Modular Organizing Terminology (MOT) is a generic open source English language ontology and terminology which can be used or adapted for many organizing, design and governance principles and practices.
General Objectives
MOT's basic mission is to facilitate inclusive discussion, design and decision-- and, thus, effective communication, coordination and collaboration-- in diverse social contexts. MOT is made to be adapted from its intentionally extreme generalizations into whichever definitions or ontologies are sufficiently specific, flexible and effective in a personal or social context. For example, agents can use these terms-- or adaptations thereof-- to develop resources including models, plans and reports, and to propose agreements. This terminology can also facilitate the inclusive development of non-coercive open standards and p2p recipes. The author would like to discuss uses and adaptations of MOT.
Special Objectives
MOT also currently serves as fundamental infrastructure (and an iterative testing ground) for my personal vocabulary and sensemaking journey, and I'm using this repository's hyperlinked definitions to standardize terminology in related organizing models and related documents. Inclusive Organizing Systems represents many relationships between MOT and specific organizing models.
Additionally, I'll work with others to import mutually useful MOT terms into one or more collectively governed repositories.
MOT can be seen as a bridge between machine-readable languages and natural languages, including most formal writing such as policies and laws. Compared to most machine-readable languages, MOT is much larger and more flexible, but less syntactically and grammatically precise. (Precision can be increased by adapting MOT for specific projects and communities.)
Some MOT definitions are directly used in IO-based systems, although IO has its own repository to be used as needed.
Philosophical Context
This terminology supports an action, process, relations and systems based philosophy of science and language. MOT is action and relation based because it seeks to define most (and, perhaps ultimately, all) concepts as verbs according to mutual influences, meaning actions and change which tend to occur in very specific implicit or explicit relationships and contexts. MOT's human-centered terms intentionally relate mental, social and physical experiences. One of my fundamental goals here is to help facilitate more effective and consistent descriptions of such relationships. I hope to share that goal with other agents via distributed version control and creative mergers.
Many MOT definitions are provisional (either incomplete or insufficiently precise), and some are merely placeholders. The completeness of each definition cannot be determined by its latest revision date, because some updates are simply bug fixes (often, broken hyperlinks) or incomplete updates of aged definitions. (Please inquire about any terms which you're especially interested in updating or adapting.)
Even with MOT's most up-to-date definitions, the use of MOT terms (or derivations thereof) are suggested for use only on an as-needed basis. (I'd never suggest for anyone to adopt the entire repository, some of which is half-baked at best!) The importance of formal definitions varies widely depending on social context. In some contexts it's crucial; this is why (for example) legal documents often include introductory lists of special definitions.
Another disclaimer of note is that I'm generally critical and suspicious of automation; for example, any use of MOT terms (including algorithms programs or mandatory procedures based on them) which restricts or removes human agency. I want terminology (and technology in general) to empower people, through improved communications and sensemaking, instead of enslaving them.
So far, MOT has been mostly my "solo" work, although in dialogue at times with varied groups and projects. I do not consider such sole stewardship to be desirable for potentially major resources! I'm planning to develop co-stewarded branches and forks of MOT as consent-based team projects, as soon as feasible. More importantly, however, I hope to help people and projects to export useful definitions on an as-needed basis.
The development of MOT has been deeply based on my participation in the https://valueflo.ws community and related discussions regarding REA accounting. Special thanks to Lynn Foster and Bob Haugen of Value Flows for their tireless, and often thankless, contributions to a wide variety of digital sensemaking efforts and projects. Special thanks also to my brilliant partner Lane, who has been a key force in everything I've done since MOT's genesis.
Some terms in MOT already have excellent technical descriptions elsewhere. I've added MOT entries for them mainly to enable responsible MOT-compatible governance (and coordination) of potential modifications of these terms.
The vast majority of MOT definitions are stored in verb form; for example, clarify instead of clarity.
Occasionally, for important words which are close synonyms of root terms, or are spelled significantly differently from their root verb, a redirection definition has been added to MOT. (For example, clear redirects to clarify.)
This repository will often be edited as terms are interactively developed. Some of the fundamental terms here are especially difficult to limit and describe, and will need to be inclusively developed through open dialogue between diverse agents.