Hi Jason,

  Sorry I did not reply for a bit; I have been engaged in gluttony and sloth over the holidays J.

 

  You raise an excellent question/point about justification process versus content. Yes, “justification systems” are content. I would also say a single justification can be about content. For example, in my 2011 book, I explain that I expand the meaning of justification to include propositional statements. In the language game I am proposing, “The earth is round” is a justification.

 

  I generally look at the social processes of justification via the lenses of BIT and the Matrix. That is, I ask: What are the investment and influence dynamics associated with the claims and exchanges being made? In Parisa’s introduction, she commented that she did her dissertation on “Power, Love and Freedom”. These are the relational process dimensions mapped by the Matrix.

 

  This bring up one of the side projects that I have been meaning to systematize, and I would welcome feedback from others. Attached is the glossary of UTUA terms, which makes the point about “justification” being used in a very broad sense. It also includes a reference to “j i i dynamics,” which refers to justification-investment-influence. The investment portion refers to the work effort being expended in a direction toward a goal. The influence refers to the impact the investments have on others, which will create a feedback. I plan on doing a series of examples. I have found that sitcoms offer some of the easiest ways to highlight j i i dynamics. For example, here is a 90 second clip from That 70s Show:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXZwQcyxg2o

 

The teenagers are invested in sex. The father, Red, is an authoritarian figure who exemplifies achieving influence via dominance (the blue line); he comes in to do bed checks. The mother is much more affiliative and nurturing (surprising, I know, in a sitcom). This scene also makes very apparent the public-private filtering dynamics. First, the children are attempting to hide and deceive their sexual activities. Most apparent is when Red opens the door on his eldest daughter to find her praying innocently as her boyfriend hides under the bed. It is also an interesting scene to watch in the context of our current #metoo moment.

 

So, the content of justification is what we would transcribe as the written script. The process of justification ties into the investment and influence dynamics mapped out by BIT and the Matrix, and the Tripartite Model, which depicts the three domains of human consciousness and the fact that such events take place in the larger context of justification.    

 

Best,

Gregg