Behavioral Investment Theory (BIT) of Gregg Henriques

Basic Ideas:

Behavioral Investment Theory (BIT) is a thermo-psy-conomic theory; it integrates fundamental concepts of thermodynamics, psychology, and economics. First, BIT springs from a belief that all things have energy as a common denominator. Next, if energy resources are critical to survival, then it is critical to expend such resources on behaviors which nuture life and to restrain these resources from destructive behaviors. In other words, the use of resources must show a profit for the organism - a "return on investment". Henriques has a special case of BIT which he terms, Behavioral Shutdown Model (BSM). When faced with dangers, and the organism perceives no opportunity for escape, then the organism enters extreme energy restraint and refrains from expending energy on virtually all behaviors - clinical depression. Overall, We must invest our energy "funds" in activities which nurture survival and withdraw them from activities which endanger or degrade survival.

As Henriques put it in an email into a forum - evolutionary-psychology-help@egroups.com (Mon, 17 Jan 2000 19:22:15 EST):

"In order to maintain their complexity in the face of entropy, organisms must solve the energy input:output ratio. That is, all organisms must take in more energy than they expend. If they fail to do this, they will breakdown, according to the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. ... Fundamentally, organisms can solve problems related to the energy ratio by either attempting to increase input or decrease output. As such, the energy input:output ratio is a powerful general tool in understanding the behavior of organisms. There are a host of strategies such as sleep, hibernation and exhaustion that seem to make sense as evolved propensities that are functional because they decrease energy output.

Theory Roots:

Like Kauffman's theory, Gregg Henriques owes a debt to predecessors Elizabeth Duffy, Erwin Schrodinger, and Jeremy Rifkin who blazed a trail of energy and energy systems grappling with entropy and negative entropy. Rifkin (Rifkin, 1981, p. 243, 255), in particular, brought the issue around to conserving energy and becoming efficient:

"... the faster we speed up the flow of matter-energy through the system, the faster we will run out of renewable resources ... (the) imperative, then, is to waste as little energy as possible."

Importance:

Behavioral Investment Theory (BIT) "dovetails" nicely with Kauffman's Autonomous Agents and Adjacent Possible theories, thus, providing a smooth linkage from a theory rooted in physics into a theory tied directly with clinical psychology. Even without Kauffman's ideas, BIT provides a "hard" science approach by which to interpret classical and standard psychological theories and beliefs. Further, it will probably easily adapt and interface with any other theory based in thermodynamics.

Another advantage of BIT is that it provides a shortcut from physics to psychology to economics. With similar concepts, it can provide a bridge to bind these three fields more closely together. Because of this BIT can be categorized as a thermo-psychonomic theory.

Further Reading:

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