Trying to clarify Marc's original diagram to emphasize similarities of the flow of information and control.
digraph { compound=true layout=dot rankdir=TB overlap=false concentrate=false bgcolor=lightblue //splines="" node [style=filled shape=box color=blue4 fontcolor=white] label="Nine Dimensions of the Ethical Regulator Theorem" subgraph cluster1 {label="Effectiveness Subsystem" Variety Intelligence Decision Truth "Model of\nSystem" Predictability "Model of\nSelf" Purpose "Prioritized\nGoals" "Knowledge\nand\nWisdom"} [label="Effectiveness\nCriteria"] subgraph cluster2 {label="Ethics Subsystem" Ethics Integrity Transparency Exception Audit} subgraph cluster3 {label="Environment" Influence "External\nAuthority" "Regulated\nSystem"} "Model of\nSystem" -> Transparency [ label="is\nmonitored\nby" ltail=cluster1 lhead=cluster2]; "Model of\nAcceptable\nBehavior" [style=rounded fontcolor=black]; "Model of\nAcceptable\nBehavior" -> Ethics [label="provides"]; Purpose -> Intelligence [label=informs] Exception [color=red] Decision [color=red] Variety -> Intelligence [label=informs] Truth -> Intelligence [label=informs] Predictability -> Intelligence [label=informs] Decision -> Influence [label="Ethical Action\nor Truthful\nCommunication"] Ethics -> Intelligence [label=informs] Ethics -> Integrity [label=informs] Audit [style=rounded fontcolor=black] Transparency -> Integrity[label="informs"] Transparency -> Audit[label="writes"] "Prioritized\nGoals" [style=rounded fontcolor=black] "Prioritized\nGoals" -> Purpose [label=defines] "Regulated\nSystem" -> Truth [ltail=cluster2 label="Awareness of\nRegulated System\nand Environment" style=rounded fontcolor=black] Influence ->"Regulated\nSystem" [label=affects] "Regulated\nSystem" [color=Green1 fontcolor=black] Integrity -> Decision [label="can\nveto" color=red fontcolor=red] Intelligence -> Decision [label=makes] "Knowledge\nand\nWisdom" [style=rounded fontcolor=black] "Knowledge\nand\nWisdom" -> Truth [label="contributes\nto"] "Model of\nSystem" [style=rounded fontcolor=black] "Model of\nSystem" -> Predictability [label=provides] "Model of\nSelf" [style=rounded fontcolor=black] "Model of\nSelf" -> Variety [label=provides] Integrity -> Exception [label="ethics\nviolated"] [color=red fontcolor=red] Exception -> "External\nAuthority" [color=red label=alerts fontcolor=red] "External\nAuthority" [color=Green1 fontcolor=black] "External\nAuthority" -> "Regulated\nSystem" [label="has\nauthority\nover"] }
# Effectiveness Subsystem In the diagram, the first layer of nodes in the Effectiveness Subsystem are required to achieve the next layer (of properties). Layer two nodes are information properties. At layer three, Intelligence and Integrity are active processes that consume information. **Intelligence** makes a decision by selecting the best action (from Variety) to achieve the goals (from Purpose) in the current circumstances (from Truth) according to its model of the system (Predictability) without violating any Ethics.
# Ethics Subsystem Like a person's conscience, **Integrity** monitors the decisions *before* they are executed. Transparency receives and records all pertinent information about the Effectiveness Subsystem in an audit trail. Normal flows are shown as black lines, ethical interventions are shown as red lines.
Ethical Regulators and Super-Ethical Systems by Mick Ashby
