What's What in 'The Dragon Needs Wings'

While writing 'The Dragon Needs Wings', I often fell to the lamentable dilemma of not possessing the language to express my thoughts. How would I create my own rival to democracy when I could not describe such a rival? I had to make my own words - but to be fair, all words are made-up. This blog post explores the various terms and phrases I have coined to express Idealism through my book.

1. Idealism (aɪˈdiːəlɪzəm) [noun]

Idealism is usually defined in a colloquial or philosophical fashion as the belief in the perfect life, world, situation etc. even when it cannot be achieved, or the belief in the undoubtable reality of only our ideas and nothing else. However, although Idealism is usually used pejoratively, this book offers a newfound perspective on the age-old meaning, transcending its usual misnomer for a dramatism of cataclysmic proportions. Read the book to find out more (Well, the entire book is about this).

2. The Invisible Foot [noun phrase]

The invisible foot is an abstract concept regarding the social backlash to socially disharmonious issues. Building on Adam Smith's concept of the market's invisible hand, I discuss how society possesses its own problematic but efficient mechanism to push away/stamp out social movements. Occasionally, society can be right - for example in terms of Neo-Nazi movements, pedophilia, and others.

3. The Art Connoisseur Mentality [noun phrase]

The Art Connoisseur Mentality (or ACM) is a mentality based on being skeptical and close-minded (at times), in order to achieve an informed and Idealistic state of mind. It follows the analogy of an art connoisseur trying to make his new art exhibit from thousands of aspiring art pieces. I dedicated an entire chapter to this mentality in my book: read to find out more.

4. Circumstantial Free Will [noun phrase]

Free will is, by my definition, of three types. This circumstantial free will is the only parameter where humans have the ability to make true choice. This intriguingly fresh take on free will can be found in my 5th chapter.

5. Continuous Scientific Revolution [noun phrase]

In opposition to the Anglo-centric idea that the Scientific Revolution was a single period in history which truly began 300 years ago, I have elucidated and defined how scientific revolution was a continuous process which waxed and waned through civilisations - from India to Greece, China to Iran. More can be found in chapter 6 of my book.

6. COAX Committee [noun phrase]

COAX (Consortium of Anti-Xenophobia) Committees are hypothetical international organisations with extranational powers aiming to implement and enforce international protocols via national law, if international law is amended. This is a part of Chapter 8 of my book.

7. UNOXC [noun phrase]

The UNOXC (United Nations Office on Xenophobic Crime) is a hypothetical concept of an arbitrating body for COAX Committees defined under a detailed set of international regulations. This is also found in Chapter 8 of my book.

8. Technological Death [noun phrase]

We all fear the inexplicable and quick rise of AI to control our jobs. We should not fear with the attitude of neo-Luddites: we must embrace this change. Our aim towards a job should not be to drudge in it forever, but to make it feasible for AI to take over - to kill our jobs with AI. Why on Earth would we do that? Find out more in Chapter 9.

9. Unisism (ʌnˈɪzɪz(ə)m) [noun]

A new economic system based on the merging of economic classes with socio-economic forces pushing the market in equitable directions, Unisism is a word coined by the author (who is me). Finding root in the word 'unity' and according the acceptable prefix of 'ism', this word can be taken to literally mean as the practice of finding unity.

10. The Economics of Satisfaction [noun phrase]

While most economic goals are based on the pursuit of social welfare or market-optimisation, Unisism is based on the pursuit of overall satisfaction. It does not promote progress for progress' sake: Unisism discusses the economics of satisfaction as a means for the alleviation of various socio-economic struggles.

11. The Wine-Wastage Effect [noun phrase]

Countering the inaccurate and dated 'Trickle-Down Effect', the Wine Wastage effect is an analogy which describes how increasing the spending capacity of richer classes is like pouring wine into a small hole - only small drops remain the for the poor. This effect is explained in detail in Chapter 10.

12. The Happiness Tax [noun phrase]

Contrary to its literal meaning, the Happiness Tax is not a tax on emotions: it is a tax based on a so-called Happiness Limit. This is an empirically derived limit at which wealth and happiness are no longer directly correlated. The Happiness Tax functions like Friedman's Negative Income tax, while accounting for the ability to reach the Happiness Limit as well. This is elaborated upon in Chapter 10.

13. Social Inheritance [noun phrase]

This is a Unisist policy which relies on a new inheritance policy of providing half of one's assets at death to the government - which will then be distributed amongst the people. This includes loans and financial burdens as well. This may cause a sociomoral shift in society.

14. Unisist Corporation [noun phrase]

A Unisist Corporation (or USC) is a new organisational structure for corporation based on a motive of social welfare rather than perfect profitability. They are key components of Unisism.

15. CARMA [noun phrase]

The Capital Access Requirement Management Association (or CARMA) is another policy instrument used by Unisist governments to structure and formulate capital requirements for USCs. It is an autonomous public institution - more details are found in Chapter 10.

16. Parsamanity (pɑː'sʌm'ænɪ'tiː) [noun]

Parsamanity is a word with its origins in Hindi and Sanskrit, where 'par' means 'beyond' and 'saman' means 'equal'. Parsamanity, hence, literally means 'beyond equality'. This is a philosophy based on the idea that humans are impacted differently by the same actions and to have only an equal say in each is (in fact) inequality. How do we alleviate this problem? Equality by impact and not outcome/opportunity. Read more about this in Chapter 11.

17. Progressive Punishment [noun phrase]

Progressive punishment is a policy based on the economics of progressive taxation. Here, punishment is awarded on the basis of income and social popularity. More on this in Chapter 11.

18. Webocracy (wɛbʊkrəsi) [noun]

Webocracy is new form of web-based governance based on total decentralisation and parsamanity made for the future. Working on a ladder of policies with two-tier voting, this system brings out the best political views in humans without political parties. It in the next step in the evolution of political systems of democracy. You can find out more in Chapter 12.

19. Cultural Blurring [noun phrase]

Cultural blurring is a cultural phenomenon of the vast intermixing of identities and cultures worldwide with increasing access to Internet and globalisation. This phenomenon is explained in detail in Chapter 12.

20. Temporal Entropy [noun phrase]

Temporal entropy is a new concept used for predicting the future. It is the constant of accommodation for change due to various Butterfly effect moments in action. It acts as a counterweight to balance for dramatic change. You can see it in action in Chapter 14.

21. The Future Uncertainty Principle [noun phrase]

ΔC ∝ 1/ΔT

As the above equation elaborates, the accuracy of a prediction (ΔC) is inversely proportional to the acuteness of the time period for prediction. A commonsensical but accurate rule which I prove and use in my book. Check out Chapter 14 for more information.

22. The Science Fiction Bias [noun phrase]

Often, experts aiming to predict the future fall prey to common bias of pushing various fields (climate, democracy, economy, etc.) to extremes individually and tie them together. However, reality never works in such a manner - all fields truly interact with each other all the time. This causes widely inaccurate predictions which only stand true due to their vagueness. This phenomena in explained in Chapter 14.

23. Prediction Path Diagram [noun phrase]

In order to accurately predict the future, I have invented a new, more accurate technique: prediction path diagrams. Building on statistical and inferential methods, using causal inference as a reference point, Prediction Path Diagrams are a novel method which makes this book well-informed and unusual. More on this in Chapter 14.

Yes, there are 23 completely new terms in the book - all lucidly explained in detail in the book. Please do read the book and discuss these in the forum!