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The Advanced Life Strategy Toolkit (v2, Dec 2024)

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A Knowledge Enterprise about Strategic Life

by Oliver Ding

December 26, 2024

This article is the preface of a possible book: Strategy as Curation (book, v1, 2024).

On December 23, 2024, I did a tiny knowledge curation project on Twitter by making a Twitter thread. The result is the diagram above, showing a knowledge map of Advanced Life Strategy (v2).

1. A Key Theme: Advanced Life Strategy


The “Advanced Life Strategy” theme was developed in 2022 while I worked on applying the Anticipatory Activity System (AAS) framework to adult development.

The Anticipatory Activity System (AAS) framework is inspired by Activity Theory, Anticipatory System theory, Relevance theory, and other theoretical resources. It models a specific structure: the “Self — Other — Present — Future” schema.

An Anticipatory Activity System is formed by two parts: First-order Activity and Second-order Activity. At its core is the Transactional Anticipatory System, which considers the “Self, Other, Present, Future” situation.

As a Specific Theory, the AAS framework can be applied across various domains. In 2022, I selected Adult Life Development to test its utility.

From 2022 to 2024, I developed several related concepts within the AAS framework while also exploring ideas about “Life,” such as Creative Life, Strategic Life, and related themes.

More details can be found in the following ten key articles:

Now, it is time to update the “Advanced Life Strategy” theme and establish it as an independent knowledge enterprise.

2. A Knowledge Map


The diagram above is inspired by World of Activity (v1, 2024) and GO Theory: The Genidentity-opportunity Approach (v2, Dec 2024). All three diagrams use a single map to highlight key elements of a knowledge enterprise.

The Landscape of Advanced Life Strategy (v2) knowledge map is organized as follows:

Left

  • The Logo of the knowledge enterprise
  • Six featured book drafts
  • The Knowledge Center (Life Strategy Center)

Middle

  • A thematic map: The House of Creative Life Strategy
  • Six featured models

The following sections provide more details.


Inspired by the logo of the Life Strategy Center, I designed a logo for the Advanced Life Strategy knowledge enterprise. The design style can also be applied to create visuals for related concepts.

The Advanced Life Strategy project is co-hosted by the Life Strategy Center and the Curativity Center.

These logos share a consistent visual element.


The core of the Advanced Life Strategy knowledge enterprise is its initial book, Advanced Life Strategy: Anticipatory Activity System and Life Achievements (Book).

The diagram above shows four ideas that frame a curated framework for Advanced Life Strategy.

  • Ontology: The World of Activity
  • Realism: The Anticipatory Activity System (AAS) framework
  • Hermeneutics: The Strategic Curation Framework and Advanced Predictive Models

In May 2024, I developed a meta-framework for Theoretical Psychology, as shown in the diagram below.

The major idea of the diagram is the following correspondences:

  • Self = Ontology
  • Life = Realism
  • Mind = Hermeneutics

Using the “Self—Life—Mind” schema as a meta-framework, I have guided the development of the Advanced Life Strategy knowledge enterprise. While each version introduces new ideas, they all remain within this meta-framework.

Version 2 (v2) of Advanced Life Strategy keeps using the AAS framework as the Realism part (Life) but changes the Ontology part (Self) and expands the Hermeneutics part (Mind).

  • Ontology: The Life(Self) Model
  • Realism: The Anticipatory Activity System (AAS) framework
  • Hermeneutics: The Meaning Discovery Model, The Mental Tuning Framework, The Strategic Curation Framework, and the Curativity of Mind Model

To date, no single book has integrated all these ideas. This article serves as the starting point for a new knowledge curation project.

Two key books, Strategic Moves: Mapping Knowledge Engagement and Structure Choice and Strategic Life: The Strategic Life Development Framework, were written and edited between September to October 2024. Both explore the Mapping Strategic Moves method, offering a series of maps and a process for integrating models into these maps to support strategic curation, narrative development, and anticipation.

This milestone represents significant progress for the Advanced Life Strategy knowledge enterprise.

Meaning Discovery (January 2024) and two earlier works — Life Discovery (May 2022) and Knowledge Discovery (July 2022) — form a trilogy. These books explore interconnected ideas about mind, life, activity, and discovery, including:

A core concept of the AAS framework is the distinction between First-order Activity (goal-directed activity) and Second-order Activity (goal-discovery activity). For more on this, see A Typology for Anticipatory Activity System.

From the perspective of AAS, all three types of Discovery Activity (such as Meaning Discovery, Life Discovery, and Knowledge Discovery) generate to Significant Insights that lead to further development. This dynamic process is represented in the Meaning Discovery Model, which includes six key focuses:

  • Capture the Insight
  • Weaving the Mind
  • Clarifying the Order
  • Running the Project
  • Grasping the Concept
  • Perceiving the Setting

In the House of Creative Life Strategy, Meaning Discovery belongs to the “Discovering” thematic room. More details can be found in The Meaning Discovery Model (v1, 2024) and Meaning Discovery (book, v1, 2024).

Frame for Work: Knowledge Frameworks, Predictive Models, and World of Activity (December 2024) focuses on the relationship between Knowledge and Activity, especially the transformation between Knowledge Frameworks and Predictive Models.

Predictive Models, a key concept in the AAS framework, which draws inspiration from Activity Theory, Anticipatory Systems theory, and other theoretical resources. In the House of Creative Life Strategy, Predictive Models belong to the “Modeling” thematic room.

The Strategic Life Narrative project expands the “Creative Life Curation” method to cover both “Curation” and “Narrative,” referring to the “Curating” thematic room and the “Storytelling” thematic room in the House of Creative Life Strategy.

Launched in 2019, the Platform Ecology project culminated in a draft book, Platform for Development: The Ecology of Adult Development in the 21st Century (2021).

On July 18, 2023, I applied the “Ontology — Realism — Hermeneutics” schema to curate related frameworks, resulting in the v3.1 meta-framework for the project. Within the Advanced Life Strategy enterprise, the Platform for Development framework emphasizes supportive environments, aligned with the AAS concepts of “Result” and “Reward.”

5. Map: Nine Thematic Rooms


The middle part of the knowledge map is the House of Creative Life Strategy, featuring nine thematic rooms:

  • Anticipating
  • Performing
  • Discovering
  • Producing
  • Modeling
  • Unfolding
  • Storytelling
  • Curating
  • Perceiving

This work was inspired by a semiotic system diagram of Creative Life Strategy. See the diagrams below.

Why do I use “Anticipating” to replace “Projecting” and “Performing” to replace “Engaging” in v2 of the Advanced Life Strategy knowledge enterprise?

In my recent work, I reorganized several knowledge enterprises, emphasizing the core concepts of each while removing elements inspired by other knowledge enterprises.

In the A Theory of Human Life diagram, the Ontology part adopts concepts from the Ecological Practice Approach. The concept of “Projecting” and “Engaging” are derived from the concept of “Attachance.”

Based on the A Theory of Human Life, I developed GO Theory by applying the Ecological Practice Approach to its Ontology and Realism parts. As part of this development, the Project Engagement Approach and the AAS Framework were removed from GO Theory’s Realism part.

For v2 of the Advanced Life Strategy knowledge enterprise, I applied the same principle, removing the Ecological Practice Approach from its Ontology part. Instead, the concepts of “Anticipation” and “Performance” were used to define the Ontology.

  • The “Anticipating” Thematic Room: Anticipation is about the Objective in the Future.
  • The “Performing” Thematic Room: Performance is about Object in the Present.

More details can be found in Mapping Strategic Moves #10: The Strategic Curation Model, Near History, and Possible Selves and GO Theory: The Genidentity-opportunity Approach (v1, 2024).


While the v2 of Advanced Life Strategy keeps using the AAS framework as the Realism part (Life), it changes the Ontology part (Self) and expands the Hermeneutics part (Mind). The featured models of Advanced Life Strategy v2 are organized as follows:

  • Ontology: The Life(Self) Model
  • Realism: The Anticipatory Activity System (AAS) framework
  • Hermeneutics: The Meaning Discovery Model, The Mental Tuning Framework, The Strategic Curation Framework, and the Curativity of Mind Model

These knowledge frameworks are featured in the right part of the knowledge map.

7. Ontology: The Life (Self) Model


In 2023, I developed a series of ideas about Life and Self.

On July 2, 2023, I introduced the concept of Life(Self).

Based on the notion of Life (Self), I adopted Robert Rosen’s Anticipatory Systems Theory to develop the following schema:

  • Life = Behavioral System
  • Self = Mental System
  • Life(Self) = Behavior System (Mental System)

I have connected Anticipatory System Theory and Activity Theory and moved from the abstract level to the concrete level. The outcome is the AAS framework. However, the AAS framework only focuses on the “Project” level and the “Activity” level.

The Behavior System (Mental System) schema aims to apply Anticipatory Systems Theory to the “Action” level.

The diagram below is the basic model of Anticipatory Systems Theory.

Let’s apply it to our framework.

  • Life = Behavioral System = Natural System
  • Self = Mental System = Formal System

A core idea of Anticipatory System Theory is the Predictive Model. According to Robert Rosen, “An anticipatory system is a natural system that contains an internal predictive model of itself and of its environment, which allows it to change state at an instant in accord with the model’s predictions pertaining to a later instant.” In contrast, a reactive system only reacts, in the present, to changes that have already occurred in the causal chain, while an anticipatory system’s present behavior involves aspects of past, present, and future.

I claim that the Mindset functions as the Predictive Model for the Behavior System (Mental System).

On April 18, 2024, I expanded the Life(Self) model to an advanced version: the History{Life[Self(Body)]} Framework. See the diagram below.

The diagram reflects a creative dialogue between Activity Theory and Action Psychology:

On the side of Activity Theory, the following ideas inspired by the Project Engagement approach define two thematic spaces: the Cultural System and the Historical System.

  • Traditional Activity Theory considers Cultural Development and Historical Development as significant contexts for the human mind.
  • The Project — Event — Multiverse schema is inspired by the “Life — History” Topology from the Project Engagement approach (v2.1).

On the side of Action Psychology, the following ideas inspired by research about Mindset and Narrative Identity define two thematic spaces: the Mental System and the Behavioral System.

  • Mindsets are related to Actions
  • Meaning arises from the interpretation of experiences grounded in actions.

From the perspective of the AAS framework, the Mindset serves as the Predictive Model of the Behavioral System (Mental System).

  • Life = Behavioral System = Natural System
  • Self = Mental System = Formal System
  • Mindsets = Predictive Model

The same logic also applies to the History[Life(Self)] Framework.

  • History = Historical System = Natural System
  • Culture = Cultural System = Formal System
  • Themes = Predictive Model

In this way, we have two Natural Systems and two Formal Systems.

  • History(Life) = Historical System (Behavioral System)
  • Culture(Self) = Cultural System (Mental System)

We also have two productive models

  • Themes (Mindsets)

Finally, the concept of Body offers a material foundation for the concept of Self.

This is the Ontological Foundation of the v2 of Advanced Life Strategy.

8. Realism: The Anticipatory Activity System (AAS) framework


As mentioned, the primary model of the Realism part of the Advanced Life Strategy is the Anticipatory Activity System (AAS) framework, initially defined in 2022.

From 2022 to 2024, several related models were developed, including the Strategic Change model.

In Darwin on Man: A Psychological Study of Scientific Creativity (1974), Howard Gruber examined cognitive changes in Darwin’s creative work. In Chapter 6, he discussed the theme of Identity and the Rate of Cognitive Change.

Building on Gruber’s ideas, I formulated two principles for Strategic Changes in the context of Knowledge Engagement:

  • Emergence First
  • Solidification First

At the beginning of the Knowledge Discovery Activity, the Emergence First principle applies, while at the conclusion, the Solidification First principle becomes relevant.

For more details, refer to The Strategic Change Model.

9. Hermeneutics: The Curated Mind


The V2 of Advanced Life Strategy featured the following knowledge frameworks as the Hermeneutics part:

  • The Meaning Discovery Model
  • The Mental Tuning Framework
  • The Strategic Curation Framework
  • The Curativity of Mind Model

We can roughly call them “the Curated Mind” toolkit.

As mentioned above, v2 of Advanced Life Strategy emphasizes the Strategic aspect of human life. The “Curated Mind” toolkit reflects the way of deliberately curating pieces of information into a meaningful whole, aimed at enhancing cognitive skills, creativity, and strategic intelligence.

9.1 The Meaning Discovery Model


The Meaning Discovery Model serves as a bridge between Hermeneutics (Mind) and Realism (Life), offering a systematic way to connect Knowledge, Activity, and Environments.

The Meaning — Experience Transformation is located in the Behavior System (Mental System). See the diagram below.

  • Experience is based on Action.
  • A curated set of Actions forms a Project.
  • Both Actions and Projects generate Experience as Raw Material for the Mental System.
  • The Mental System interprets this Raw Material to generate Meaning.
  • A Project can be explained as a Meaningful Story.

Mindset (a person’s way of thinking and opinions) acts as the instrument driving the interpretation. This, in turn, leads to Meaning Discovery and Story Telling.

The “Project — Story” Transformation is elaborated in The Concept of Mindset and Actors. See the diagram below.

Additional details are available in Thematic Space: Project as Story.

The recent project Strategic Life Narrative also explores the Storytelling aspect of Strategic Life.

9.2 The Mental Tuning Framework


The Mental Tuning Framework is a framework that offers an approach to connect Mindsets, Actions, and Life Experiences.

On September 9, 2023, I wrote Knowledge Engagement: The Concept of Mindset and Theoretical Integration, curating Carol S. Dweck’s version of Mindset theory and Peter Gollwitzer’s version of Mindset theory together. The outcome is the Mental Tuning framework.

The above diagram has three parts. The blue part refers to the Mindsets and Mental System. The green part refers to the Behavioral System. The pink part refers to the connection between the Mental System and the Behavioral System.

The difference between Dweck’s version of Mindset and Gollwitzer’s version of Mindset indicates a fundamental psychological view.

  • Carol S. Dweck: Mindset = Belief = Content of Thoughts
  • Peter Gollwitzer: Mindset = Cognitive procedures = Processes of Thoughts

The Mental Tuning Framework curates these two views of Mindset together. In other words, these two views are the two aspects of the Mindsets which mean the Predictive Model of the Mental System.

The middle part of the new framework is defined by a new term called “Mental Tuning” which is inspired by Gollwitzer’s term “Cognitive Tuning.”

In a general sense, “Mental Tuning” refers to active self-regulation strategic techniques that aim to improve particular psychological functions relating to life domains.

For instance, Gollwitzer’s version of Mindset uses the MCII (Mental Contrasting and Implementation Intentions) method as a strategic technique for “tuning” the Implementation Mindset.

This is a rough abstract general theoretical framework that can capture Dweck’s version of Mindset and Gollwitzer’s version of Mindset as its two concrete cases. You can find more details in Knowledge Engagement: The Concept of Mindset and Theoretical Integration.

Later, I detached a meta-diagram from the initial version of the Mental Tuning Framework. See the diagram below.

In The Concept of Mindset and Empirical Psychologists, I reviewed the Job Crafting framework (Wrzesniewski and Jane E. Dutton, 2001) and represented it with the Mental Tuning meta-diagram. The outcome was the “Job Crafting as Mental Tuning” diagram.

In The Concept of Mindset and Intervenors, I reviewed the practice of Psychotherapy and claimed that “all methods of psychotherapy are about doing the work of Mental Tuning”. In particular, I used Steven C. Hayes’ Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as an example to discuss “Psychotherapy as Mental Tuning”.

In The Concept of Mindset and Actors. I reviewed Dan P. McAdams’ theory approach to personality and life development, especially his account of personal myth and narrative identity.

More details can be found in Four Mindsets of Knowledge Engagement and “AAI as Mental Tuning.”

9.3 The Strategic Curation Framework


The Strategic Curation Model was developed for the Life Strategy project in December 2022 as part of the book draft Advanced Life Strategy: Anticipatory Activity System and Life Achievements.

The Strategic Curation Model is a five-space model:

  • Experience Space: Refers to the facts of the Past.
  • Challenge Space: Refers to the problems of the Present
  • Response Space: Refers to the solutions for the Future
  • Reference Space: Refers to reliable and validated knowledge for thinking
  • Speculative Space: Refers to imaginative thinking, such as Counterfactual Thinking about the Past and Prefactual Thinking about the Future.

These five thematic spaces form a “Time, Space, Thinking, Doing” structure that offers a Map for understanding the complexity of Strategic Cognition.

More details can be found in A Five-space Model for Strategic Curation Activity.

9.4 The Curativity of Mind


In my 2019 book draft, Curativity: The Ecological Approach to General Curation Practice, I introduced a new term, “Curativity,” which refers to “curating pieces into a meaningful whole,” defining a general social activity and a universal experience.

At an epistemological level, Curativity differs from mereology in philosophy and mathematical logic. While both address the relationship between parts and whole, Curativity is more concerned with action, experience, and value, whereas mereology focuses more on abstract reasoning about parts and whole.

Additionally, researchers often discuss mind-related topics using the keywords “perception, conception, and action.” From the perspective of Curativity Theory, I propose expanding the foundation of these mind-related topics from three to four keywords. See the diagram below.

I originally named the above diagram “Epistemology of Curation.” I now refer to it as the “Curativity of Mind.”

10. A Holistic Approach


The “Self—Life—Mind” meta-framework is a holistic approach, not a hierarchical approach. Entities at one level can transform into entities at other levels.

Let’s see the deep connection between each part through the House of Creative Life Strategy.

The diagram above assigns nine themes to four groups, corresponding to the four entities of the Curativity of Mind.

Action:

  • Discovering
  • Producing
  • Unfolding

Perception:

  • Perceiving
  • Performing

Conception:

  • Modeling
  • Storytelling

Curation:

  • Anticipating
  • Curating

10.1 Action

The “Discovering” theme refers to Second-order Activities, including Life Discovery Activity, which aims to find significant insights and define objectives and objects.

The “Producing” theme refers to First-order Activities, including Life Performance Activity, which aims to transform objects into outcomes aligned with defined objectives.

The “Unfolding” theme refers to managing the dynamics of First-order and Second-order Activities, forming an Anticipatory Activity System.

10.2 Perception

The “Perceiving” theme involves perceiving physical environments and social landscapes. Maps are useful tools for representing abstract social structures and environments.

The “Performing” theme refers to engaging with the objects we are currently working with at present.

10.3 Conception

The “Modeling” theme involves creating models of projects and modifying them as the projects evolve.

The “Storytelling” theme refers to narratives about the ongoing development of projects.

Both themes are related to language and conception.

10.4 Curation

I see “Curation” as a specialized form of “Conception” because it involves complex cognitive operations.

The “Anticipating” theme relates to “Anticipating Self and Others around a particular objective in the future” at the “Self (Ontology)” level.

The “Curating” theme is more about “Curating Pieces of Perception and Conception into a meaningful whole” at the “Mind (Hermeneutics)” level to support the “Unfolding” theme at the “Life (Realism)” level.

10.5 Transformation

The “Anticipating” theme and the “Performing” theme are situated at the “Self (Ontology)” level. While “Anticipating” is about Objectives in the Future, “Performing” is about Objects in the Present.

They transform into the “Discovering” theme and the “Producing” theme, which in turn lead to the “Unfolding” theme at the “Life (Realism)” level.

The “Modeling,” “Storytelling,” and “Perceiving” themes are located at the “Mind (Hermeneutics)” level, supporting activities at the “Life (Realism)” level.

The “Anticipating” and the “Performing” themes will transform into the “Curating” theme at the “Mind (Hermeneutics)” level because they lead to the “Unfolding,” “Modeling,” “Storytelling,” and “Perceiving” themes. All things, as pieces, need to be curated into a meaningful whole in the “Curating” thematic room.

11. A New Possible Book


As mentioned above, no single book has integrated all these ideas. This article serves as the starting point for a new knowledge curation project.

The next project is editing a new possible book!

p.s. I completed the project six hours after this article was published.

Strategy as Curation (book, v1, 2024)
The Advanced Life Strategy Toolkit (v2, 2024)
medium.com

Some numbers about the possible book:

  • 6 parts
  • 42 articles
  • 720 minutes of reading time
  • 192,920 words (about 385 single-spaced pages)

Reference

v1.0 - December 26, 2024 - 3,680 words