The production of probabilistic entropy in structure/action contingency relations

Abstract

Luhmann (1984) defined society as a communication system which is structurally coupled to, but not an aggregate of, human action systems. The communication system is then considered as self-organizing (“autopoietic”), as are human actors. Communication systems can be studied by using Shannon's (1948) mathematical theory of communication. The update of a network by action at one of the local nodes is then a well-known problem in artificial intelligence (Pearl, 1988). By combining these various theories, a general algorithm for probabilistic structure/action contingency can be derived. The consequences of this contingency for each system, its consequences for their further histories, and the stabilization on each side by counterbalancing mechanisms are discussed, in both mathematical and theoretical terms. An empirical example is elaborated. The emphasis on “self-referentiality” and “autopoiesis” in sociological theory enables us to use models from evolutionary biology for the analysis of social systems and their developments. Luhmann (1984, 1990), however, elaborated this empirical perspective only with qualitative reference to evolution theory.