Tech News
← Back to articles

Show HN: I modeled personal success as a control system with Bayesian priors

read original related products more articles

Mathematica Successūs

A Formal Approach on Success, Systems and Self

By Mikołaj Mocek

Abstract

Standard literature on personal achievement often relies on semantic ambiguity, offering motivational heuristics that lack structural precision. This book proposes a syntactic alternative: modeling the "Self" not as a literary protagonist, but as a dynamic control system \( S \) operating within a state space \( X \).

Drawing on Set Theory, Control Theory, and Bayesian Inference, the text formalizes the conditions required for stability and goal attainment. It treats "Success" as a constrained optimization problem where the agent must maintain a vector of Essential Variables \( E \) within a viability region \( R \), while steering the system toward high-utility states under stochastic disturbances.

Key Theorem: Requisite Variety

Stability is mathematically impossible unless the variety of the regulator’s response \( V_R \) matches the variety of environmental disturbances \( V_D \): $$ V_O \ge V_D - V_R $$

(From Chapter 2: Space & Possibility)

... continue reading