The Framework
“Be a little less arrogant, you moralists. We monsters are also important for the course of nature.”
— Well, Friedrich Nietzsche might have said this. But apart from Nietzsche, the phrase is pretty punchy.
Core Principle
All are guilty. None are at fault.
In PI:
- Everyone acts rationally from their position
- The sum of rational actions produces collectively destructive outcomes
- No coordination can dissolve the structure
- Attempts to solve often reinforce the problem
The trap lies in the structure, not in the minds.
What PI Are
PI are systemic constellations where:
- Rational actors make individually reasonable decisions
- Collective irrationality emerges as the result
- Intrinsic constraints prevent coordination (not lack of will)
- Extrinsic superiority creates gridlock — everyone overrules everyone, no decision emerges
- Self-reinforcement turns every intervention into part of the problem
Examples:
- AI Alignment (safety vs. competition)
- Climate crisis (national rationality vs. global necessity)
- Democracy erosion (legal self-undermining)
- Organizational paralysis (every department rational, whole system blocked)
Why PI are inevitable
- Confirmation Bias – Systems confirm what confirms them. What contradicts the own echo chamber gets excluded.
- Similar seeks similar – Self-reference becomes incest. Over time, information becomes homogeneous. The system loses adaptability. Not because it’s stupid. Because it’s structurally closed.
- Disrupting harmony – The more coherent the system, the more fragile. The tighter the logic, the closer to collapse.
- System Overcontrol – Peer review becomes gatekeeping. Democracy becomes self-erosion. Safety becomes competitive disadvantage.
- Acts of Valor – Personal truth vs. collective truth. What’s true for the individual can be fatal for the system. What’s necessary for the system can be false for the individual. No betrayal. Structural incompatibility.
Examples:
- European aristocracy – Structurally closed until social collapse. Nobles married nobles to preserve bloodlines, ensuring obsolescence. Wilhelm II, George V, Nicholas II: ‘cousins at war’. Family ties didn’t prevent catastrophe—they made it inevitable.
- Nepotism in politics – Loyalty over competence, networks over merit. The system confirms itself until it becomes too fragile to govern.
- Peer review becomes gatekeeping – Democracy becomes self-erosion. Safety becomes competitive disadvantage.
- Social media – Smart people confirming each other’s smartness, excluding different kinds of smart. Algorithmic echo chambers turn individual rationality into collective stupidity.
- Friends become fiends – Colleagues distance themselves from whistleblowers. Churches suppress Galileo. Teams block innovators. The closer you are to the structure, the more you must protect it—even against those you know are right.
- The political assault – Personal valor of Stauffenberg’s assassination attempt: save Germany by breaking the oath. Collective valor: eliminate traitors, defend honor. Both sides claim righteousness. Both structurally incompatible. Valor vs. Valor. No resolution, only collision.
- PI analyzing PI – The framework for structural unsolvability has a structural adoption problem. Understanding PI means accepting: no solution exists. But people seek frameworks to solve problems. The better you grasp PI, the clearer its “uselessness” for problem-solvers. Meta-paradox complete.
Not failure. Error driven Design.
What PI Are Not
PI are not:
- Communication failures (fixable through clarity)
- Coordination problems (fixable through agreement)
- Knowledge gaps (fixable through information)
- Moral failures (fixable through “better people”)
PI persist even when everyone understands everything.
Recognizing PI
Indicators:
- Intelligent people consistently fail at predictable problems
- “Solutions” worsen the situation
- Everyone is right — from their perspective
- External observers suggest “logical” solutions that are intrinsically impossible
- The system reproduces itself despite willingness to change
Central question: “Why do we keep failing even though we know better?”
Answer: Because the structure enforces it.
Navigating PI
What does NOT work:
- Trying to “solve”
- Searching for culprits
- Moral judgment
- Promising optimization
- More of the same
What is possible:
- Make the structure visible
- Enable navigation (not solution)
- Endure ambiguity
- Accept “for lack of alternatives”
- Set markers (“infect and forget”)
Basic stance: “Try and continue”
The Meta-Paradox
Speaking PI makes you structurally idiotic.
The one who recognizes and names the pattern becomes the messenger – and messengers are sacrificed to maintain the system. Not through malice, but through necessity. The structure demands its witness and eliminates him.
“Why me?” – “Why not me?”
There is no special reason. Someone must occupy this position. You are here. That is all.