Synergy-here defined broadly as the combined (interdependent) effects produced by two or more parts, elements or individuals-is a ubiquitous phenomenon in nature and human societies alike. Although it plays a prominent part in most, if not all, of the scientific disciplines, its importance is not widely appreciated because it travels under many different aliases, including emergence, cooperativity, symbiosis, coevolution, symmetry, order, epistasis, mutualism, interdependencies, heterosis, phase transitions, systemic effects, even complexity and “dynamical attractors.” (A number of examples are provided to illustrate.) At the very least, the term “synergy” could be utilized as a pan-disciplinary lingua franca for the functional effects produced by cooperative phenomena of various kinds; a terminological shift would underscore the fact that the differently named phenomena studied by various disciplines are in fact variations on a common theme in the natural world. But more important, synergistic effects of various kinds have also played a major causal role in the evolutionary process; in particular, synergistic effects have provided the underlying functional basis for the evolution of complex systems, in nature and human societies alike. The so-called “synergism hypothesis” is here briefly described, and the accumulating evidence in support of this theory is summarized. Some methods for testing the theory are also discussed.
In this article various aspects of healthcare are discussed in terms of teleonics, which is a process-based systems framework developed by Jaros and Cloete (1987, 1991 and 1994). Various theoretical concepts of teleonics are introduced and discussed in relation to the nature of health and disease. Based on this discussion, some questions are raised that need to be answered in the context of redesigning current healthcare systems.
A theory of social communication is developed to explain the endogenous processes by which stable organization is achieved in social collectives. The theory shows how two orders of social relations, flux (the distribution of energy) and control (spatial and temporal constraints on behavior) activate the potential energy of the collective's members—their capacity for physical and social behavior—and directs the expenditure of this energy towards collective ends. The work is divided into two parts and begins inductively, in Part 1, with an empirical analysis using existing data from a longitudinal study of 46 social collectives. Sociometric measures of flux and control are developed and their relationship to stability (group survival) is investigated. Results from statistical analyses, including multivariate discriminant analysis, show that the interaction between the two relational orders is a strong predictor of stability, while measures of the collective's normative and structural organization and of the members' social characteristics have no predictive power. Building on these results, Part 2 draws on the concepts of energy and information from the natural sciences to show how the interaction between flux and control operates as an information processing system. The interaction between the two orders effects stability by gathering and communicating information about internal organization throughout the collective. The interaction informs (gives shape to) the members' expenditure of energy and results in stable, effective collective organization. The work concludes with a theoretical model that shows how different patterns of endogenous communication, different configurations of flux and control, produce various States of functional and dysfunctional organization.
An important segment of any society is its belief system, mythology, or cosmology. Generally, when the material aspects of a culture shift, the folklore adjusts to that shift, and a reasonable accommodation is made between beliefs and behaviors. This inquiry examines the dynamics which occur when a disjunction develops between an heretofore inviolate core belief and the attendant behaviors. Specifically, in the United States, among other cultures, the highly venerated icon of motherhood has become demonstrably distinct from the behaviors of mothers. The problem is then addressed: How would a society react or respond to the discrepancy between the imagery of a core pillar to their society's belief system and the behavior which is expected to be aligned with that imagery?
Schumpeter's (1939) distinction between changes in the form of the production function corresponding to innovation, and shifts along the production function corresponding to factor substitution, does not preclude that the underlying dynamics interact. In an evolutionarily complex system, such interactions are expected: they lead to non-linear terms in the model, and therefore to stabilization and self-organization in addition to selection and variation. Relatively simple simulations enable us to specify various concepts used in 'evolutionary economics' in terms of non-linear dynamics. While a technological trajectory can be considered as a stabilization in a (distributed) environment, a technological regime can be defined as a next-higher-order globalization in a hyper-space. A regime is able to restore its order despite local disturbances, for example by the political system. Technology policies may be effective at the level of the (sub-)systems if they provide the relevant agents with room for 'creative destruction' of the globalized hyper-systems. Implications for firm behaviour and innovation policies are elaborated.
Three groups of Iranian men (male cause, female cause, and control) were given the translated versions of Beck's Depression and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventories, together with questionnaires on social interaction and attitudes towards having children. The inventories and questionnaires were administered at a pre-diagnosis stage and six months (follow-up) into their medical treatment. Also, the spouses of the above men completed a questionnaire on their partner's dominance in the household at both the above stages. The results showed significant anxiety for the two clinical groups at both the initial and follow-up stages. The depression scores tended to increase significantly for the male infertile group at the follow-up stage. There was also a clear lack of social interest and loss of control at the household level for the latter group. The implications of these findings are discussed.
The vigor of religious feelings, and the fact that most, if not all, cultures include a system of spiritual belief, suggest that humans have an innate predisposition towards religiousness. There are several possible adaptive advantages that may help explain such a disposition; religions promote cooperative relations, they induce people to obey sensible rules, and they soothe the minds of their followers. These advantages could very well have directed evolution towards the design of a spiritually inclined brain. Accepting that God is inside our heads, the important question is not if he exists, but rather: What can he do for us? As a rule of thumb humans are advised to conform to their inborn tendencies, implying that we ought to believe in spirits. Religiousness offers both direct rewards, for example the joy associated with communicating with a god, as well as indirect benefits such as those suggested above.
Explaining altruism is a central theme of sociobiology, and much interest has centred on evolutionary models of cooperation based on the Prisoner's Dilemma. Furthermore, the existence of this theoretical paradigm has rekindled interest in evolutionary ethics, a field devoted to the implications of evolutionary theory for ethical and moral debates. A recent exchange of articles in the ecological literature was stimulated by a reassessment of evolutionary models of cooperation, in which the authors identified a seeming contradiction between normative ethical statements by prominent evolutionists and the results of the models they are famous for promoting. Although their logic is insightful and intuitively compelling, here I critique their conclusions, arguing that the normative statements considered are not necessarily inconsistent or misguided. Further, I suggest that such discussions of human altruism would benefit from a more serious consideration of the role of group selection, a concept currently undergoing a resurgence of credibility in the evolutionary literature. A deeper understanding of selective influences on human social behavior at all possible levels is vital if evolutionary theory is to responsibly and profitably engage social policy.
This study is an analysis of the roots of human savagery, dealing with the fundamental questions of why the majority of violence is perpetrated by men, whether this is a matter of nature or nurture and whether anything can be done about it. The book provides some surprising answers, based on comparison of male violence among human and among man's closest relatives, the great apes. In three or four species, male violence is common, but the form of violence differs: male orangutangs tend to rape, male chimps wage war and male gorillas kill the offspring of other males. Only in the fourth species, the little-known bonobo, are males (as well as females) non-violent - females are co-dominant, there is no observable aggression between groups, and there is a high level and diversity of sexual activity. The findings are based on 30 years of field research on the behaviour and ecology of chimpanzees and other mammals in Africa.
The plots in three of Shakespeare's plays are launched by the same device: the protagonist mistakenly believes that his beloved has betrayed him. One of these plays is a comedy, Much Ado About Nothing, one a tragedy, Othello, and one a romance, The Winter's Tale. Shakespeare thus considered this one problematic situation, which has to do with a male difficulty in accepting one's beloved as both a sexual and a nurturing person, at three times in his life and produced different kinds of plays. By looking at his career through modern studies of adult development, we can see that the shift from one genre to another follows the reorganization of Shakespeare's psyche. The ultimate fruit of that development is Shakespeare's final play, The Tempest, whose protagonist, Prospero, has managed to integrate those aspects of himself which had been in conflict in earlier plays. If we then place Shakespeare's career in a broader psycho-historical context we can see how he helped make the modern nuclear family psychologically possible.
The teleonic approach to the study of complex living systems was first proposed by Járos and Cloete (1987) and has been further elaborated by them and their co-workers (Járos & Cloete, 1993, 1994; Dostal & Járos. 1994a, 1994b; Edwards & Járos, 1994a, 1994b, 1994c, 1995; Dodds & Járos, 1994; Pastoll & Járos, 1994). In this paper, teleonics is introduced in terms of the process-based systems premises previously highlighted by the authors (Edwards & Járos, 1994c, 1995). A conceptual map for the application of teleonics ideas will then be outlined.
