Quantum Anthropology (Ukázka, strana 99)

is a basic characteristic that enables us to distinguish man, culture, or society as systems with some sort of continuity in time.

Without sufficient coherence, no entity could be distinguished and analyzed. But, when going into a lower, more specific level of analysis of processes with prevailing homogeneous inner dynamics, we can also find other realms where coherence occurs.

Beginning with the basic forces maintaining any culture, coherence secures the maintenance of existing rules, norms, standards, customs, symbols, social scripts, ceremonies, and rituals in the cultural systems. The traditions in cultural systems exist because of homogeneous agency of coherence. Without any coherence, no traditions or other forms of repeated behaviors could be distinguished in cultures. Also, the use of a shared language that is understandable to most of members of an ethnic group is related to the agency of coherence in terms of the shared use of a coherent symbolic system of signs.

Homeostasis is very similar category to coherence, but it is much more related to the state of relative equilibrium in the inner environment of system. Homeostasis observed in human circulatory system is a typical example. In a similar vein, we may analyze the internal processes in towns and cities, which is an important issue within urban anthropology. Such processes may include the food supply for inhabitants, transport of people, or waste management. These processes of urban metabolism may or may not be in a relative equilibrium based on the operation of homogeneous inner dynamics with the character of homeostasis.

Recurrence frames the group of processes that share the feature of “something that is repeating”. We may imagine various forms of recurrences, such as recurrences of very similar historical events in different historical periods. Historians sometimes say “history always repeats itself”, and comparisons of historical events from different historical periods also support this thesis (e.g., Turchin, 2003). Also, religious practices such as rituals are repeated because of the homogeneous agency of recurrence.

In contrast, simplification means that some bigger system is decomposed into several lesser parts. Here, we can mention the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The unified republics of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics broke away between years 1989–1992, and became independent post-Soviet states. ( 98 )

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This dissolution inside the USSR is an example of a process that can be categorized as simplification.

Degeneration has not only the character of splitting, but is much more related with the aging of subsystems or its functions. Degeneration may include dissociation, but the movement towards the decomposition of a system is key. However, such decomposition is not rapid, but gradual. The decimation of aboriginal Tasmanians by colonial pressures between 1804 and 1847 is an example of a gradual process leading to the end of this ethnic group. Thanks to the colonial power from another territory, this native ethnic group started to degenerate until it finally disappeared. The case of aboriginal Tasmanians is a typical example of the unequal relationships between a colonial power and an indigenous people. But it is also a good example of the opposing agencies of homogeneous and heterogeneous dynamics.

Deceleration has the dimension of velocity. In contrast to degeneration, deceleration does not necessarily imply moving towards a final collapse. It only means that something decreases its speed and moves slower. As an example, we can imagine the deceleration of economics during stages of stagnation. Such a stage shows the temporal deceleration of sectoral growth, but it will start to accelerate again when the stage of expansion returns.

Kondratiev waves (Kondratiev, 1935) in economics show the dialectic between the opposing agencies of homogeneous and heterogeneous dynamical principles very well. Two opposing forces are always in the conflict, and the domination of homogeneous or heterogeneous dynamics is only temporal. After some period of the domination of homogeneous dynamics, heterogeneous dynamics begins to dominate again. So, economical development is suggested to be a constant process of dialectic clash, similarly to historical development as proposed by Yolles et al. (2008).

When turning our attention to processes with prevailing heterogeneous inner dynamics, in some cases, it is easy to merely switch the aforementioned examples. For example, it is simple to see the case of acceleration in the stage of the expansion of economics during Kondratiev waves as an example of prevailing heterogeneous inner dynamics. Furthermore, we can also return to the case of the decimation of aboriginal Tasmanians and analyze the example from the view of colonists. From this viewpoint, ( 99 )

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the decimation of the aboriginal ethnic group was forced by the heterogeneous inner dynamics underlying the behavior of colonists. Colonists were motivated to expand to another territory, and this is a typical example of expansion by the force of heterogeneous inner dynamics. The category of expansion generally implies a quantitative increase in size or an extension of existing system.

Undoubtedly, colonialism has much to do with intercultural processes. Acculturation is a process that has attracted the attention of anthropologists for many decades. During acculturation, one culture expands across its borders and changes another culture. This process may be accompanied by the transfer of ideas, technologies, customs, etc. It is apparent, then, that acculturation processes are potentiated by prevailing backwards heterogeneous inner dynamics. In contrast, the emergence of resistance groups within the population is a process of maintaining coherence. Members of resistance groups reject the acceptation of new cultural standards in attempt to preserve their culture of origin.

Again, the dialectic between opposing agencies of homogeneous and heterogeneous dynamics is apparent.

The process of unification can be demonstrated on the example of emergence of the European Union. European states have started to share the market, some legislation, and in part, governance. These changes are understood as to be unification, and they are in contrast to the process of separation. We used the case of the dissolution of the Soviet Union as an example of simplification that is a process with prevailing homogeneous inner dynamics. But, when we switch the perspective, we may also detect the processes of the emergence of instabilities in the same case. The particular separatist movements inside the former states of USSR were potentiated by the prevailing heterogeneous inner dynamics, and they can be considered to be a case of the emergence of instabilities in systems finally leading to the process of separation. This example also shows the interrelation between two consequent processes in social aggregates. First, the instabilities that emerged in the systems, and consequently, some of the states of the former USSR started with the separatist movements.

Generally, many processes of any kind of change are considered to be processes with prevailing heterogeneous inner dynam( 100 )

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