Consilient Effects

Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW): An emergent theory of warfare premised upon manipulation of multiple economic, political, social and military forces in multiple domains to effect positional changes in systems and achieve a consilience of effects to leverage a specific goal or set of circumstances.

Consilient effect: a ‘jumping together’ of effects by the linking of effects across domains in order to create a pattern for action. (Arherring @ Red Herrings)

In an early definition of 5GW, blogger Arherring utilized the concept of consilience to describe consilient effects which might be achieved by the manipulation of diverse domains normally considered in separation or isolation from one another. Such manipulation would create emergent narratives or patterns which would motivate diverse actors to act in ways that would achieve a larger, system-wide result (perhaps a change in system rule-sets) even if the individual actors do not perceive the consilience that is occurring or indeed do not have a common understanding of the ultimate, system-wide result of their actions.

Although consilience itself  may be said to describe primarily receptive capabilities insofar as those operating within distinct disciplines or domains become receptive to the discoveries made by others working in other disciplines or domains, the possibility of creating consilient effects consciously in an effort to alter exterior realities rests in the understanding that those who are receptive will actively utilize what they have learned.

The term consilient effects may describe the emergent narratives or observations of those who have been targeted by 5GW in diverse domains as they become aware of the realities of other domains, through which they are motivated to act in particular ways; or, the term may describe the actual, ultimate physical results of so many actions in diverse domains by actors so motivated.

See: Consilience