Wheels, Hubs & Spokes

In this post, I am going to illustrate and describe a new mental model. It is my own original contribution to the representational world of mental models. It is the Wheels, Hubs and Spokes model. It is a framework for reasoning. The aim of the model is to serve as a symbolic container for three particular and unique things: a central question, idea or phenomena to be explained (the explanandum), the explanation (the explanans) and the momentum of rotation to keep us from straying away from the phenomena we wish to explain. The model is in the form of a bicycle wheel and contains a rim, hub and spokes.

Here’s how it works. We begin with the hub, which represents a phenomena or central idea we wish to understand. This can be anything we wish it to be: a natural or physical phenomena, a concept, an idea, or a question. Then we add a rim. The capacity of the rim to rotate represents the notion that we wish to ‘circle’ some phenomena so that we can understand it. For instance, let’s say we wish to explain Aristotle’s concept of potentiality. We place the phenomena of ‘potentiality’ into the hub. Once we have identified the first constituent concept or explanation sentence, it will make up our first spoke. The spoke is then placed into the hub and connected to the rim. Let’s take Aristotle’s concept of the four fundamental causes and link them to the hub. They are the material cause, the efficient cause, the formal cause and the final cause.

The material cause relates to the constitutive material that something is made of; for instance the tissue and blood that constitutes our bodies. Our efficient cause is our parents; who made us. The efficient cause of a statue, for instance, is the sculptor who has chiselled the stone into shape. The formal cause relates to the form, arrangement or shape of something; in our case, it is the way we look. Our DNA determines our constitution and the way we look; our general features such as the possession of a head and face, torso, arms and legs and our specific features that constitute our own individuality. The final cause refers to the telos, the reason or purpose for the existence of something. For Aristotle, potentiality is linked to the final cause. The final cause is the only cause within our control. We have the potential to breathe, to grow, and to walk. Animals and plants also fulfil some of those potentials. But humans also have rational potentiality, which is a special type of potential intrinsically linked to conscious thought that is within our control. And so, in this sense, we have the power or ‘dynamis’ to bring about or do something that fulfils our underlying rational potential in the form of talents, goals or specialist action (say scientific research). By realising our potential — by first being conscious of and then making real — we can walk on the road towards achieving eudaimonia, or happiness.

Now that we have identified the phenomena we wish to explain (potential), some of the constitutive explanation concepts or sentences (e.g the four fundamental causes), we can add more explanatory concepts in the form of spokes to the hub. We can add concepts like delayed impact of form, reasoning, training, intention, DNA or telos. Each concept is independent or a self contained unit. If a concept doesn’t fit well in the overall explanation, we can replace it. The model becomes complete when we take into account the angular momentum of rotation: we use the rotation of the model to represent the idea that we are to always circle the main topic. The rotation around the hub helps us keep focus. You can make as many different models as you see fit. So what is the telos, or purpose, of the model? Its purpose, like other mental models, is to represent in thought how something works and to help us solve complex problems.