Systematization of the unknown

How do we systematize the unknown?

Typical of this is Mendeleev's discovery of the periodic table. He did not systematize the known. He considered what unknowns must be assumed to bring order to the known elements.

"Make a list: what is known now is not everything."

"There is an order: there is no correct and only order."

"There are exceptions: removing exceptions by introducing new elements."

"There is a value: abstraction. Zero -> real constant -> function, probability distribution, complex number etc."

"I don't understand regularity: observe simple examples and find regularity."

"Lots of variety: could it be a combination of lesser components?"

"A or B: Can't we just combine them?"

I brainstormed alone yesterday and came up with this much

Consideration of 2021-06-28

"A or B: Can't we just combine them?"

Drucker's "systematization of the unknown" is predicated on "systematizing"

But have we actually systematized the unknown?

What exactly did Mendeleev do?

Known items sorted and arranged by nature and weight.

I didn't think "everything we know" at the time, but assumed "there are unknowns" and laid them out, and here's the great thing.

This would be a case where there was already a sufficient amount of "knowns" that we could find "holes" by systematizing them!

I didn't "systematize" the unknown.

Through systematization, they discovered the unknown.

Means and Objectives

Systematization is not an end but a means to discovery

This was created to see if we could assist in finding blind spots.

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