I’m pleased to share the second paper in my Social Systems Theory (SST) series which describes the enhanced morphogenetic cycle as the latest expression of an evolutionary process.
In this paper, I explore a simple but far-reaching idea:
👉 The enhanced morphogenetic cycle is not unique to human society
👉 It is the latest stage in a much longer evolutionary process
Across the natural world, systems persist by regulating the conditions that support or undermine their viability. From early chemical organisation, through living systems, to human societies, increasingly complex forms of organisation have emerged that improve this capacity.
This paper shows how:
🔶 Material constraints define what must be satisfied for systems to persist
🔶 Structural constraints define what systems can and cannot do
🔶 Cultural constraints define what agents should and should not do
As systems evolve, new capabilities emerge:
🔶 metabolism and replication
🔶 nervous systems and learning
🔶 symbolic communication and reflexive agency
In human societies, these developments culminate in the enhanced morphogenetic cycle, where agents actively reproduce or transform the conditions that shape their behaviour.
The paper also introduces:
🔶 a general framework of constraint regulation
🔶 the role of satisfiers and contra-satisfiers as causal inputs
🔶 a proposed evo-socio correspondence between organisms and societies
The aim is to place social theory on a broader foundation by linking it to general principles governing the emergence and persistence of organised systems.
📄 The full paper is available here:
🔗 On my website: https://rational-understanding.com/sst#02
🔗 On Academia.edu: https://www.academia.edu/165290275/The_Evolutionary_Foundations_of_the_Enhanced_Morphogenetic_Cycle_Constraint_Regulation_and_the_Emergence_of_Reflexive_Agency
#SystemsThinking #SocialTheory #ComplexSystems #Morphogenesis #InterdisciplinaryResearch
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