DSR Theory――Structure Atlas

This site explores the structure of society through DSR Theory and the BS-DSR Framework.

A Bird’s-Eye View of Meaning and Value ― through Domain, Structure, and Relation

DSR Theory (Domain–Structure–Relation) is a structural framework for understanding
how humans perceive the world, generate meaning, and form value.

Rather than relying on specialized knowledge or discipline-specific assumptions,
DSR Theory uses only a minimal set of tools:

  • a Bird’s-Eye View (BEV) perspective,
  • the three viewpoints of Domain, Structure, and Relation, and
  • the Balance Sheet structure composed of Stock and Flow.

With these tools, diverse phenomena can be re-examined and re-described as structures.

At the core of DSR Theory lies a theoretical organization of
how meaning is generated and how it becomes value.

Building on this framework, the later chapters apply DSR Theory to institutional structures such as assets and money, in order to observe how the mechanisms of the world are formed and sustained.

The Structure Atlas is a map that organizes the structures revealed through this process
and records the current position of DSR Theory.

It does not present a finalized system.
Rather, it serves as a reference point that is continuously rewritten
as thinking evolves—an ongoing record of where the theory currently stands.

Preface : Author’s Position——Assumptions underlying this work

What Is DSR Theory? — The Structure from Which Meaning and Value Emerge

DSR Theory (Domain–Structure–Relation) is a framework that takes a bird’s-eye view of
how humans perceive the world, discover meaning, and generate value from that meaning,
through the three perspectives of Domain, Structure, and Relation.

Where do the meanings and values that fill our world come from?

Tracing their origin, DSR Theory arrives at difference—
the subtle sense of “something feels different”
as the first step through which meaning begins to emerge.

Then, under what conditions does meaning become value?

Here, DSR Theory identifies inclination (tilt).

Meaning arises from difference.
Difference inclines.
When difference inclines, meaning begins to function as value.

When meaning acquires directionality—when it tilts—
it starts to operate as value.

This inclination, however, is not fixed.

Inclination can be changed by human will.
When inclination changes, meaning changes, and value transforms.
At times, inclination even reverses, and value is inverted.

Meaning and value continue to transform through human will.

The BS-DSR Framework, by observing meaning and value through
Domain, Structure, and Relation, brings into view the driving elements
that activate when humans “recognize something”:

difference, inclination, and will.

Structure of DSR Theory

  • Part I: What Is DSR Theory?
  • Part II: The Essence of Meaning
  • Part III: The Essence of Value (in progress)

Related Articles (published previously)

  • Three Perspectives for Seeing the World
  • The Basic Structure of the Balance Sheet
  • The Dual Structure of the Balance Sheet — Stock and Fiction
  • The Three-Layer BS Framework — Reading the World through Object, Structure, and Relation

The Boundary of AGI

— The Structure of Human Senses Seen from the Source of Meaning

DSR Theory and the BS-DSR Framework are applicable across many domains.
But what, structurally, is the domain of AGI?

Are there things AGI can do—and things it cannot?
If so, how can that boundary be defined?

This section takes a bird’s-eye view of that structure through DSR Theory.

By examining the ways in which meaning appears—
external recognition and internal recognition—
thought experiments reveal that external recognition further divides into:

  • recognition through non-linguistic senses, and
  • recognition through language.

Tracing this structure to its limit shows that
all meaning ultimately originates from non-linguistic human senses.

When this structure is applied to the domain of AGI,
what comes into view is what AGI cannot do:

Non-linguistic sensory recognition
is not included within the domain of AGI.

These structures revealed by DSR Theory—
that all meaning has non-linguistic senses as its ultimate source,
and that AGI lacks access to this source—
open a new point of entry into discussions about
how humans should position and engage with AGI,
an entity that will increasingly shape human existence.

The Essence of Assets and the Essence of Money

Before the conception of the DSR Theory system,
articles on the Essence of Assets and the Essence of Money were already being published.

These articles will be revised and updated going forward
to align with DSR Theory.

Related Articles (published)

  • What Does It Mean to Assetize “the Right to Claim Oneself”?
  • How Are Assets Created from Nothing?
  • Clarifying the Difference between “Issuance” and “Supply”
  • Four Perspectives for Understanding the Essence of Money
  • Structure Analysis (1): The Generation of Assets — The Beginning of Stock and Flow
  • Structure Analysis (2): The Structure of Assets — Forms of Stock and Flow
  • Structure Analysis (3): The Emergence of Surplus — Part 1: Generation
  • Structure Analysis (3): The Emergence of Surplus — Part 2: Sources
  • Structure Analysis (4): The Transformation of Assets — The Connectivity and Transition of Stock and Flow (Revised)

Further domains—such as government and markets—
will be examined in the future through the BS-DSR Framework.