Case Studies

The Lineage Behind This Work

A regulation framework doesn’t come from theory alone. It comes from lived encounters—across systems, bodies, technology, and human suffering—where the same structural truth keeps reappearing:

Systems fail when regulatory capacity is exceeded. They stabilize when capacity is built, respected, and paced.

This page documents the lineage cases (0–5) that shaped the frameworks you’ll see across this site: Energy Regulation Capacity (ERC), the 8-Dimensional Path, and the broader work on regulation and civilizational stability.

How to Read This Page

These cases are not included as autobiography or persuasion. They exist for readers who ask:

“Where did this understanding come from?”

  • Each case is concise and factual.

  • The set forms a developmental arc.

  • You can read them in order—or jump to the ones most relevant to you.

Quick Index

  • Case 0 — Pre-Digital Insight (1981)

  • Case 1 — Institutional Regulation (Scotiabank, 1987)

  • Case 2 — Embodied Regulation (1973–present)

  • Case 3 — Interface, Regulation & Timing (The Light Pen, 2001)

  • Case 4 — Strategic Restraint (Ecosystem Timing)

  • Case 5 — Energy Regulation Capacity (Mental Health Reframing)

The Cases

Case 0 — Pre-Digital Insight (1981)

The Household Accountant

Context
In 1981, I self-published The Household Accountant—a practical system for tracking income and expenses using the familiar chequing account record book as the organizing structure.

Core Insight
People regulate complexity best when systems are anchored to existing human behavior, not expert language.

Why it matters
This was an early signal that truth survives by improving its interface—not by increasing complexity.

Case 1 — Institutional Regulation (Scotiabank, 1987)

Large-Scale Systems Change Under Load

Context
In 1987, I managed a major banking system rollout across 106 branches, making me the largest single-person project manager in the program. Staff were required to maintain normal duties while performing manual system migration tasks.

Core Insight
Stress and failure are often structural outcomes of exceeded regulatory capacity—not personal weakness.

Key Intervention
Instead of applying pressure, I changed the feedback structure (visibility, progress loops, and incentives). The region completed early while other regions struggled.

Case 2 — Embodied Regulation (1973–present)

Capacity Before Cognition

Context
Across martial arts and movement disciplines—Kung Fu, Aikido, Okinawan Karate—followed by Yoga, Qigong, and Mindfulness, regulation became a lived training reality.

Core Insight
Regulation is embodied before it is cognitive. Capacity must exist before insight can function.

Lineage Signals

  • 1973 Kung Fu: intensity without regulation led to withdrawal

  • 1991–1993 Aikikai Aikido: outward calm can mask inner dysregulation

  • 1993 Yoshinkai Aikido: rigid systems exclude when they ignore capacity

  • Mid-1990s Okinawan Karate: internal engineering over external force

  • Later Yoga/Qigong/Mindfulness: completing a coherent model of energy regulation

Case 3 — Interface, Regulation & Timing (2001)

The Light Pen

Context
In 2001, I was asked to intervene in ICESNET and reposition valuable IP connected to Dr. George May. I identified the Light Pen and Biometric Signature Verification as missing components in human–computer interaction: direct on-screen writing with reduced cognitive load.

We rethought the Light Pen into a low-cost wireless infrared concept that could compete with the mouse.

Core Insight
Interface success depends on minimizing regulatory load—yet even superior solutions can fail due to timing and infrastructure shifts.

Outcome
External disruption (9/11) halted an IPO launch, capital markets froze, and display standards shifted toward LED, gradually removing the Light Pen’s technical advantage.

Case 4 — Strategic Restraint

Timing as a Regulatory Discipline

Context
Case 3 taught a hard truth: being correct is not enough. Systems require conditions that can receive them.

Core Insight
Do not promote something before the time is right. Timing is a regulatory variable.

Application
This is one reason I deliberately delayed the rollout of the Samadhi World ecosystem: not from hesitation, but from stewardship.

Case 5 — Energy Regulation Capacity

Reframing Mental Health

Context
Across counselling, teaching, and long-term observation, I saw that many diagnoses share a similar lived pattern: difficulty settling the body, sustaining attention, modulating emotion, and recovering from stress. I originally identified this as Energy Regulation Challenge or ERC.

Core Insight
Many mental health difficulties reflect insufficient or depleted Energy Regulation Capacity (ERC) rather than discrete pathology.

Canonical Language Lock
ERC = Energy Regulation Capacity
“Challenge” may describe lived experience, but the framework is oriented toward capacity development.

Why These Cases Matter

These cases show a consistent through-line across decades and domains:

  • Regulation is not moral willpower. It is trained capacity

  • Systems fail when capacity is exceeded

  • Systems stabilize when capacity is built and paced

  • Timing and interface determine adoption

These cases are part of the CSOT (Canonical System of Thought) and are referenced, not revised.