The Emergence of Societal Information

Robert Artigiani

Evolution, according to the 'punctuated equilibrium' model, is a discontinuous process by which qualitatively new structures 'emerge'. New structures emerge when their component parts interact in ways that transform both themselves and their shared environments, which transformations create information about systemic wholes. Created information is stored when interactions are both captured and capturing, components become mutually interdependent, and structures self-organize. The scale on which selection occurs and the kinds of attributes selected then change. Systems are selected 'environmentally' by the external world, while component behaviors are selected by criteria internal to the system. Thus, although self-organized systems emerge bottom-up, once in existence they change the attributes of their components by exercising authority top-down.

If human societies are systems, their self-organization may not be explainable by appeal to intentionally acting, conscious individuals. Since cause and effect 'emerge' together, intentionality and consciousness may be new attributes people display as members of societies. Functions of societal self-organization, intentionality and consciousness may be artifacts derived from individual experiences of system-level feedback to local initiatives. System-level feedback communicates information about the criteria for social selection through rewards and punishments. System-level information describes social relations, cannot be reduced to traits in separate individuals, and is stored in symbols outside human bodies. Symbols permit individuals to anticipate rewards and punishments, which serendipitously captures biological processes and puts them to qualitatively new uses by generating consciousness and intentionality. This presentation proposes to analyze origin myths from several cultures, searching for evidence that symmetry-breaking societies emerged when civilizations self-organized even if people did not consciously intend to create them. It will also examine the possibility that, in the competition between civilizations, environmental selection favors societies which select for conscious, autonomous individuals.