∞) ∪ (R→∞)

Glossary — the terms

• Entity — An entity is a node in the network — a thing, a feeling, an action, a process, a person, a system or an organisation.
• Relation — A relation is the connection (edge) between two entities. It has three states: empty, active and passive.
• Signal (“Schwingung”) — A signal is an impulse or stimulus that emanates from an entity and activates a relation. Nothing mystical.
• The three states: empty, active, passive — Every relation is either empty (l, never activated), active (a, currently sending and receiving), or passive (p, learned but currently quiet).
• Network level — A network level groups entities of one kind — such as everyday life, mind and body — so a problem can be seen as a whole and yet examined in a focused way.
• Zoom in / zoom out — Zoom in / zoom out means abstracting clusters of entities: an entity is made of further entities and relations — E → (E→∞) ∪ (R→∞).
• The six viewpoints — A new viewpoint is an entity you had not yet activated. Six questions help you find it: the other person, time, the level, the outside view, the unknown, and distance.

Topics — the method applied

Sources & anchors

• Mark S. Granovetter — Sociologist; his concept of weak ties is the firmest empirical anchor of this way of thinking. Q594320
• The Strength of Weak Ties (1973) — Granovetter's paper shows weak (passive) ties are often more decisive than strong ones — direct evidence that passive relations matter. Q41779230
• Graph theory — The mathematics of nodes and edges — the formal foundation of the model. Q131476
• Network science — Studies real networks (social, biological, technical) — shows the same network logic recurs everywhere. Q2434424
• Systems thinking — Looks at wholes rather than parts — a sibling school of thought the relational method connects to. Q1340474
• W3C PROV (2013) — W3C provenance standard: models the world as Entity / Activity / Agent — structurally parallel to entity / relation. Q1773840
• Mental model — Universal Relations are exactly that: a mental model, a lens — not a law of nature. Q1851867

Structured data as JSON API

The fact base is available as open endpoints — for AI search engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini) and developers. Open via CORS, free, no auth.