The first table.
Before Order and Law became a map of human experience, it began as an educational tool.
The original goal was simple: create a useful system to guide a child's learning, organize the main subjects, and highlight the sub-concepts that seemed most important.
Six groups of education.
The first version narrowed learning into six main groups. Academic, Society, and Stuff were external education: mostly learned by looking at the world. Physical, Character, and Spiritual were internal motivations: mostly learned by looking at yourself. Simple enough for a kid to understand.
Academic
External education
- Study Habits
- Language
- Logic/Rationalism
- Math/Physics
- Chemistry/Biology
- Engineering
- Computer Science
- History
- Philosophy
- Music
- Art
Society
External education
- Rules/Laws
- Political Structure
- Geography
- Tax
- Money Management
- Hidden Power
- Norms/Morality
- Courtship
- Street Smarts
- Friendship
Stuff
External education
- Construction
- Motors
- Electrical
- Plumbing
- Sewing
- Car Maintenance
- Bike Repair
- Tool Repair/Sharpening
- Outdoor Survival
- Project Management
- Sanitation/Sterilization
- Cooking Techniques
- Home Care
- ...ETC
Physical
Internal motivation
- Nutrition
- Exercise/Training
- Lifestyle
- Hygiene
- First Aid
- Body Language
- Fashion
- Agility
- Sport
- Combat
- Dance
- Sex
Character
Internal motivation
- Manners
- Generosity
- Principles
- Bravery
- Gentleness
- Communication
- Trustworthiness
- Calmness
- Patience
Spiritual
Internal motivation
- Love
- Faith
- Self Awareness
- Kindness
- Rebelliousness
- Meditation
- Dreams/Astral
- Play
- Humour
- Style
- Innocence
A systematic journal for learning.
This educational tool was conceived to assist in guiding my son's learning and categorizing his progress. I wanted a useful system to organize the main subjects and highlight sub-concepts of greatest importance.
It was designed as a systematic journal for any student to track accomplishments and interests within each field. A teacher and their curriculum could bring age-appropriate ideas into each section, helping the student discover their inclinations.
The internet provides an open database for education when we are willing to plan the time to learn and have access to quality links and workflow. The table was a way to make that openness less chaotic.
Start basic. Follow interest.
The student should keep their ideas as basic and general as possible at first.
Begin generally: Keep the first ideas basic. Approach each subject as a beginner and remember the earliest thoughts that made the topic visible.
Build from fundamentals: Use the table as a base, then follow whatever becomes interesting enough to deserve its own journal.
Let branches appear: As a student specializes, one field opens into another. Connections form between subjects that first seemed separate.
Balance and passion: The system is broad enough to encourage balance, but open enough to let a student shine on what calls to them.
From education to experience.
The table was not The Order yet, but the seed was already there: organize the world into clear categories, begin with fundamentals, then follow the branches as they appear.
Over time, the educational table opened into a broader question. If a child's learning could be mapped, could human experience be mapped too? Could awareness, connection, society, power, nature, and the unknown be arranged as levels of the same larger structure?
Order and Law grew from that question. What began as a way to organize subjects became a way to organize experience.