A Focal Tower

To that end, I identify an ultimate purpose, and a fundamental technology, and show how focal methods can be used to construct a tower which leads us as efficiently as possible from the fundamentals to the ends.

The tower consists of a number of “focal layers”. Each layer has some notion of competence in addressing a range of problems in a particular context, and a special subdomain, competence in which facilitates the delivery of competence in the broader domain. As we advance up the stack, the level and breadth of the relevant capabilities advances, and the context in which those competences are delivered becomes less supportive.

The stack can have any number of layers, so a sketch with a small number is the best place to start. From the bottom up:

1. Logic and Software Engineering In this the broad capability is in logical reasoning in a logical system suitable for all deductive reasoning about declarative knowledge. The context in which that capability is exercised is contemporary accelerated computing. The focus, which is a singular focus, is on reasoning about programs, since the embraces the capability to completely re-engineer this kind of reasoning capability.
2. Engineering Design The next layer takes us out of the purely logical into the physical work, from engineering software to engineering physical artifacts. The context for such engineering is the world as we find it, with existing physical system to support design and manufacturing, and the focus is on the advancement of the physical infrastructure supporting design and manufacture.
3. Ecosystem Engineering The previous layer a capability in the context of what we now have on planet Earth. What happens as we try to establish such a capability on some other planet? Then we have to move to the design of a completely new system which will function in a context which is devoid of most everything we have here on planet earth.
4. Interstellar Proliferation