Evolution paper; group size

[From Bill Powers (961004.1440 MDT)]

For all those who have requested a copy of my paper on the evolution of
purpose, I've asked Cliff Joslyn if it's available on WWW (Principia
Cybernetica), but haven't heard from him yet (not sure I have his current
address). My ASCII copy doesn't have last-minute changes or complete
references, and there is one figure I can't send in text. Mary and I will be
observing Ed Ford and Tom Bourbon introducing Ed's program to a lot of Dine
at the Lukachukai School on the Big Res, Sunday. When we get back I'll
enquire further.

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Bill Benzon (961004)--

What interests me is the possibility that, once some size
threshold is reached, people can no longer achieve their familiar purposes
in familiar ways.

There's a theoretical explanation for this phenomenon that puts some strong
backing behind your idea. See my paper "CT Psychology and Social
Organizations" in _Living Control Systems II_. The idea is that no more than
N control systems can control independently in an environment having N
degrees of freedom. Of course the degrees of freedom in question must be the
most important ones, not things like how many ways cars can be parked in a
given lot. As soon as you have more than N people trying to control
simultaneously, conflict has to arise. This conflict is probably an
important factor in groups breaking up when they reach some particular size.

Best,

Bill P.

BBenzon

What interests me is the possibility that, once some size
threshold is reached, people can no longer achieve their familiar purposes
in familiar ways.

BPowers

There's a theoretical explanation for this phenomenon that puts some strong
backing behind your idea. See my paper "CT Psychology and Social
Organizations" in _Living Control Systems II_. The idea is that no more than
N control systems can control independently in an environment having N
degrees of freedom. Of course the degrees of freedom in question must be the
most important ones, not things like how many ways cars can be parked in a
given lot. As soon as you have more than N people trying to control
simultaneously, conflict has to arise. This conflict is probably an
important factor in groups breaking up when they reach some particular size.

That's the kind of explanation that appeals to me. Now figuring out how
one estimates degrees of freedom in a social group, I'm completely
mystified. Good thing this particular problem isn't high on my own agenda.
Someone else can take it on.

···

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