The Architecture of Epistemic Violence and the Techné Mindset

Contents

Abstract 2

The Architecture of Epistemic Violence and Power: A Synoptic View.. 2

Endnotes and References. 4

Bibliography. 5

POSTSCRIPT QUESTIONS. 6

Explain the difference between ‘know-how’ and ‘know-that’ in communicative competence. 6

How does Sellars defend his ‘big picture’ against representationistic critics?. 7

How does the ‘Synoptic Vision’ bridge manifest and scientific images?. 8

Why does Sellars view knowledge as a ‘substitute’ for things?. 10

Explain how Sellars’ ‘consilience of reasons’ justifies our belief in external objects. 11

What are the four validity claims in Habermas’s Universal Pragmatics?. 12

How do validity claims distinguish external, internal, and social worlds?. 13

How does the ‘Synoptic Vision’ connect with the POLICE model?. 15

How does the ‘Synoptic Vision’ reduce ‘Specialized Ignorance’?. 15

How does the POLICE model prevent epistemic violence?. 16

How does the POLICE model defend against “institutional bullshit”?. 17

How does the POLICE model help achieve Sufficient Comprehension?. 19

How does ‘crip time’ challenge neoliberal educational metrics?. 20

Dr Neville Buch

Abstract

This essay investigates Dr. Neville Buch’s argument on epistemic violence and power by operationalizing the Dynamic of Cognition (DoC) framework. It posits that epistemic violence—the systematic devaluation and erasure of diverse knowledge systems—is a byproduct of the “techné mindset” that currently dominates modern governance and education. By mapping this violence across the DoC components (Prejudice, Exclusion, Inclusion, Attitude, and Value), the essay moves beyond narrow technical semantics to provide a “big picture” synthesis. The analysis suggests that the remedy for epistemic violence lies in reclaiming human authorship through communicative action and a transition toward Aristotelian flourishing, thereby restoring the “Who” of the person over the “What” of the technical system.

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The Architecture of Epistemic Violence and Power: A Synoptic View

To understand the relationship between epistemic violence and power, one must adopt a synoptic vision that transcends the “meaningless checkerboard of parts” found in specialized intellectual silos. Buch’s argument is not merely a technical debate over semantics; it is a fundamental critique of how dominant knowledge systems determine who is permitted to speak and what is allowed to count as truth.

1. Prejudice: The Techné Mindset at the Centre

The Dynamic of Cognition begins with prejudice, the unexamined state into which an individual is “thrown”. In the context of epistemic violence, this prejudice manifests as the “techné mindset”—the uncritical belief that quantifiable data and instrumental efficiency are synonymous with comprehensive social reality. This mindset assumes that human problems can be solved by technological solutions alone, leading to a state of “denoetization”, where the human capacity for judgment is mechanically liquidated by automated systems.

2. Exclusion: The Erasure of Lived Experience

Within the DoC, exclusion represents the filtering out of information that does not fit the dominant narrative. Epistemic violence operates primarily in this quadrant by rendering marginalized experiences unintelligible. This results in “Historical Forgetfulness”, a cognitive pathology where the “uncomfortable” histories of local communities are discarded in favour of thin, abstract labels or manufactured myths. Under this regime, power is exercised not just through force, but through the discursive production of silence, keeping the genuine insights of independent thinkers in the “shadows” to preserve institutional hierarchies.

3. Inclusion: The Determination to Know the Other

Overcoming epistemic violence requires a deliberate act of inclusion, which Buch aligns with empathy and the internalization of the “Other”. This entails moving from an unreflective immersion in local prejudices toward an acknowledgment of historical contingency—the realization that our concepts are not absolute but are rooted in specific social and historical bearings. By valuing “noodiversity” (a diversity of knowledge), the individual begins to bridge the gap between abstract theory and the “thick” ethical reality of lived experience.

4. Attitude: From Strategic Action to Communicative Rationality

The attitude component of the DoC defines the drive toward action. Epistemic violence is reinforced by strategic action, where communication is used for manipulation, behavioural control, and the pursuit of “Political Profit”. Buch’s corrective pathway demands a shift toward Communicative Action, a Habermasian model of rational-critical dialogue aimed at mutual understanding rather than domination. This requires individuals to “police their own thoughts” (the POLICE model) to ensure that they are not merely passive conduits for institutional agendas.

5. Value: Aristotelian Flourishing as the Archi-Criterion

The final movement of the DoC is toward a typology of value. Buch argues that the ultimate goal of intellectual inquiry is not the accumulation of private possessions or technical mastery, but Aristotelian flourishing (eudaimonia). By reintegrating the Five Intentions (Self, Mind, Reason, Utility, and Love), society can build a Contributory Economy grounded in substantial fairness. In this big-picture view, the restoration of human authorship ensures that the “Who” of the person remains the proactive operator of the technical and bureaucratic “What”.

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Endnotes and References

1. Epistemic Violence: Defined as the harm caused when dominant knowledge systems invalidate or silence alternative ways of knowing.
2. Techné Mindset: A cognitive failure prioritizing measurable, shallow data over the depth of human experience.
3. Synoptic Vision: An interdisciplinary overview that links micro-practices to macro-social structures.
4. Denoetization: The mechanical liquidation of the human capacity for judgment by automated or strategic technical systems.
5. Historical Forgetfulness: A state where society loses the lessons of the past and repeats historical errors due to unreflective habit.
6. Human Authorship: The core humanist principle that individuals are the proactive creators of their own life narratives.
7. Communicative Action: Dialogue aimed at reaching a reasoned consensus based on mutual respect and truthfulness.
8. POLICE Model: Philosophically Ontology Logic Intersect Compatibility Education; a methodology for systematic self-critique.
9. Aristotelian Flourishing: A state of virtuous living (eudaimonia) achieved through the synthesis of reason and compassion.
10. Five Intentions: The integrated framework of Self, Mind, Reason, Utility, and Love.

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Bibliography

• Aarts, K., & Semetko, H. A. (2003). The Divided Electorate: Media Use and Political Involvement. The Journal of Politics, 65(3), 759–784.
• Buch, Neville. (2015). The Dynamic of Cognition. Dr Neville Buch ABN: 86703686642.
• Buch, Neville. (2021). Finding Peace from the Culture-History War. Academia Letters, Article 1916.
• Buch, Neville. (2024). The Techné Mindset: Queensland Education and Intellectual Forgetfulness. Management Institute for Contributory Economy.
• Buch, Neville. (2026). A Matrix of Sociology. Management Institute for Contributory Economy.
• Habermas, Jürgen. (1979). Communication and the Evolution of Society (T. McCarthy, Trans.). Beacon Press.
• MICE. (2025). 01. MICE Principles and Philosophy. Management Institute for Contributory Economy.
• Nida-Rümelin, J., & Staudacher, K. (2024). Philosophical Foundations of Digital Humanism. In H. Werthner et al. (Eds.), Introduction to Digital Humanism. Springer.
• Stiegler, Bernard. (1998). Technics and Time, 1: The Fault of Epimetheus. Stanford University Press.
• Williams, Bernard. (1985). Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy. Fontana Press.

POSTSCRIPT QUESTIONS

Explain the difference between ‘know-how’ and ‘know-that’ in communicative competence.

In the framework of communicative competence, the distinction between ‘know-how’ and ‘know-that’ centres on the transition from implicit, practically mastered skills to explicit, theoretical understanding. This distinction is fundamental to the process of rational reconstruction, where a speaker’s intuitive rule consciousness is transformed into objective knowledge.

1. Know-How: Implicit Rule Consciousness

• Definition: Within communicative competence, ‘know-how’ refers to the ability of a competent subject to produce or perform something according to rules without necessarily being able to state those rules.
• Linguistic Application: For a speaker, this is the pretheoretical knowledge of a language’s rule system that is sufficient to enable them to produce correctly formed and comprehensible utterances.
• Practical Context: It is often described as a practical skill or procedural knowledge, such as knowing how to get around in the world or perform a task like tying shoelaces. In this state, knowledge is “content of intelligent ability” or the “power to do.”

2. Know-That: Explicit Reconstructive Knowledge

• Definition: ‘Know-that’ is the explicit, objective knowledge that explains how understanding is achieved.
• First-Level vs. Second-Level: What an author means by an utterance is considered “first-level” know-that. However, when an interpreter attempts to reconstruct the generative structures (the rules) underlying that utterance, they transform the speaker’s implicit ‘know-how’ into a “second-level” know-that.
• Propositional Nature: ‘Know-that’ is typically propositional knowledge, characterized by the confident assertion of truths. While ‘know-how’ is measured by successful performance, ‘know-that’ is measured by the truth of the asserted proposition.

Key Differences in Communicative Competence

The “Synoptic” Integration

Modern educational and philosophical frameworks, such as the Management Institute for Contributory Economy (MICE), argue that true “Conscious Competence” requires bridging these two states. While skilful ‘know-how’ is a prerequisite for reasoning, it remains a form of “docile execution” until it is elevated by reflection into a ‘know-that’ state of social accountability. This transformation allows the individual to move from following mechanical routines (the techné mindset) to becoming a proactive author of their own narrative.

How does Sellars defend his ‘big picture’ against representationistic critics?

Roy Wood Sellars defends his “big picture” of critical realism by arguing that his framework is a necessary reconstruction of representationism which avoids the pitfalls of traditional dualism. He asserts that he is not “frightened by representationism of the right sort,” provided it distinguishes between the mechanism of knowledge (which is mediated by internal content) and the referential act (which is directed at external material things).

Key elements of his defence include:

• Refutation of the “Gap” Objection: Critics like Turner and Lamprecht argue that if knowledge is mediated by content, it results in a “logical gulf” where the object becomes an unknowable noumenon. Sellars responds that no “gap” exists because the mind does not intuit a detached “essence” but rather knows the physical-as-appearing; the internal content is a “qualitative variant” or a functional guide rather than a terminal entity that shuts out the real object.
• Direct Referential Realism: Sellars maintains that perceiving is a directed response where the organism denotes and characterizes objects as material things. He argues that human knowledge is a cognitive achievement where the implied correspondence to reality is not a “test” but an implication of a sensori-motor mechanism that successfully communicates the patterns of the world to the brain.
• Consilience of Reasons: Against the skeptical challenge of how we can verify the agreement between content and object, Sellars appeals to a consilience of reasons, including the insight into nature provided by scientific descriptions and the practical success found in guidance, control, and prediction.
• The Synoptic Vision: This defence is part of a broader “synoptic vision” (later elaborated by Wilfrid Sellars) that seeks to understand how the “manifest image” (intentions, thoughts, appearances) and the “scientific image” (particles, forces, causality) “hang together”. He rejects “passive factualism” and “mechanical reductionism,” insisting that human authorship and agency must be restored by acknowledging that the “Who” of the person remains the proactive operator of the technical “What”.
• Evolutionary Naturalism: He defends his “big picture” as a philosophically mature materialism that finds an emergent place for mind and value, rejecting the “meaningless checkerboard of parts” found in specialized intellectual silos in favour of an interdisciplinary synthesis of history, sociology, and philosophy.

How does the ‘Synoptic Vision’ bridge manifest and scientific images?

The “Synoptic Vision,” a concept central to the work of Wilfrid Sellars and echoed in the critical realism of Roy Wood Sellars, bridges the manifest and scientific images by attempting to understand how these two disparate ways of seeing the world “hang together” in the broadest possible sense.

The bridge is constructed through the following theoretical frameworks:

1. Defining the Disparate Images

• The Manifest Image: This is the world of everyday experience, characterized by intentions, thoughts, and appearances. It is the framework in which we treat ourselves and others as persons, operating within what Sellars calls the “space of reasons”—a web of language used for justification and intention.
• The Scientific Image: This image describes the world in terms of the theoretical physical sciences, utilizing concepts such as particles, forces, and causality. It often conflicts with the manifest image, such as when science reveals that a seemingly solid object is mostly empty space.

2. The Mechanism of the Bridge: The “Space of Reasons”

The Synoptic Vision does not merely choose one image over the other; rather, it recognizes their unique domains. While Sellars favours the scientific image for empirical descriptions and explanations, he maintains that the manifest image is essential because it contains practical and moral claims that science does not address. The bridge is formed by acknowledging that talk of reasons and intentions is not identical to, nor easily mapped onto, talk of physical causes and effects.

3. Evolutionary Naturalism and Emergence

Roy Wood Sellars supports this bridge through “evolutionary materialism” or “reformed materialism,” which finds an emergent place for mind and consciousness within a physical reality. He argues for a “double knowledge” approach:

• One type of knowledge is built around referential perceiving (behavioristics and neurological).
• The other is participative and introspective, allowing the human “Who” to remain the proactive author of the narrative even while acknowledging the technical “What” of the biological system.

4. Interdisciplinary Synthesis as a “Big Picture”

The sources describe the Synoptic Vision as a “necessary big picture” that transcends specialized intellectual silos. It employs an interdisciplinary overview—integrating history, sociology, and philosophy—to prevent the “meaningless checkerboard of parts” created by narrow technical specializations. By utilizing tools like the Dynamic of Cognition (DoC) and the POLICE model, this vision filters out “institutional bullshit” and manufactured myths, ensuring that the Historical Person remains the master of the technical systems.

Ultimately, the Synoptic Vision achieves a “Synthesis of Being” that reintegrates the Five Intentions (Self, Mind, Reason, Utility, and Love), moving toward Aristotelian flourishing (eudaimonia) by ensuring that scientific truth and human value are seen as twin aspects of a common reality.

Why does Sellars view knowledge as a ‘substitute’ for things?

Roy Wood Sellars views knowledge as a “substitute for the thing” because human cognition cannot literally encompass the material existence of an object within the mind. In his framework of critical realism, to know a thing is not to have that object “given” in a state of literal presence, but rather to possess the characteristics of the thing—its size, structure, and causal capacities—via internal mental content.

This perspective is built on several key arguments found in the sources:

• Rejection of Epistemological Monism: Sellars rejects the “naive” or “new realist” view that the physical object is literally open to transparent inspection or “selected” by the mind. He argues that knowledge is mediated by content, meaning there is a fundamental distinction between the mechanism of knowledge (internal mental states) and the referential act (the direction of thought toward the external thing).
• The Reproducibility of Pattern: Sellars asserts that while we cannot “intuit” the stuff of matter, the structure and behaviour of things are reproducible in another medium (the brain-mind) because they represent an order rather than a “stuff”. The internal content acts as a “qualitative variant” or functional guide that allows the organism to “mean and think” the object accurately without needing to ontologically merge with it.
• Direct Referential Realism: Despite viewing knowledge as a substitute, Sellars maintains it is “direct” in its reference. He argues that the human mind denotes and characterizes material things specifically as material things; the “substitute” (the content) does not shut out the object but serves as the instrument through which the object is grasped.
• A “Cognitive Achievement”: He views this substitution not as a failure, but as a significant achievement of the mind-brain. It is a responsibly conditioned outcome where the sense-organs communicate energy-patterns to the cortex, which then uses sensory data as evidence to apply concepts to things.

Ultimately, this “substitute” is justified by a consilience of reasons: its ability to guide behaviour successfully, its power to predict future occurrences, and its ability to build a systematic insight into nature that connects with control and survival. In this “big picture,” the “Who” of the person remains the author of the narrative by using these knowledge-substitutes to navigate a world that is “pale” beside actual being but still factually textured and knowable.

Explain how Sellars’ ‘consilience of reasons’ justifies our belief in external objects.

Roy Wood Sellars’ “consilience of reasons” justifies belief in external objects by providing a multi-layered, reasoned reinforcement for the knowledge-claims of critical realism, moving beyond mere instinctive belief to a philosophically grounded defence. This consilience is necessitated by Sellars’ epistemological dualism, which holds that while we have direct referential access to material things, our knowledge of them is always mediated by internal mental content.

According to the sources, this consilience consists of four primary pillars:

• Reproduction of Pattern: Sellars argues that the structure and behaviour of external objects are reproducible in another medium (the brain-mind) because they represent a formal “order” rather than a “stuff”. Things reflect themselves in the internal contents they control within the organism, allowing the mind to possess the characteristics of the object (size, structure, quantity) without needing to ontologically merge with it.
• Successful Guidance of Behaviour: Sellars appeals to a pragmatic justification, noting that human behaviour is successfully guided by the knowledge claimed through these internal contents. He asserts it would be difficult to explain why such guidance is consistently effective if these contents did not provide genuine knowledge of a mind-independent world.
• Scientific Prediction: The ability of scientists to predict future occurrences using this framework provides a third layer of justification. Sellars maintains that the success of scientific prediction would be incomprehensible on the basis of agnosticism or phenomenalism.
• Systematic Harmony and Insight: Finally, tested knowledge-claims harmonize to build a coherent system of knowledge. This system appears to provide a deep, textured insight into the nature of the world that connects guidance, control, and prediction into a unified “big picture”.

Ultimately, Sellars views this consilience as a “cognitive achievement” of the minded organism. By synthesizing these reasons, he defends his framework against critics who claim that mediated knowledge creates an unbridgeable “gap,” asserting instead that the “Who” of the person remains the proactive author of their narrative by using these tested substitutes to navigate the factual texture of reality.

What are the four validity claims in Habermas’s Universal Pragmatics?

In Jürgen Habermas’s framework of Universal Pragmatics, anyone acting communicatively must raise four universal validity claims and suppose that they can be vindicated or “redeemed”. These claims form the validity basis of speech and are considered general and unavoidable presuppositions that a competent speaker must implicitly acknowledge to engage in dialogue.

The four validity claims are:

1. Comprehensibility (Verständlichkeit): The speaker claims that the utterance being made is understandable. The expression must be well-formed according to a system of grammatical rules so that the speaker and hearer can understand one another within a linguistic system. This is the only universal claim that can be fulfilled “immanently to language”.
2. Truth (Wahrheit): The speaker claims that what they state is true, or that the existential presuppositions of the utterance’s propositional content are fulfilled. This claim relates to external reality (the world of objects and events) and ensures that the hearer can share the speaker’s knowledge.
3. Truthfulness or Sincerity (Wahrhaftigkeit): The speaker claims that their manifest expression of intentions is sincere. This relates to the speaker’s “own” internal world of intentional experiences. The goal is for the hearer to believe the utterance and trust the speaker. This claim is not redeemed through providing grounds but through the consistency of the speaker’s subsequent behaviour.
4. Rightness or Appropriateness (Richtigkeit): The speaker claims that their utterance is right or appropriate in relation to a recognized normative background or social life-world of shared values and rules. It ensures that the speaker and hearer can reach a shared accord.

The Systematic Place of Validity Claims

Habermas correlates these claims with specific domains of reality and modes of communication:

Redemption of Claims

Successful communicative action depends on the participants’ conviction that these claims are either already vindicated or could be. If a claim is contested, it must be offered for discursive examination:

• Truth claims can be examined in theoretical discourse.
• Rightness claims are addressed in practical discourse regarding the underlying norm.
• Truthfulness is checked through the consistency of actions over time.

When these claims are reciprocally recognized without force, the resulting agreement (Einverständnis) achieves intersubjective mutuality, shared knowledge, and mutual trust.

How do validity claims distinguish external, internal, and social worlds?

In the framework of Universal Pragmatics, validity claims serve as the mechanism through which language interrelates three distinct “worlds” or domains of reality. Every successful communicative act situates an utterance within a coordinate system formed by these regions, requiring the speaker to raise specific claims that the hearer must recognize to achieve mutual understanding.

1. The External World (Objective Reality)

The external world consists of the totality of existing states of affairs, objects, and events that can be perceived and manipulated.

• Validity Claim: Truth (Wahrheit). The speaker claims that their statement represents a fact or that the existential presuppositions of their propositional content are fulfilled.
• Basic Attitude: Cognitive/Objectivating. The subject treats the environment as an object of observation.
• Function: Representation of facts. The goal is for the hearer to share the knowledge of the speaker.

2. The Internal World (Subjective Reality)

The internal world comprises the speaker’s “own” world of intentional experiences, including feelings, wishes, and intentions to which the individual has privileged access.

• Validity Claim: Truthfulness or Sincerity (Wahrhaftigkeit). The speaker claims that their manifest expression accurately reflects their internal state.
• Basic Attitude: Expressive. The subject expresses or conceals their subjectivity before a public.
• Function: Disclosure of the speaker’s subjectivity. The goal is to establish mutual trust, where the hearer believes the utterance.

3. The Social World (Normative Reality)

The social world is the totality of normatively regulated interpersonal relations that are intersubjectively recognized as legitimate within a society.

• Validity Claim: Rightness or Appropriateness (Richtigkeit). The speaker claims that their speech act conforms to a recognized normative background of shared values and rules.
• Basic Attitude: Interactive/Conformative. The subject relates to others as a participant in a system of communication, conforming to or deviating from established expectations.
• Function: Establishment of legitimate interpersonal relations. The goal is for the speaker and hearer to reach a shared accord.

The Role of Language as the Medium

Language functions as the medium that interrelates these three worlds. While the claims to truth, truthfulness, and rightness relate to extralinguistic orders of reality, a fourth claim—Comprehensibility (Verständlichkeit)—must be fulfilled “immanently to language”. This ensures that the sign-substrate and meaning of the utterance are understandable to all participants. When all these claims are simultaneously raised and reciprocally recognized, communication achieves intersubjective mutuality, bridging the gaps between external nature, society, and the self.

How does the ‘Synoptic Vision’ connect with the POLICE model?

The Synoptic Vision and the POLICE model are interconnected theoretical and methodological tools designed to remediate the “techné mindset” and achieve a state of “Sufficient Comprehension” in social and historical inquiry. The Synoptic Vision provides the necessary “big picture” framework that transcends narrow intellectual silos—what is often critiqued as a “meaningless checkerboard of parts”—by deliberately integrating the disciplines of history, sociology, and philosophy. This broad overview serves as a foundational diagnostic for “crap detecting,” allowing individuals to unmask “institutional bullshit” and the manufactured myths used to justify elite domination.

The POLICE model (Philosophically Ontology Logic Intersect Compatibility Education) functions as the specific procedural mechanism through which the Synoptic Vision is enacted. It acts as an “intellectual immune system” that forces the internal faculties to doubt, test, and filter out distorted narratives, thereby preventing “denoetization”—the mechanical liquidation of human judgment. While the Synoptic Vision identifies the requirement for an interdisciplinary synthesis to ground abstract principles in the concrete particulars of local history, the POLICE model provides the systematic self-critique necessary to move from unreflective habit toward “Substantial Fairness”. Ultimately, the connection between these frameworks ensures that human authorship is restored, allowing the proactive “Who” of the person to remain the master of the technical and bureaucratic “What,” which is essential for Aristotelian flourishing (eudaimonia).

How does the ‘Synoptic Vision’ reduce ‘Specialized Ignorance’?

The ‘Synoptic Vision’ reduces ‘Specialized Ignorance’ by providing a necessary “big picture” that transcends narrow intellectual silos—what is often critiqued as a “meaningless checkerboard of parts”—through the deliberate integration of history, sociology, and philosophy. In the sources, Specialized Ignorance (also referred to as Reductionism) is identified as a cognitive failure within the Dynamic of Cognition (DoC) framework, specifically in the Exclusion quadrant, where messy, lived experience is rejected in favour of “thin” concepts or purely technical formalisms known as the “techné mindset”.

The Synoptic Vision addresses this deficiency through several critical pathways:

• Interdisciplinary Synthesis: It mandates an approach that links disparate fields such as ethics, political philosophy, and technology to dismantle the “managerial bubble” of modern institutional life. This ensures that individuals do not become “narrow specialists” who know “more and more about less and less”.
• The Sociological Imagination: By utilizing C. Wright Mills’s concept of the “sociological imagination,” the vision links micro-level individual biography to macro-level historical structures, ensuring that personal troubles are understood as embedded within a broader historical narrative.
• Intellectual Immune System: The vision acts as a diagnostic tool for “crap detecting,” allowing individuals to unmask “institutional bullshit,” manufactured myths, and the “theological masks” used to justify elite domination.
• Contextual Grounding: It rejects the illusion of context-free truths, instead seeking “Sufficient Comprehension” by grounding abstract theory in the concrete particulars of local history and contingent reality.
• Restoration of Human Authorship: Ultimately, this broad overview prevents the “mechanical liquidation of discernment” by automated systems, ensuring that the “Who” of the person remains the proactive master of the technical “What”.

By operationalizing these methods, the Synoptic Vision facilitates a “personal breakout” from repetitive historical errors and the “Spiral History Theory of Stupidity,” steering the community toward Aristotelian flourishing (eudaimonia) and substantial fairness.

How does the POLICE model prevent epistemic violence?

The POLICE model—which stands for Philosophically Ontology Logic Intersect Compatibility Education—prevents epistemic violence by functioning as a systematic method for “policing our own thoughts” to filter out the manufactured myths and “institutional bullshit” that silence diverse ways of knowing. Epistemic violence, defined as the systematic devaluation or erasure of knowledge systems by a dominant “techné mindset,” is remediated by the model’s insistence on transitioning individuals from a “Junior” state of unreflective compliance to a “Senior” state of social accountability.

The model prevents this violence through six distinct procedural steps:

• Philosophy (P): It demands a return to the Socratic question, “What do I value?”, challenging the “authoritarianism of the stupid” where policies are judged solely on utility rather than their contribution to human flourishing.
• Ontology (O): It asks, “Is this real or just an appearance?”, forcing the thinker to break through the “trap of appearance” that often masks underlying social truths and historical contingency.
• Logic (L): It requires individuals to ask, “Does this actually make sense?”, applying “Rules of Evidence” to check the internal coherence of beliefs and proportion the firmness of a belief to the strength of its evidence.
• Intersect (I): It investigates “How does this idea bump into other things I know?”, which prevents “Specialized Ignorance” by deliberately linking local, personal struggles to broader global and historical themes.
• Compatibility (C): It asks, “Does this fit with being a ‘good person’?”, ensuring that intellectual inquiry remains anchored in “Substantial Fairness” and the ethical requirements of a Contributory Economy rather than purely pecuniary profit.
• Education (E): It poses the question, “What more do I need to learn to be sure?”, promoting lifelong learning and an intellectual skepticism that treats all convictions as revisable signs permanently open to correction.

By operationalizing these steps, the POLICE model acts as an “intellectual immune system” against “denoetization”—the mechanical liquidation of human judgment by automated or strategic technical systems. It prevents epistemic violence by restoring human authorship over shared narratives, ensuring that participants engage in “Communicative Action” aimed at mutual understanding rather than the strategic manipulation of truth. Ultimately, this practice of reflexive critique facilitates a “personal breakout” from repetitive historical errors and the “Spiral History Theory of Stupidity,” allowing for the restoration of the “Who” of the person over the “What” of the technical system.

How does the POLICE model defend against “institutional bullshit”?

The POLICE model—which stands for Philosophically Ontology Logic Intersect Compatibility Education—defends against “institutional bullshit” by functioning as a systematic procedural mechanism for “policing our own thoughts”. Developed within Dr. Buch’s framework, it serves as an “intellectual immune system” designed to detect and filter out the “widely-believed falsehoods” and manufactured myths that modern bureaucracies often use to justify elite domination or partisan agendas.

The model defends against institutional distortion through six specific procedural steps:

• Philosophy (P): It demands a return to the foundational Socratic question, “What do I value?”, which challenges the “authoritarianism of the stupid” where institutional policy is judged solely on immediate utility or measurability rather than its contribution to human flourishing.
• Ontology (O): It asks, “Is this real or just an appearance?”, forcing the individual to break through the “trap of appearance” that often masks underlying systemic failures or uncomfortable historical truths.
• Logic (L): it requires the application of “Rules of Evidence” to check the internal coherence of institutional claims, ensuring that the firmness of a belief is proportioned to the strength of its actual evidence.
• Intersect (I): It investigates “How does this idea bump into other things I know?”, a step that prevents “Specialized Ignorance” by deliberately linking local, personal struggles to broader global and historical themes.
• Compatibility (C): It asks, “Does this fit with being a ‘good person’?”, ensuring that intellectual inquiry remains anchored in “Substantial Fairness” and the ethical requirements of a Contributory Economy rather than purely technical efficiency.
• Education (E): It poses the question, “What more do I need to learn to be sure?”, promoting lifelong learning and an intellectual skepticism that treats all institutional convictions as revisable signs permanently open to correction.

By operationalizing these steps, the POLICE model facilitates a “personal breakout” from repetitive historical errors. It acts as a diagnostic tool for “crap detecting,” allowing individuals to unmask the “theological masks” or “doublethink of data” used by managers to mask institutional failures. Ultimately, the model enables a transition from a “Junior” mindset of unreflective, docile execution toward a “Senior” state of social accountability, restoring human authorship over shared lifeworld narratives and ensuring the “Who” of the person remains the master of the technical “What”.

How does the POLICE model help achieve Sufficient Comprehension?

The POLICE model (Philosophically Ontology Logic Intersect Compatibility Education) is the specific procedural mechanism designed to transition individuals from unreflective “Junior” cognition to a “Senior” state of social accountability, ultimately resulting in Sufficient Comprehension. In Dr. Buch’s framework, Sufficient Comprehension is not the achievement of absolute certainty, but rather a robust, historically grounded awareness that is “permanently open to correction” and seeks the “whole of a matter while filtering out fallacies”.

The model helps achieve this state through the following systematic interventions:

• Philosophical and Ontological Filtering: The model functions as an “intellectual immune system” that forces the internal faculties to doubt and test established beliefs. By distinguishing between reality and the “trap of appearance” (Ontology) and evaluating foundational values (Philosophy), the thinker can detect “institutional bullshit” and the manufactured myths used to justify elite domination.
• Logical Rigour and Evidence: Reclaiming reason through the POLICE model requires applying “Rules of Evidence” (Logic) to check the internal coherence of claims. This discipline ensures the individual proportions the firmness of their belief to the strength of their evidence, preventing the corruption of knowledge into “ignorant habits”.
• Interdisciplinary Scoping (Intersect): To reach Sufficient Comprehension, one must move beyond “Specialized Ignorance”. The “Intersect” component deliberately links personal or local struggles to broader global and historical themes, ensuring a “Synoptic Vision” that bridges the gap between abstract theory and concrete local practices.
• Ethical Compatibility and Lifelong Learning: The model demands that knowledge be compatible with the standard of a “good person” (Compatibility) and anchored in substantial fairness. By treating all convictions as “revisable signs” that require further learning (Education), the POLICE model facilitates a “personal breakout” from repetitive historical errors and the state of Historical Forgetfulness.

Ultimately, the POLICE model facilitates the transition to “conscious competence,” where the individual is no longer a “passive conduit” for social or technical drives but a proactive author of their own narrative. This allows the community to navigate the inherent “fuzziness” of human life with enough reliable understanding to reach the shore of Aristotelian flourishing together.

How does ‘crip time’ challenge neoliberal educational metrics?

In the context of Dr. Buch’s educational and sociological frameworks, “crip time” serves as a vital “epistemic provocation” that challenges neoliberal educational metrics by disrupting the “techné mindset” and its reliance on linear, mechanical productivity.

1. Challenging the Spatialisation of Time

Neoliberal education is governed by a “technocratic ideal” that dissects time into discrete, measurable units—a process known as the “spatialisation of time”. This framework treats time as a resource for external utility and efficiency, forcing students and educators to adhere to rigid schedules. “Crip time” challenges this by reframing time as a liberatory embodied rhythm that acknowledges the fluid reality of human consciousness (Duration) rather than the “clock time” of scientific reductionism.

2. Resisting Technical Acceleration

The current educational regime is characterized by an “immense regression” where technical evolution outpaces cultural evolution. This acceleration “breaks the time barrier,” submitting collective decision-making and human life to investment calculation and technical control. By prioritizing speed and quantifiable data, neoliberal metrics “cannibalize subjective and collective psychic reserves,” resulting in a state of “symbolic misery”. “Crip time” provides a mechanism to “slow down” and resist the mechanical liquidation of human judgment.

3. Confronting “Supercripping” and Masking

The pressure to conform to “neurotypical hegemony” and its associated metrics often results in “supercripping”—a heightened form of masking where individuals perform a hypercompetent ideal to navigate exclusionary environments. This performance aligns with a “Junior” mindset of unreflective execution and docile compliance. “Crip time” exposes the psychological cost of this performance, advocating instead for the recognition of noodiversity (diversity of knowledge) as a source of pedagogical innovation.

4. Restoring Human Authorship (Panser)

Ultimately, “crip time” functions as a “Contributory Corrective” that moves education beyond “rote learning” and “job-ready” outcomes. It aligns with the concept of panser—reinventing thinking (penser) as caring and tending—to balance the “coldness of pure calculation” inherent in data-driven metrics. By prioritizing the particularity of the person over technical function, it supports the transition to a “Senior” state of social accountability, where the “Who” of the person remains the proactive author of their own narrative rather than a “passive conduit” for economic mandates.

Featured Image: Together, two minds as one.

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Neville Buch

Professional Historian at Professional Historians Association (Queensland) Inc.

Neville Buch (Pronounced Book) Ph.D. is a certified member of the Professional Historians Association (Queensland). Since 2010 he has operated a sole trade business in history consultancy. He was a Q ANZAC 100 Fellow 2014-2015 at the State Library of Queensland. Dr Buch was the PHA (Qld) e-Bulletin, the monthly state association’s electronic publication, and was a member of its Management Committee. He is the Managing Director of the Brisbane Southside History Network.

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