Welcome!

I am Kenneth W. Brotman, founder of Social Engineering as a formal field of study and discipline.  Social engineering’s body of knowledge covers all branches of knowledge including scientific inquiry, critical thinking, reasoning and revelation.  Social engineering as a formal field of study and discipline is both a science and an art. 

I define Social Engineering as The field of study and discipline of using intentional efforts to improve some aspect of society mainly on a large scale, and doing so without unintended consequences, without limiting the freedom of individuals unnecessarily and without burdening individuals unnecessarily.

There are many reasons why we should have a formal field of study and discipline.  First of all, why leave something as important as social engineering to empirics!  Social engineering can affect a lot of people.

Then there are common issues anyone doing social engineering must deal with as an individual: When are you spreading yourself too thin?  Are you losing your way? Which issues should you commit your time and resources to?  And so on.

Another reason is to create a shared understanding, a shared language and a general structure that we can use to communicate about and refine the discipline of social engineering. 

Social Engineering covers both a branch of knowledge that is scientific and a branch of knowledge that is philosophical.  It’s essential to understand this.  Social engineering usually involves dealing with the big questions of life.  It is impossible to examine the big questions of life without considering both science and philosophy.   

Most of the philosophical discussions will be on my companion site, www.modernsocialengineering.org, where my personal style and discipline of social engineering which I call Modern Social Engineering, can be more appropriately discussed.

Social engineering does indeed have it's own body of knowledge. We must understand the variations of a society and the variations between societies in terms that are relevant to the application of social engineering. We also must understand both the floor and ceiling of societies. We must know what a well functioning society must have. We must know what a well functioning individual must have. We must understand what two specific societies need to get along well with each other. We must understand what the desirable environmental conditions of a society are. We must be able to analyze everything from the values to the needs fulfillment of a society and an individual.

The social engineering body of knowledge also discusses how well things work in a society and how to improve the way they work in terms that are relevant to the application of social engineering.

Social engineering requires an appropriate process. Using the right process and not rushing or skipping steps is paramount so you don't end up with unintended consequences. This is addressed in the social engineering body of knowledge.

The precision and reliability of social engineering is improved through the use of roles, situations and dimensions in communicating a perspective and is addressed in the body of knowledge.

The social engineering body of knowledge must include how to recognize and work through a social engineering challenge including those relating to a transition from one type of system to another, how to make a solution persist and how to end a social engineering project properly.

The social engineering body of knowledge includes a rich range of strategies such as deterrents, oversight, nurturing, networking, revitalizing, credentialing, recognition, taxonomy, consumerism, journalistic investigation, usability and many more.

The social engineering body of knowledge includes many communication vehicles that can be used in various social engineering situations such as news stories, press releases, web sites, books, TV and radio shows, white papers, public speaking and many more.

The social engineering body of knowledge includes not only intended outcomes but also unintended outcomes. Furthermore social engineering studies why things end up needing social engineering.

Kenneth W. Brotman
March 7, 2009

Stay tuned for more information!

The Core Principles of the Social Engineering Discipline

Typical Essential Components of a Successful Outcome

Phenomena and Dynamics That Can Be Utiltized in Social Engineering