The Theory of Life with 0 and 1

The starting question

How do decisions shape the person who makes the next decision?

A decision changes a situation. Repeated decisions can also influence which response comes more readily next time. This working paper explores a formal description of that feedback under explicitly stated assumptions.

The symbols 0 and 1 represent opposing moral directions within the model, not two categories of people. Intensity, dispositions and uncertainty remain differentiated; neutral, conflicting and unresolved cases are treated separately.

Decision, formation, next decision

1. 01 / Action

   Assess a situation

   Context, intent, available options and uncertain knowledge are part of the description.

2. 02 / Formation

   Change dispositions

   A bounded update rule describes how an event can strengthen or weaken selected tendencies.

3. 03 / Feedback

   Influence future choices

   Changed dispositions affect probabilities of later actions without necessarily determining an individual choice.

Within these assumptions, the paper derives statements about bounded states, memory weighting, stability and possible direction changes. Numerical examples and diagrams illustrate equations; they are not observations of real people.

Keep three levels distinct

Philosophical assumption

An objective moral reference is assumed, not established by the mathematics.

Mathematical consequence

Claims hold under the stated model assumptions. Stability does not automatically mean moral goodness.

Empirical question

Whether these rules adequately describe human character formation requires independent investigation. The paper contains no participant data or estimated parameters.

This is an independently published working paper. References to Aristotle, Augustine, Jesus, Epictetus, habit research and reinforcement learning provide conceptual context; they do not validate the proposed model.

This is not a guide for judging individuals. The model claims neither to measure human dignity nor to settle freedom, guilt or religious questions with a number.

Abstract

This paper formalizes the proposal that morally significant choices have a direction and that repeated choices can reshape the dispositions from which future choices arise. An objective moral good is posited as a normative reference, rather than derived from mathematics. The symbols 0 and 1 encode opposed directions relative to that reference; they do not classify persons into two exhaustive kinds. Moral intensity, character, and choice probabilities remain continuous and potentially multidimensional. The framework distinguishes objective evaluation, fallible moral judgment, and the psychological process of character formation. A bounded recursive model couples choices to character updates and subsequent choice distributions. Conditional propositions establish invariance, memory weighting, robustness, contraction, feedback-induced multiplicity, and the possibility of trajectory reversal. Neutrality, conflicting virtues, intentions, context, and uncertainty are represented explicitly. A Markov formulation states the additional sufficiency assumptions needed for a stochastic interpretation. Illustrative examples and philosophical comparisons clarify the model without supplying empirical validation. The contribution is a disciplined formal vocabulary and a set of transparent consequences of stated assumptions, not a proven law of life, a moral measurement instrument, or a derivation of ethics from behavior.

Cite, read, think further

Raphael Lugmayr (2026). The Theory of Life with 0 and 1: A Formal Model of Moral Direction and Character Formation. Working Paper, Version 1.0, 7 October 2026. https://raphaellugmayr.at/publikationen/the-theory-of-life-with-0-and-1

For feedback, a precise passage, the assumption concerned and a counterexample or source are helpful. I welcome discussion of the model and its limits.