The Six Rulers Theory is a meta-framework for measuring the things that matter in modern society: security, choice, labor, contribution, incentive, meaning. Instead of collapsing them into a single "value" number, it insists each ruler must be measured independently, in its own units, by its own process.
v34 (released Sep 2026) inherits the full content of v33 (β30 sub-versions, 18 independent theory chapters and 26 case studies) and adds a new standalone chapter Β§17.40 β Seeing & Experiencing β which proposes "happiness = seeing more" as v34's meta-proposition.
| Ruler | What it measures | Common misuse |
|---|---|---|
| π‘ Security | Basic survival guarantees | Confused with comfort |
| π Choice | Optionality & freedom to change | Reduced to "menu count" |
| β Labor | Time & effort actually spent | Replaced by income |
| π― Contribution | Causal effect on outcomes | Replaced by seniority |
| π₯ Incentive | Motivation to keep producing | Treated as bonus |
| π‘ Meaning | Sense & purpose for the actor | Confused with status |
Core insight: each ruler has its own unit and process. You cannot trade off "safety" against "labor" any more than you can add meters to kilograms. Trade-offs only happen between rulers that have been converted to a common measurement β and that conversion must always be transparent.
A single number (GDP, salary, "net worth") hides which ruler is being destroyed to grow another. A ruler framework forces you to write down: "to grow B by 10%, A had to shrink by 4%". Once that's on the page, the trade-off is no longer invisible.
new/ folder, marking a complete integration cycle of v33.
This is a high-level English overview. The full text (β80 chapters) is currently in Chinese only.
Click below to read the Chinese original β the structure, examples and references are all available there.
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Last updated: 2026-09-30 Β· v34.0.2 Β· FunnyAI