ABSTRACT
Entropy increases associated with the evolution of emergent structure take place on two planes, one contingent and one principled. A contingent entropy burst, a sudden increase in systemic confusion that precedes evolutionary growth, is always associated with the transition to a higher level of organization. The effects of morals and religions, moreover, typify the role of bricolage in evolution, for they use the vertebrate capacity for mimicry in new ways. Traditional linear causality implies symbolic language made possible the evolution of social complexity. Integrating morals into myths and religions, collectively shared cognitive maps make social structures “intentional.” The dominant position in the social hierarchy of the city victorious was matched by the place of its triumphant god in the heavenly pantheon. Systemic factors were at hand to establish new boundary conditions and institutionalize social structures with division of labor, hierarchy, and increased interdependence Column and line are highly improbable states, and the presence of nonequilibrium conditions can account for them.
