Society as a SelfReproducing System: a Structured Theory

1
Society as a Self-Reproducing System a
Structured Theory

• Presentation for INTAS Seminar
• 21-23 September 2003, Moscow

Pavel Luksha, Alexander Plekhanov
2
Studying Social Systems

• Taking top-bottom approach (society as a system)
• Applying GST / TICS / synergetics
• Considering society as
• set of individuals, linked through a system of
  matter-energy / information relations/
  interactions between them and with their
  environment
• population of social individuals AND part of
  their environment

3
General Properties of Society

• Following properties of society are commonly
  considered in social sciences
• dedicated structure and functions society as a
  system of regularly repeated behaviour, social
  relations and interactions (and identifiable
  stable social institutes)
• ability to withstand outer disturbances society
  remains despite regular (day/night, seasons), and
  incident (natural disasters) outer disturbances
• ability to withstand inner disturbances society
  remains (with its structure and organization)
  despite change of material substrate (e.g. change
  of generations)
• These properties imply that a society somehow
  remembers itself

4
Concept of Social Memory

• The memory of a society identified in ultimate
  social phenomena as following
• a basis of communication between members of a
  society (common language, signs, symbols, rituals
  etc.)
• acquired through socialisation and social
  adaptation. Two main mechanisms
• demonstration-and-imitation relationships and
  rituals
• teacher and student relationships and rituals
• All kinds of human knowledge, skills, cultural
  samples etc. not transferred genetically but are
  acquired via socialisation and social adaptation,
  can be called a memory of society, or a social
  memory. Social memory content is distributed
  among, and shared by, individual members of a
  society.

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Properties of Social Memory

• Specific properties of a social memory, that
  distinct it from other memory types
• only individuals, inside their neural networks,
  can posses social memory (external memory
  books, signs, memorials etc. are but signals,
  i.e. elements of SAFE from TICS, that can only
  be comprehended when perceived / recognised by
  social individuals)
• social is only memory that is shared thus,
  personal experience is not a part of social
  memory until it is shared
• consequently, existence of social memory implies
  that two or more individuals that share it
  hence, social memory is distributed in space and
  time.
• Social memory determines social individual
  behaviour it defines norms, standards, rituals
  that individuals (as society members) should
  follow.
• Social memory, on the other hand, is determined
  by individuals each of them can not merely
  reproduce but can also alter its content (i.e.
  through innovation and creativity).

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Basic Structure of a Society
element of ICS TICS
Social system
controlling regulatory structures of social system
Social individuals
internal memory
Social memory (languages,technologies, rituals
etc.) in individual memory
executing regulatory structures of social system
internal SAFE / external memory
Activity / passivity of social indi-viduals
(expressed through bodies)

• Artificial (inner) environment
• means of production
• objects of consumption
• non-economic material culture (e.g. sacred
  objects)

executing regulatory structures of social system
natural environment
external SAFE
objects and structures outside of given social
system (nature and other societies)
non-contact environment
Natural (outer) environment of social system
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Society Self-Reproduction

• All complex material systems undergo degradation
  and must accomplish work to restore their
  structure
• The only way in which complex material systems
  may persist is through their self-reproduction
  von Neumann, Burks, 1966 it is a result of
  ultimate evolution of matter Kaufmann, 1993
• Self-reproduction is a universal mechanism that
  is found with social systems as well as with
  biological systems

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Self-Reproduction Achieved

• Every key element of a society must be
  reproduced, for system to be reproduced as a
  whole
• Minimal functions to achieve social
  self-reproduction are
• reproduction of social individuals, including
• biological reproduction/maintenance and
• reproduction of social functions
• reproduction of artificial environment, and
• maintenance of components organization in a
  system (maintenance of social order)

9
Social SR a Hypercycle?

• Process of social self-reproduction resembles
  hypercycles (Eigen, Schuster, 1979). This is more
  than mere analogy
• societies emerged through evolution as new layer
  of organization (not reducible)
• social individuals selected by evolution to fit
  society (incl. artificial environment), and
  society to fit social individuals
  (inter-determinism)

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Basic Functions of a Society

• Four basic reproductive functions necessary
  for social SR
• Other functions are non-reproductive (important
  for social life, not necessary for social SR)
• Particular case functions that alter social
  memory (science, art, law creation etc.)

reproduction of physical bodies and social memory
of social individuals
maintenance of social order (coordination of
social individuals behaviour)
recreation (incl. consumption and relaxation)
production of artificial inner environment (its
restoration and expansion)
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Social Institutions

• Process is structured through a system of social
  institutions

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Social Needs, Values and Mass-Like Social
Behavior

• Mass-like behavior is a result of individual
  choices, guided by internalized needs and values.
  Thus, needs and values are
• either supporting social SR (need of biological
  reproduction, of learning, of creative activity)
• or produced as a result of social SR (need of
  status and prestige, of self-actualization, also
  deviant needs)
• Mass-like behavior
• in normal conditions, a concerted behavior of
  social majority establishes spontaneous social
  order, and impact of individual choice is low
  regular dynamics, periods of stability
• in critical conditions, social order may turn
  to social chaos, and impact of individual choice
  increases greatly catastrophe dynamics, e.g.
  in periods of revolutions.

13
Social Groups

• SR process is accomplished within and between key
  social groups, structured through group-specific
  social memory

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Basic Structural / Functional Model (SFM)
Collector of wastes of society
Reproduction
Recreation
Pool of natural resourcesof society
Production
Social system
Flow of natural resources Functional block
(each block acts as social institution) Flow of
internal resources (individuals / artificial
res.) Flow of wastes Structural block
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SFM Interpretation Socio-Demographic

• Socio-demographic interpretation describes flow
  of social individuals

from
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SFM Interpretation Socio-Economic

• Socio-economic interpretation describes flow of
  artificial resources

from
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Economic Growth a Generalized Model

?N1R(N,c1C)
Recreation Labor force (N)
Reproduction
Collector of losses / wastes of social system (X)
-
?1?
?2?
-?N2L(N,c2C,Y)

N
-?K2?(K,Y)
CY-I
Pool of natural resources (F)
YP(N,K,F)
-?F
Production Artificial resources (K)
?K1I
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Social Kinetics a Basic Model
PP
A
W
F
P
N
PR
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Thermodynamics of Society
Natural environment
Social system
SR
N
PN
WN
SN
E
X
P
F
WP
SK
SD
WK
PK
K
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Implications of SFM

• Model derived has two interpretations
• socio-demographic (flows of social individuals)
• socio-economic (flows of artificial environment
  elements)
• Re-consideration of existing models (e.g.
  economic growth) and introduction of new models
  (e.g. social kinetics) in social sciences
• Applicable for design of artificial societies
  (e.g. NASA lunar plant) and special applications
  (Noahs Arc project)

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Implications of Social Evolution

• Multiple social SR systems with evolving social
  memory fit criteria of Darwinistic evolution
  (Eigen, Wankler, 1973)
• metabolism (exchange with outer environment)
• heredity (translation of memory during SR
  process)
• mutability (variations in social memory)
• required, not listed deficit of critical
  resource
• Mechanisms of social competition
• Olympic games (cooperative conflict)
• war conflicts (destructive conflict)

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Marriage of Traditions?

• A possible marriage between
• a traditional approach to social
  self-reproduction (as treated e.g. by Marx or by
  Keynes) reproduction of a quantity and variety
  of society physical components (individuals and
  their artificial environment)
• Luhmanns approach to a society as reproduced
  communications though not precisely in
  Luhmannian sense reproduction, utilization and
  evolution of social memory (realized through
  social communication)