A very brief discussion on Promise Theory and it's general application to life.

1. You Are What You Promise
or
You’re Only As Good As Your Word

2. Who Am I
•
Khushil Dep ( @khushil - www.daemondreams.co.uk )!
•
Head of Engineering at Sphonic Ltd!
•
CFEngine Expert user!
•
Promise Theory evangelist!
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Father & Engineer

3. Existence
•
Composed of the longevity and depth of your life.
•
Depth maybe thought of as the degree to which
you contribution to and assimilate of learning
provided by events.
•
Constantly evolving and demands understanding.
•
Most of successful existence demands effective
collaboration.

4. Collaboration
•
All human interaction is composed of either
positive and negative collaboration, subject to
the context and constraints of the interaction.
•
Promises allow us to trust each other to
converge autonomously on a desired outcome.
•
Collaboration is the bitcoin of Life.

5. Grace
•
Effective promises and evaluation allow for
sympathetic existence.
•
Grace defines a very human concept of both
being autonomous and in concert with other
entities around you.
•
It fosters a greater appetite for effective
collaboration in entries around you.

6. Promises
Promises are the currency of interaction
between entities.!
Promises encapsulate desire, design,
planning, execution and review for any
given solution.!
Promises allow for TRUST and AUTONOMY.

7. A Simple Promise
I promise to have
multiple states
depending on my
context and
constraints.

8. The Universe
•
Quarks promise Protons and Neutrons.!
•
Protons and Neutrons promise Atoms.!
•
Atoms promise Molecules.!
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Molecules promise Orangelles.!
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Orangelles promise Cells.!
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Cells promise Tissue.!
•
Tissue promises Organs.!
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Organs lead to Lizards.!
•
Spock always wins.

9. Context & Constraint
•
Context maybe thought of as the state of the
environment the promiser occupies at any given
moment.
•
Constraint maybe thought of as the state of
operational parameters which are influenced by the
context and desired outcome at any given moment.
•
A moment is a definable and arbitrary length of
time made significant only by the requirements of a
common desired outcome.

10. Desired Outcomes
•
To be effective, promises in the same context must have
the same appreciation of common desired outcomes.
•
Declarative language is ideally suited to fully describing
challenges and outcomes on the path to a solution.
•
Be concise and small in your desired outcome as this
will better facilitate understanding across participating
promisers.
•
Common understanding of desired outcomes better
facilitate autonomic operation in entities.

11. Autonomy
To operate within a given context
and constraints without the undue
influence of imperative demands
from external entities. To be able to
adapt to alterations in context and
constraints whilst maintaining the
capacity for effective operation.

12. Why?
•
Dynamic complexity is cajoled, never steered.
•
Certainty is a misunderstanding of reality.
•
Effective collaboration needs something more
than probability due to our human nature.
•
Effective operation requires a high level of trust.

13. Trust
An effective strategy
and behaviour for
productive voluntary
cooperation between
autonomous entities.

14. In Search Of Certainty
•
Trust seeks to provide a degree of certainty.
•
Certainty pacifies our fears about outcomes and
implications in a dynamic and delicate reality.
•
Certainty exists after the fact but never before.
•
Outcomes are more or less probable till evaluated.
•
All things are possible given the correct context
and constraints.

15. Iteration
•
Effective operation relies on iteration and
incorporating feedback from each iteration to the
next.
•
Reality demands a level of orchestration of iterations
between promisers within the same context.
•
A common context does not imply a common set of
constraints and it is important to establish a
sympathy across constraints within the same
context.

16. Convergent Behaviour
•
Non-trivial challenges are dynamic in composition and reactive
behaviour.
•
Evaluation for a desired outcome may cause events which alter the
subject of the promise under evaluation.
•
These alterations will demand the promiser(s) mutate the promise and
possibly evaluation strategy in order to arrive at the desired outcome.
•
Good promises are self-contained engines which adapt to alterations
of subjects without harming or unduly hindering other related
promises.
•
Empathic behaviour is the goal of common promises within any given
context.

17. Hidden Orchestration

18. Normal Ordering
Beer
God
Queen
Country
Whiskey
Vodka
Tequila
meta
vars
defaults
classes
files

19. Further Reading
•
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Search-Certaintyscience-information-infrastructure/dp/
1492389161/ref=la_B001IXTSLU_1_1?
s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1390492291&sr=1-1
•
http://research.iu.hio.no/promises.php
•
www.daemondreams.co.uk
•
www.cfengine.com

20. QUESTIONS