Welcome — Alicia Juarrero in plain English
Who this is for: smart beginners with no philosophy or complexity-science background.
What you’ll get: a working grasp of why context and constraints matter for action, life, and organization — without drowning in academic prose.
Time for a first pass: about 8–12 hours across 6–10 short sessions.
The pitch (two sentences)
Modern thinking often treats causes like billiard-ball collisions: A hits B, B moves. Alicia Juarrero argues that for living, acting, and organized systems, constraints are also causes — they reshape what can happen, and that is how coherence, intention, and identity work.
Your first 15 minutes
- Read this page (you’re here).
- Skim before-you-start.md (myths to drop).
- Read overview.md (the map of her project).
- Open ../01-path/M00-map.md and begin M01.
Do not open the big research REPORT yet. It is a deep handbook for later.
How the system is built
| Layer | Job | When to use |
|---|---|---|
Path (01-path/) |
Ordered lessons | Always first |
Claims (02-claims/) |
“She argues that…” checkpoints | After each module |
Concepts (03-concepts/) |
Glossary | Only when a word blocks you |
Applications (04-applications/) |
So what? | After M03, heavily after M07 |
| Maps / sources | Navigation & depth | As needed |
Success looks like
Without notes, you can explain:
- Why “push” causation is not enough for intentional action
- What an enabling constraint is (with one example)
- How context changes what a system is
- One practical implication for orgs, design, or your own life
Next
→ before-you-start.md
→ overview.md
→ how-to-learn.md
→ ../01-path/M01-why-efficient-cause-fails.md