Research & Development Institute

Exploratory, cross-disciplinary research

Project Start
August 2006

Project Status
Completed in 2023

Summary
This project examined how institutions, cultures, technologies, and environments shape real-world decisions and collective outcomes. It began without a predefined theory or intended output. Using iterative observation, cross-sector comparison, and lightweight trials, the work documented recurring constraints that pull systems back to business-as-usual and tested simple practices that improve decision quality. Only after fieldwork did a unifying synthesis emerge (later published as The Monopoly Effect). The project’s contribution is empirical and practical: concise pattern maps, a calibrated valuable-action pre-decision gate (advance life and development; avoid new, unnatural suffering), and listening practices that expand perspective and reduce zero-sum defaults. A retrospective synthesis subsequently articulated CIM systems and outlined a Core Theory of Development; these labels were not used during data collection and are reported separately for transparency.

Core contribution

• Mapped high-impact decision contexts across education, leadership, economy/finance, technology, policy/strategy, resource use, and organizational culture.

• Identified recurrent blockers in attention, motivation, incentives, and coordination.

• Prototyped guards for better choices: structured listening drills and a valuable-action gate.

• Documented insights for external testing; later synthesized into conceptual language (CIM, CTD).

Key insights (contemporaneous)

• Short-term pull compresses time horizons.
• Attention bottlenecks sideline care, interdependence, and future perspectives.
• Interface frictions (e.g., policy↔finance; education↔labor) stall good ideas.
• Practiced listening measurably improves cross-boundary choices without added resources.
• Simple gates reduce harmful trade-offs and raise option quality.
  Retrospective note: these observations later underpinned the CIM and CTD formulations.

Applications (now)
Policy/strategy stress-tests; leadership and education programs incorporating structured listening; organizational governance using the valuable-action gate.

Resulting Output

• Thesis - The Monopoly Effect
• ELJ - The Monopoly Effect
• ELJ - The Harmony Quest

How to cite
PHE R&D (2006–2023). Real-World Analysis of Systemic Drivers (Precursor to The Monopoly Effect).

Version / date
V1.0 - Published January 2026.

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Project Start
April 2020

Project Status
Ongoing

Summary
This ongoing research project explores the foundational principles that drive human biology, mind, and behavior. Drawing from evolutionary biology, neurodevelopmental science, and the Abhidhamma Pitaka, it investigates how human beings receive, process, and act upon information, and how this process is shaped by natural and unnatural identifications, environmental contexts, and evolving mental factors.

At the heart of this inquiry is the layered model of intelligence and listening, ranging from instinctual survival responses to altruistic, cooperative actions. We examine how these levels are biologically encoded, and how motivation (egoistic, factual, emotional, or compassionate) emerges from specific neurological configurations and external conditions.

This project is a spin-off from The Monopoly Effect and shares its systems focus. The project ultimately aims to inform a future unified theory of human function that integrates biological, mental, and ethical development toward sustainable societal design.

Core Contribution

• Maps the sensory and neurological foundations of human experience.
• Identifies how natural (e.g., biological, parental) vs. unnatural identifications (e.g., nationality, status roles) shape self-concept and behavior.
• Integrates a four-level model of intelligence & listening with neurological and ethical frameworks.
• Classifies motivational drivers and mental factors based on their origin (biological or social) and their effect (constructive or destructive).
• Outlines a practice-based lens to discern wholesome (development-supportive) vs. unwholesome (development-obstructing) tendencies in daily life.

Ethics
No personal data collected; observations are anonymized and generalized. Theoretical lenses are tested without prescriptive moralization.

Key Insights (To Date)

• The evolution of consciousness in humans follows cyclical, not linear patterns.
• Natural identifications are biologically limited and form the basis of self-regulation and social cohesion; unnatural identifications multiply suffering and distortion.
• Levels of intelligence, listening and action can be neurologically and ethically trained.
• Unwholesome tendencies (e.g., envy, greed, deception) are not just ethical failings but neurologically trained and culturally conditioned phenomena.

Application (In Development)

• Ethical design of learning environments and technologies based on developmental coherence.
• Self-assessment tools for intelligence levels and decision motivation (action validation gate - separate project)
• Diagnostic frameworks for systemic distortions in institutions (e.g., ego-based leadership, fragmented education).
• Philosophical clarity in distinguishing natural vs. unnatural suffering in personal, social, and political domains.

Desired Outputs

• Study "Functional principles and processes that govern human biology, mind and behavior."

Status & Timeline

Project Time: 2020–present. Literature review and theoretical modeling completed; outputs in development.

How to Cite

ISA PHE R&D (2020–2026). The Underlying Functional Principles and Processes that Govern Human Biology, Mind, and Behavior. Project page, Version 0.1. [DOI or URL when available]

Rights, copyright & licensing

• Primary IP origin: The conceptual backbone, terminology, and core models informing this project are derived from the book and research program The Monopoly Effect.
• Copyright (book/thesis): © Urs Beck. The book/thesis and its original formulations remain the intellectual property of Urs Beck.
• Licensed use: Selected content is made available to InterStellarAssociation (ISA) under license for educational and research use within ISA’s programs and publications.
• Project materials: Any project-specific instruments, templates, rubrics, slides, and training materials developed under this R&D line are © ISA unless explicitly marked otherwise.

Reuse conditions:

• Excerpting (short quotations) is permitted with proper citation.
• Reproduction or redistribution of book/thesis content, full frameworks, or proprietary materials is not permitted without written permission by Urs Beck.
• Instructional reuse (teaching, facilitation, train-the-trainer) requires ISA authorization and, where applicable, instructor certification.
• Attribution: Where concepts are adapted or re-expressed, the project maintains clear attribution to Urs Beck and the originating work.

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Format - Genre
Book (Independent Thesis / Research Monograph)

Product Links

Hardcover Edition
Digital Edition

Summary
This book introduces The Monopoly Effect, a diagnostic framework explaining how competitive, individualistic, and monopolistic (CIM) systems shape neural development, motivation, and social behavior -often against life-affirming outcomes. Integrating neuroscience, developmental psychology, systems theory, and contemplative analysis, it argues that many sustainability and human-development efforts fail because the underlying mindsets and institutions are conditioned to reward short-term performance over cooperative intelligence. Rather than offering a reform program, the book clarifies mechanisms and leverage points, laying conceptual foundations for research and prototyping beyond CIM defaults.

Core contribution

• Defines The Monopoly Effect as a self-reinforcing feedback structure embedded CIM systems.

• Traces eight sub-theses that explain how CIM logics are learned, rewarded, and normalized.

• Shows why surface reforms stall without reworking the cognitive-emotional architecture and relational institutions that keep CIM incentives intact.

What readers/users can do (actionable takeaways)

• Use the eight sub-theses as a diagnostic checklist when assessing policies, curricula, or organizational designs.

• Incorporate levels of listening (instinct → intellect → empathy → altruism) into leadership training and conflict resolution.

• Apply the structural disconnects map across the eight paradigms to locate leverage points.

• Pair decisions with a “valuable actions” test: does this advance life and development without adding new, unnatural suffering? (Cross-link to your institute’s decision process page.)

Evidence base (in brief)
Interdisciplinary synthesis drawing on: experience-dependent neuroplasticity and motivational science; systems and ecological economics; developmental psychology; and Abhidhamma-informed analysis of mental factors and consciousness. Empirical illustrations highlight how repeated CIM stimuli entrain attention, reward, and identity formation.

Access & licensing
First Edition: July 2025. Copyright © 2025 Urs Beck (Safe Creative registration noted in the manuscript). Usage restrictions and trademark notice (Elanvor™) apply; do not redistribute except for brief quotations with attribution.

Credits
Author & Editor: Urs Beck (Switzerland). With thanks to sources cited across neuroscience, psychology, systems theory, and contemplative studies.

How to cite
Beck, U. (2025). The Monopoly Effect. Independent thesis/monograph. First Edition, July 2025 - https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17415802

Version / date
V1.0 — Published July 2025.

Format / Genre
Experiential Learning Journey (event-based program)

Product link
https://www.projecthomebase.earth/the-monopoly-effect-elj - public landing page. Scheduling and logistics are announced on the Academy page.

Summary
This six-day cohort journey develops systemic literacy drawn from the thesis The Monopoly Effect. In a nature-rich location, participants alternate field observation with structured theory to examine how competitive–individualistic–monopolistic dynamics (CIM-systems) condition perception, motivation, and actions. The program stays diagnostic: it unfolds the mechanisms behind The Monopoly Effect, introduces its eight sub-theses, and trains situational use of the four levels of intelligence and listening. The emphasis is on clear seeing -identifiying and diagnosing patterns, calibrating language, and distinguishing natural from unnatural suffering - so subsequent learning and experience can responsibly target interventions.

Audience
Educators • Leaders • Scientists • Medical staff • Teenagers 13+ • General Public

Core contribution

• Unfolds CIM systems and how they give rise to The Monopoly Effect as a systemic conditioning pattern.

• Showcases the eight sub-theses with concise, rigorous primers (Natural Human Habitat, Core Theory of Development (CTD), and Natural vs. Unnatural Identifications) to clarify the distinction between natural and unnatural suffering and its implications and human existence.

• Trains the four levels of intelligence & listening (instinctual → intellectual → empathic → altruistic) for situational, everyday use.

• Introduces assessment and diagnostic tools to identify CIM conditioning in people and contexts, and to map the eight structural disconnects and systemic limits without prescribing solutions.

What participants can do after the journey (actionable takeaways)

• Conduct a CIM/Monopoly Effect scan in a real context of the eight critical paradigms, using the provided diagnostic prompts.

• Formulating diagnostic debriefings of identified CIM-systems and thier effects in any observed environment. 

• Properly apply the four levels of intelligence/listening deliberately in every life situation, noting shifts in attention and coordination.

• Use the valuable-action gate strictly as a diagnostic filter (not an intervention plan) to classify actions by potential for natural vs. unnatural suffering.

Evidence base (brief)
Grounded in the independent thesis The Monopoly Effect, including its eight sub-theses and the 180+ sources contributing to the hypothesis.

Access & licensing

• Book & Thesis: © Urs Beck. Licensed to InterStellarAssociation (ISA) for educational use.

• Program materials (handouts, exercises, templates): © InterStellarAssociation (ISA).

Reuse conditions:

• Excerpting (short quotations) is permitted with proper citation.
• Reproduction or redistribution of book/thesis content, full frameworks, or proprietary materials is not permitted without written permission by Urs Beck.
• Instructional reuse (teaching, facilitation, train-the-trainer) requires ISA authorization and, where applicable, instructor certification.
• Attribution: Where concepts are adapted or re-expressed, the project maintains clear attribution to Urs Beck and the originating work.

Credits
Author & Lead: Urs Beck (Switzerland). With thanks to sources across neuroscience, psychology, systems theory, and contemplative studies.
Organizing entity: InterStellarAssociation (ISA).

Event-specific
Program rhythm and next dates are communicated via the Academy or Event page.

How to cite
InterStellarAssociation (ISA). (2025). The Monopoly Effect: Experiential Learning Journey. First Edition, January 2026.

Version / date
V1.0 — Published January 2026 on projecthomebase.earth.

• Development in Progress
• Project Relationship: Development of the thesis and study "The Core Theory of Development.

• Development in Progress
• Project Relationship: Development of the thesis and study "The Core Theory of Development.

• Development in Progress
• Project Relationship: The underlying functional principles and processes that govern human biology, mind and behavior.

Exploratory, cross-disciplinary research

Project Start
August 2006

Project Status
Completed in 2023

Summary
This project examined how institutions, cultures, technologies, and environments shape real-world decisions and collective outcomes. It began without a predefined theory or intended output. Using iterative observation, cross-sector comparison, and lightweight trials, the work documented recurring constraints that pull systems back to business-as-usual and tested simple practices that improve decision quality. Only after fieldwork did a unifying synthesis emerge (later published as The Monopoly Effect). The project’s contribution is empirical and practical: concise pattern maps, a calibrated valuable-action pre-decision gate (advance life and development; avoid new, unnatural suffering), and listening practices that expand perspective and reduce zero-sum defaults. A retrospective synthesis subsequently articulated CIM systems and outlined a Core Theory of Development; these labels were not used during data collection and are reported separately for transparency.

Core contribution

• Mapped high-impact decision contexts across education, leadership, economy/finance, technology, policy/strategy, resource use, and organizational culture.

• Identified recurrent blockers in attention, motivation, incentives, and coordination.

• Prototyped guards for better choices: structured listening drills and a valuable-action gate.

• Documented insights for external testing; later synthesized into conceptual language (CIM, CTD).

Key insights (contemporaneous)

• Short-term pull compresses time horizons.
• Attention bottlenecks sideline care, interdependence, and future perspectives.
• Interface frictions (e.g., policy↔finance; education↔labor) stall good ideas.
• Practiced listening measurably improves cross-boundary choices without added resources.
• Simple gates reduce harmful trade-offs and raise option quality.
  Retrospective note: these observations later underpinned the CIM and CTD formulations.

Applications (now)
Policy/strategy stress-tests; leadership and education programs incorporating structured listening; organizational governance using the valuable-action gate.

Resulting Output

• Thesis - The Monopoly Effect
• ELJ - The Monopoly Effect
• ELJ - The Harmony Quest

How to cite
PHE R&D (2006–2023). Real-World Analysis of Systemic Drivers (Precursor to The Monopoly Effect).

Version / date
V1.0 - Published January 2026.

Format / Genre
Experiential Learning Journey (event-based program)

Product link
projecthomebase.earth/the-harmony-quest-elj (public landing page). Scheduling and logistics are announced on the Academy page.

Summary
The Harmony Quest is a six-day, cohort-based learning journey designed to recalibrate how we perceive, decide, and relate, grounded in the thesis The Monopoly Effect. Participants work outdoors in a single, nature-rich location and in structured indoor facilities that balance human development with thoughtful technology use. Rather than offering prefabricated answers, the journey cultivates capacities for care, clarity, and cooperative action, applicable in education, leadership, public service, and community life. Cohorts are intentionally small (~15) to support depth of practice and peer learning.

Audience
Educators • Leaders • Politicians • Teenagers 13+ • General Public.

Core contribution

• A learning architecture that integrates outdoor practice, nature immersion, and balanced tech use with real-world application at systemic levels.

• Application of the Core Theory of Development (CTD) to guide personal and collective growth.

• Assessment and re-naturalisation of structural disconnects and systemic limits in context.

• Relationship work via levels of intelligence and listening; decisions gated by a valuable-action check.

What participants can do after the journey (actionable takeaways)

• Re-calibrate key relationships (self–others–nature–technology) using CTD prompts and daily processes.

• Balance life across needs, nature, technology, and meaning to contribute sustainably.

• Evaluate choices with the valuable-action gate (advance life and development; avoid new, unnatural suffering).

• Integrate the six developmental drivers into everyday routines at home, in teams, and in education.

Evidence base (brief)
Derived from the independent thesis The Monopoly Effect and related institute research on developmental practice and systemic design.

Access & licensing

• Primary IP origin: The conceptual backbone, terminology, and core models informing this project are derived from the book and research program The Monopoly Effect.
• Copyright (book/thesis): © Urs Beck. The book/thesis and its original formulations remain the intellectual property of Urs Beck.
• Program materials (handouts, exercises, templates): © InterStellarAssociation (ISA).

Reuse conditions:

• Excerpting (short quotations) is permitted with proper citation.
• Reproduction or redistribution of book/thesis content, full frameworks, or proprietary materials is not permitted without written permission by Urs Beck.
• Instructional reuse (teaching, facilitation, train-the-trainer) requires ISA authorization and, where applicable, instructor certification.
• Attribution: Where concepts are adapted or re-expressed, the project maintains clear attribution to Urs Beck and the originating work.

Credits
Author & Lead: Urs Beck (Switzerland). With thanks to sources across neuroscience, psychology, systems theory, and contemplative studies.
Organizing entity: InterStellarAssociation (ISA).

Event-specific (if applicable)
Program rhythm and next dates are communicated via the Academy or Event page.

How to cite
InterStellarAssociation (ISA). (2025). The Harmony Quest: Experiential Learning Journey. First Edition, January 2026. V1.0 — Published January 2026 on projecthomebase.earth.

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