Gospel Koan 80.5

Proportional Response

Koan 80.5

As lex talionis: a 'proposition in kind', reciprocity is open, proportional and just in all cases: collaborative, competitive or cooperative.

Summary Exposition

The mechanism is a principle of proportional response that operates with ontological neutrality, applying its logic of equivalent return regardless of the interaction's emotional valence. For instance, in a market economy, a company’s innovation is met with a proportional response from a competitor, spurring a cycle of advancement that benefits all—a form of competitive reciprocity. The implication is that justice is not an external moral judgment but an inherent feature of this proportional feedback. The system is inherently just because it responds in kind, whether the context is friendship or rivalry.

The Gospel of Being

by John Mackay

Discover the first principle of existence in 30 seconds.

See the Proof