Mini Review Creative Commons, CC-BY
Society as a Nascent Living Object
*Corresponding author: Martin Vlcek, Functionality, Non-Profit Research Group, Prague, Czech Republic.
Received: March 22, 2024; Published: May 28, 2024
DOI: 10.34297/AJBSR.2024.22.003000
Introduction
The starting point of the presented work is the assumption that human society is a nascent living object. It is built on the building blocks that are people. The intermediate stage in the organization of these elements is the production unit - an enterprise, whose analogy in already existing living systems is, for example, the cell in animals.
The aim of the work is to verify this assumption using the model. A certain problem is that there is no general definition of life and its regulatory mechanisms. Subconscious - vegetative regulation is relatively best understood in humans. This regulation of production units corresponds to the autonomic nervous system in animals, and the aim of this work is to document its occurrence in society as well.
Model
The presented text documents this regulatory structure in the economy based on the results of a model built on data from the American stock market. Over approximately four hundred time series of stock values and their derivatives, the model searches for a solution to the question - are the corresponding companies regulated similarly to other production units in living systems? These are several million values that represent the daily activity of companies, more precisely the values of their shares.
Production Units
The first level of organization of any living system is production units (PUs). They produce everything the elements need for their regeneration, and much more. This production is based on a more or less sophisticated connection of elements and their connection is evaluated by PU.
In the case of human society, these PUs are economic and other enterprises, in the case of animals, for example, they are cells. Valuation (AV) in humans is money, in cells its nature is unknown.
Elements
What is not covered in this post are the live system elements. Solving their satisfaction, or more precisely their dissatisfaction, is the purpose of this system's existence. Elements are always living objects - in society they are humans, in animals and e.g. plants it is water.
In the case of water, it is assumed that its complexity corresponds to a living object and is at least as complex as another living object - a person. But at a level that is still unrecognized.
Living Systems
The work of the model was based on a kind of reasoning "per analogiam", but two-way. The point was that incomplete information was available on the two systems. One is a system that is alive by definition - a person and the related knowledge of the functioning of his regulatory structure. But only to the cellular level. The functioning of the cornerstone - water - is almost unknown.
The situation in society is the opposite. There, the functioning is known from the person to the enterprise level and to some extent to the level of the entire society, but not from the perspective of a living system. Knowledge is thus from the point of view of an element and the system is perceived as a "caring superstructure". In the case of animals, for example, the system is perceived from the highest level, and lower levels are taken only as its explanation, only as "technical security".
However, if according to the assignment it is to be one and the same principle of a living system, even above other elements, the definition, logic, meaning and causal relationships must be the same.
So a priori: The system is always for fulfilling the needs of the elements. And human society is thus an organization for man. And the living system in e.g. animals is there to fulfill needs: water!
Dissatisfaction of Production Units
Dissatisfaction with PU is caused similarly to elements by many reasons. From the point of view of a living system, it is about being able to identify this complex dissatisfaction. This can be achieved in different ways and the system will also be successful in different ways. The part of the system that deals with PU dissatisfaction in the company is the banking system, or the central bank with its monetary policy. In animals, it is the autonomic nervous system. This is, however, pre-empted and the result of the presented work is stated.
One summary of many factors into dissatisfaction is, for example, the migration trend of PU. It is a matter of how interested the PU in the company is in investing in real estate, in other words, what is its tendency to leave everything. A close criterion is also the rate of profit that the PU achieves.
It is likely that even in animals the dissatisfaction of the PU is defined analogously, namely through the balance of the corresponding AVs.
Two Levels of Resolution of PU Dissatisfaction
In both discussed systems - as far as the knowledge of the author and the results of the model go - the solution to PU dissatisfaction is two-level. First, a global, non-specific part is activated based on dissatisfaction. Within it, there is branching, which determines whether, as a result of its measures, the regulatory system will reduce or increase the amount of AV in the system and by what means [1].
It's always about solving the stability and balance of AV movement around the system. For branching, dissatisfaction no longer plays a role, but other criteria that reflect the state of the system. E.g. availability of AV - this is determined based on the activity of elements in the area of acquisition of residual values. It is also about the overall availability of energy and food in the system.
In light of this branching, the second level of management then follows. This is already specific and reflects the characteristics of typical PU groupings as management objects.
Banking System
Although, according to economic theory, the goal of monetary policy is monetary stability, modelling works show that this stability is only a derived concept. That is why some central banks also try to affect other indicators - e.g. unemployment, economic growth, etc. This is an example of a regulatory dilemma, when it comes to how comprehensively PU dissatisfaction is defined and monitored. The model works with the migration trend, more precisely with the PU's willingness to invest in real estate. This criterion has proven itself both in model works monitoring element dissatisfaction and in the discussed case of PU dissatisfaction.
So one thing is the reaction of the central bank - its awakening. This happens when - as the model shows - PU dissatisfaction reaches a certain level. Considering the above, this is primarily a consequence of the suboptimal distribution of the amount and flow of money.
In the next phase, the central bank decides how to solve this problem, and the model here shows branching. On the one hand, these are PU activities connected in some way to the activity of the system boundary. And it is primarily the area of the exchange rate. However, this is not an internal boundary, i.e. between production and regenerating elements.
The second branch is then aimed at the redistribution of money between PUs within the system.
Each of the alternatives then continues based not on the general dissatisfaction of the PU, but on other partial properties of the system. It is about the reaction of commercial banks and the specifics of lending.
Autonomic Nervous System
The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is a control system in the animal kingdom whose task is to regulate PU. More precisely, it is a solution to the dissatisfaction of the cells.
The entire living system otherwise has two basic levels of regulation - subconscious regulation of PU through the ANS, and conscious regulation of elements through the Central Nervous System (CNS). The last one will not be discussed in this post.
The first level of resolution of PU dissatisfaction in the case of the ANS is realized in the Nucleus Tractus Solitarius (NTS) in the medulla oblongata, which thus corresponds to the central bank. Since AV has not yet been identified in animals, it is difficult to talk about all the events derived from it. First of all, the nature of the sensor that identifies PU dissatisfaction is not known. Perhaps the Area Postrema plays this role here, identifying the bad condition of the blood or lymphatic fluid. It should be noted that everything that takes place in the blood only affects the PU, that is, the cells. The elements themselves, i.e. water molecules in all their richness and complexity, are regenerated elsewhere and from other sources and by a different mechanism. That is, in the cerebrospinal fluid.
In addition, however, there are already well-known specific sensors that monitor the content of oxygen, C02, etc. These are active in the second phase of NTS work - i.e. after it has been activated. This is followed by branching, which ultimately results in the activation of the sympathetic or parasympathetic. The first branch, activating the sympathetic, is generally associated with PU activation around the boundary of the system. However, since the nature of AV is unknown, the nature of its movement due to sympathetic activation is also unknown. As in the case of the central bank, there is a change in the amount of AV in circulation.
The second branch of activation is associated with internal AV flow remodelling and is called parasympathetic. In the final level of dissatisfaction resolution—after branching has occurred—the AV moves to go to places of maximum tension. That is, where it is most needed.
It is the activities of the smooth muscles leading to the creation of the corresponding conditions in the corresponding places. These sites identify the system by activities in the spinal cord that are a manifestation of CNS activity.
Conclusion
Assuming that there is a parallel enterprise - cell and human - water, a parallel management structure for PU is also found. Without the possibility of examining the so far unverifiable, i.e. AV in animals, all analogues are found: monetary policy - ANS activity; central bank - NTS; activation of both through PU dissatisfaction; branching according to other parameters around the PU.
As a result of branching, activity continues in the commercial banks or in the sympathetic and parasympathetic, i.e. decreasing AV in the system or increasing it. And, as a result, the stabilization of its value as it corresponds to the dissatisfaction of the PU.
In other words, even if the general definition of life is not known, based on the per analogism method, the author dares to claim that it is possible to consider the existence of life in society - at least at the level around PU - as (almost) proven.
References
- Martin Vlček (2018) Dark Matter in Our Ordinary Life, Amazon Fulfillment, Wroclaw.