Abstract
Background: Wu wei, a foundational concept in Daoist philosophy commonly translated as “effortless action,” has historically been interpreted as spiritual or ethical guidance. Recent advances in neuroscience, psychology, and systems science now allow this concept to be reframed within a rigorous scientific framework of self-regulation, stress physiology, and adaptive decision-making.
Methods: This conceptual analysis integrates findings from affective neuroscience, predictive processing, autonomic regulation, and systems theory with classical Daoist philosophy. Wu wei is examined as a biologically grounded operating mode of the human nervous system and as a design principle for social and economic systems.
Results: Wu wei is shown to correspond to a low-conflict, low–free-energy regulatory state characterized by adequate energetic capacity, autonomic stability, emotional calibration, and coherent integration of cognition and behavior. Chronic stress, economic precarity, and performance-driven institutional structures are identified as primary disruptors of this state at both individual and population levels.
Conclusion: Wu wei can be operationalized as a measurable mode of intrinsic coherence relevant to clinical practice, organizational design, and public policy. Reframing wu wei as a scientifically grounded principle of self-regulation and collective governance offers a unifying framework for health promotion, sustainable development, and regenerative socio-economic reform.
