ABSTRACT
In Chapter 7 we described a number of characteristics of psychosocial structures that appear to be analogous to organizational forms and dynamic processes typically found in certain preorganismic physical systems. Fluidity and solidity were two such characteristics. In this chapter we explore the dynamic basis for some of these analogies in greater detail. We shall be particularly interested in how the organizational form of a structure affects its stability, flexibility, and efficiency. As we shall see, some of these analogies may ultimately turn out to be not merely figuratively true, but literally true, as well. Our basic approach here is derived from certain simple but fundamental and quite general concepts of classical thermodynamics.
