The Learning Pathway

Everything is governed by rules. Everything is built from the rules. Some rules are universal. Others are specific.

Example: The laws of physics are universal. A couple of rules specific to circuits are that every circuit has to have a load and every load has to have resistance.

Building blocks refers to the quantities / pieces / components that make up systems.

Note that the Golden Outline makes no distinction between a quantity and a component. This allows the “building block” to represent information itself – in any form. Consider the building blocks of computer system machine code: Voltage levels high and low -> 0 and 1 -> binary code. All are building blocks.

Characteristics: All building blocks are defined by their characteristics. This is what makes them unique and determines how a building block can combine and interact with other building blocks. For example, a nut is different than a bolt. Two nuts cannot join together but a nut and a bolt can.

Relationships are the connection between joined building blocks. It’s the relationships that turn individual building blocks into assemblies; the assemblies that form the system.

The characteristics of the building blocks determine the type of relationships that a building block can make, and therefore its application and function. Consider the building blocks of a simple sentence: A subject, predicate and a modifier. The snow melts quickly.

All systems are built on some type of pattern / assembly / structure. The patterns provide the apparatus for the system processes.

The term pattern is used for this label because it is more inclusive than terms such as assemblies. For example, a pattern of letters makes words. A pattern of parts is an assembly. An engine (assembly) generates (process) power (outcome).

The difference between an assembly of parts and a system is a process.

A process is a series of related events or actions that transfers information and/or energy throughout the system. Processes are initiated through an initial stimulus and bring about a result/outcome.

Example: Reading a sentence is a process that combines the meaning of each word into a greater meaning.

Strategy: The way in which a process achieves an outcome is called a strategy.

Example: The selection and arrangement of the words of a sentence defines the strategy that results in the meaning.

State: The building blocks that make up a system often change states to play out the process/strategy.

Example: As a sentence is read the meaning of a word can be qualified or modified by the other words.

Input: Many systems have connections (inputs) from other systems. These inputs can influence the system processes.

For a system to result in a specific outcome, certain requirements must be met. This applies to the system as a whole and to the individual building blocks as well.

It is important to note, in the context of the Golden Outline, requirements are different than rules, even though all rules are requirements.The difference is that rules refer to the must haves to create a system. The requirements are the must-be-met for the system to produce a specific outcome.

Rule example: All loads must have resistance.

Requirement example: An LED circuit needs a 1k Ohm resistor in series to limit the current though the LED.

External conditions can influence the processes of a system. For example, the requirements for an expected outcome are dependent on the conditions.

Example: The oil for an engine located in the tropics should be thicker than the oil used on an engine located at the north pole.