Autognomics Institute

Background

Background History of Autognomics:

Norm Hirst began this inquiry over 40 years ago while still at MIT studying physics and mathematics. This thrust began with a blinding realization that all that he had learned was incomplete about reality. Following a stint in service during the Korean War, Norm entered MIT to his amazement, since he had practically flunked out of high school. However, Norm's education began when he was very young. It was his own inquiry he pursued and by the time he was in third grade being taught to read about Dick and Jane, he was already reading historical novels. School was a deep disappointment to him. He had been anticipating going to school and learning , but what he felt was a stifling repression of his own inquiry. When to his great surprise he was admitted to MIT following three years in the armed services, Norm continued his education. An almost perfect score on his SAT's clearly reflected the quality of his "self" education to that point. Norm's own inquiry of 66 years is now ready to be shared. His journey has not been an easy one and often filled with obstacles he didn't know how to overcome until he did. His training at MIT help set the pace for this process of coming up against that which he didn't know and finding his own way through to understanding.

Norm and Skye were married in 1987. They met and immediately knew they were to be together to love each other and support one another each in his and her part. They have spent long hours learning how best to bring forth the conclusions of each of their own personal inquiries. During their almost 15 years together many people have joined them in the inquiry for how to focus and bring forth much of what has been hypothesized to date. This inquiry began as early as 500 BC with Heraclitus, through to more current times of 1874 with Charles Peirce's work on semiosis, then in1920s with Alfred North Whitehead's Process philosophy, and then in 1974 with Varela and Maturana's work in autopoeisis as well as accompanying new logics of Brown and Curry.

As in the history of events just mentioned, new names are being added to the list of inquirers. As the interested parties have joined together, each person brings a piece of the puzzle which continues to unfold. Gene Pendergraft, whose own life span of 70 plus years focused on Charles Peirce. Pendergraft headed up a 10 year cross disciplinary inquiry at the University of Texas at Austin. It was there Gene and Norm met. The research focus was on the validity and value of what was and still is the traditional theory of information. It was in that study that Gene discovered Charles Peirce, an American born philosopher of the 1800s, who put forth many ideas that are only today beginning to be "mined". The gold stored in his ideas are archived at Harvard (some tens of 1000s of papers only of which a fraction have been published. What the team concluded was that a new paradigm was needed to understand Life and proposed a new hypothesis for the theory of information systems.

As it turns out, Piaget, the French psychologist and John Dewey, the American educator and philosopher were students and heavily influenced by Peirce.

When the project ended in 1969, they each continued their research to be resumed when computers and the time would be more appropriate. (see details on what the Texas research found). Gene and Norm continued to work separately and together bringing their work into focus for the next chapter of development. Gene's focus was primarily on Charles Peirce and building a mechanized version of Peirce's semiosis. Norm's focus has been on developing the logics and integration of Hartman's value theory with Varela's and Maturana's autopoeisis along with semiosis and metaphysics.
Skye Hirst, Ph.D. brings over 30 years of inquiry about human potential. Her studies have resulted in training and development projects for fortune 500 companies, non-profits, individual leaders from all fields of expertise. She now brings her studies of communication, Autognomics, and Jin Shin Jyutsu into a new field of inquiry that focuses on helping individuals and groups discover the LifeLaws. People learn how to use the LifeLaws awareness in their particular fields of expertise, bringing new balance and deeper understanding of how to create an organic lifestyle that is dynamically healthy and thriving.

Founded in 1992:

The Autognomics Institute was founded in 1992 as a non-profit research and education organization, (a 501C 3). The first scholars conference was sponsored by the West Cornwall, CT. Conference Center owned by Trinity Church in NYC. The initial intent was to bring together the emerging hypotheses of "Life Processes" towards the development of a complete science that would integrate this knowledge. Scholars from the various disciplines attending agreed on the value and need for such an inquiry.
Skye Hirst chose the word, Autonomics as an attempt to capture what it was all about. Gene Pendergraft added the "g" to make it Autognomics for greater clarity of meaning.

Jon Ray Hamann joined the team with years of his own inquiry into relational mathematics and years of experience bringing intellectual property to market.
Fred Reed joined the team with his inquiry into knowledge engineering and knowledge management stemming from an interest in learning and education.

The Institute was formed initially as a traditional research and education organization. But as all good organic processes do, it evolved. The times are changing. What is needed is changing. As Autognomics points out, habit, too ridged, prevents life and inhibits life's greatest vitality. We now hold the following vision:

Vision:

Environment: What is needed now is an environment which encourages a free and creative exchange of ideas and insights. The Institute is like a giant bucket which can contain all kinds of inquiry and diversity. The principles which govern the environment are principles of semiotic self-organization. On a practical level, these principles are based on the following values:

We replace the concept of nature as lifeless and mechanistic with nature as alive and creatively evolving
We value the individual over the organization and the integration of many individual processes. One person is as worthy as the next.
We hold long term visions for the coming generations not only short-term thinking.
We value the innate ability of every individual to be creative and in harmony with self and nature.
We honor the awakening of the imagination and creativity of every single person.

We reconnect to the pattern-receiving parts of ourselves, the receptive, wholistic way of knowing with a mind, body and soul the following:

The intuitive self as companion and partner with the reasoning mind.
Flow, not force.
Power with, not power over.
Mindfulness develops understanding of "how" process works.
All life is governed by natural laws indicated by principals of self-organization, autonomy and a hierarchy of values.
The purpose of every living organism is to evolve towards beauty and express its identity with as much creativity as its environment will allow, ever evolving to its highest possibility.

[Home] [About the AI] [Mission Statement] [Founders] [Background]