SPECULARITY
Charles François (2004). SPECULARITY, International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(2): 3132.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3132 ▶ |
| Object type | Human sciences |
- “A mode of complex organization (verified in anthropo-social systems) whose dynamics consists of a tangle of internal modelizations” (J.L. VULLIERME, 1990, p.147).
VULLIERME states: “Complexification has become an imperative in social sciences, as shown by the ”specular theories“.
- “These theories start from the hypothesis that all anthropo-social organizations are based on the ”specular interaction“ of their members, i.e., a crossed cognitive interaction (see: ”Cognitive rings“), such as any agent refers to himself only through reference to the way that others agents refer themselves to him” (p.148).
Thus the behavior of all agents is derived from these cross-references.
It seems moreover that:
1. this way to social complexity exists also in animal societies, as shown for example by Th. SEELEY's studies on honeybees (1989), and the one of SUSSMAN on the social phase of Dictyostelium discoideum (1964).
2. there exits also an indirect way of reciprocal social conditioning, by observation of the material results of the activities of other members even if these are absent, or even if they already disappeared (see stigmergy).