On the Entropy of Social Systems: A Revision of the Concepts of Entropy and Energy in the Social Context

Mavrofides, Thomas; Kameas, Achilles; Papageorgiou, Dimitris; Los, Antonios

doi:10.1002/sres.1084

Cited by 30 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…In his late work, he put much emphasis on the differentia specifica of information processing and communication at the level of social systems. He proposed alternative definitions for a large number of concepts (see also Mavrofides et al, 2011). These revisions have not made his work an easy read.…”

Section: Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rewriting Theory: From Autopoiesis to Communication

Vanderstraeten

2012

Syst. Res.

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This paper analyzes the causes and motives for the transition to a communication‐based theory of social systems in the late work of Niklas Luhmann. In the first part of this paper, I present a brief sketch of advances in the field of cybernetics and systems research. I give special attention to some basic concepts introduced by Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela: autopoiesis, organizational closure and enaction. In the second part, I discuss how these ideas may contribute to a ‘conceptual revolution’ in the social and behavioral sciences. In the late work of Niklas Luhmann, attempts to incorporate the idea of autopoiesis in his own social theory resulted in the preference for a communication‐based, instead of an action‐based, theory of social systems. Moreover, given the current transition to the information age or the knowledge society, it can also be argued that structural changes in society nowadays favor the rise of a communication‐based theory of social systems. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rewriting Theory: From Autopoiesis to Communication

Vanderstraeten

2012

Syst. Res.

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“…The importance of considering the entropy trace of the Schelling model is stated in the work of 40 where the authors argue that the transformations of the grid states could be caused by ’entropic’ effects and since those results presented are based upon ratios of agent population features it leaves the task of computing the entropy trace as a worthy pursuit to complete. From a more general perspective for systems theory 41 , poses the question of “does the second law of thermodynamics apply to social systems or not?” and the Schelling model can help in answering this question if the model captures more key variables. In 42 a description can be found for the scope of using entropy in general for sociological modeling.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incorporating a monetary variable into the Schelling model addresses the issue of a decreasing entropy trace

Mantzaris

2020

Sci Rep

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The Schelling model of segregation has been shown to have a simulation trace which decreases the entropy of its states as the aggregate number of residential agents surrounded by a threshold of equally labeled agents increases. This introduces a paradox which goes against the second law of thermodynamics that states how entropy must increase. In the efforts to bring principles of physics into the modeling of sociological phenomena this must be addressed. A modification of the model is introduced where a monetary variable is provided to the residential agents (sampled from reported income data), and a dynamic which acts upon this variable when an agent changes its location on the grid. The entropy of the simulation over the iterations is estimated in terms of the aggregate residential homogeneity and the aggregate income homogeneity. The dynamic on the monetary variable shows that it can increase the entropy of the states over the simulation. The path of the traces with both variables in the results show that the shape of the region of entropy is followed supporting that the decrease of entropy due to the residential clustering has a parallel and independent effect increasing the entropy via the monetary variable.

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“…It is necessary at this point to introduce entropy, a term borrowed from thermodynamics: P5: Entropy refers to a measure of the predictability of systems. If one is able to predict the next state of a system, entropy is considered to be low and the system is considered to be organized (Mavrofides et al, 2011).…”

Section: P4mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Entropy has also been interpreted as lack of available energy for the system, which can lead to either disintegration or isolation (Mavrofides et al, 2011), but these effects can also be compatible with an informational approach (reducing the information received by the system narrows its horizon of meaning, resulting in isolation/disintegration).…”

Section: P4mentioning

confidence: 99%

Religions as Complex Systems: Features, Purpose and Structure

Coltea¹

2020

ESJ

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Complexity is a paradigm whose relevance is currently expanding beyond the domain of ‘hard’ sciences. Humanities and social sciences could greatly benefit from using it as an antidote to reductionism, and religious studies in particular is a field in great need of defragmentation and a broader theoretical perspective. This paper’s ambitious aim is to propose such a perspective while frequently crossing interdisciplinary borders and, by drawing inspiration from and criticizing the work of evolutionary anthropologist Richard Sosis, to offer an integrative analytical framework for the study of religions as allopoietic complex adaptive systems. Firstly, this paper describes the core features of complex systems (non-linear, autopoietic/allopoietic, entropy reducing, open, adaptive, emergent). Secondly, it identifies religions as abstract complex systems and their basic components as signal/noise distinctions of informational inputs from the environment. More importantly, it posits that they fulfill an entropy reducing function in psychic systems by the emergence of meaning. Lastly, it builds a model of religious systems and identifies six building blocks: rituals, myths, taboos, supernatural agents, authority and afterlife beliefs, following Luhmann in claiming that individuals are not part of the system, but of the environment. Consequently, the cooperative behavior of individuals to form social structures cannot constitute the ultimate output of the system, but only a behavioral effect of the actual one, meaning.

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On the Entropy of Social Systems: A Revision of the Concepts of Entropy and Energy in the Social Context

Cited by 30 publications

References 23 publications

Rewriting Theory: From Autopoiesis to Communication

Rewriting Theory: From Autopoiesis to Communication

Incorporating a monetary variable into the Schelling model addresses the issue of a decreasing entropy trace

Religions as Complex Systems: Features, Purpose and Structure

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