Metasystem Transition Theory (MSTT), proposed by Valentin Turchin, describes how evolution occurs through the integration of initially separate systems into a higher “metasystem.” According to MSTT, systems undergo transitions to higher levels of complexity and organization through a series of stages: 1. **Integration**: Initially, disparate subsystems start to interact and integrate, forming a more cohesive whole. 1. **Human Body:** In biological evolution, simple cells integrated to form more complex multicellular organisms. 2. **Civilization:** In the early stages of civilization, human societies consisted of small, nomadic bands that survived by hunting and gathering. These societies increasingly integrated into larger networks, often driven by conquest, where dominant groups subdued others and imposed tribute systems. 2. **Coordination**: As integration progresses, the emerging system develops mechanisms to coordinate the interactions and functions of its subsystems. 1. **Human Body:** As multicellular organisms evolved, different types of cells began to specialize and perform specific functions (e.g., muscle cells, nerve cells). The nervous system started to coordinate these specialized cells, ensuring they worked together efficiently to maintain the organism’s overall health and functionality. 2. **Civilization:** As these networks grew, the need for coordination increased. The agricultural surplus and the ability to accumulate resources enabled by grain production facilitated higher levels of specialization. This, in turn, led to the emergence of a ruling class that coordinated economic and social activities. 3. **Control**: The system evolves control mechanisms to regulate the behavior of its subsystems. These mechanisms include feedback loops, decision-making processes, and adaptive strategies that ensure the system can respond effectively to internal and external changes. 1. **Human Body:** The nervous systems provides control mechanisms for the body by processing sensory information, making decisions, and regulating bodily functions through feedback loops involving hormones and neural signals. 2. **Civilization:** With larger and more complex societies, formal systems of control became essential. The ruling elites established laws and policies to regulate land use, manage agricultural production, and collect taxes or tributes. The invention of writing was pivotal in this phase, facilitating administrative control, enhancing communication, and ensuring that governance structures could cope with large populations and complex economic activities. 4. **Emergence of Higher-Level Functions**: With effective control and coordination, the system can develop higher-level functions that are not possible in isolated subsystems. These emergent properties enable the system to tackle more complex tasks and adapt to more diverse environments. 1. **Human Body:** Through the human nervous system, higher-level functions such as conscious thought, language, and sophisticated motor skills emerged. 2. **Civilization:** The new governance and economic structures, along with the development of writing, enabled advancements in crafts, arts, sciences, and religions. For example, writing supported new forms of distributed cognition, contributing to the Axial Age, when ideological systems such as Christianity, Buddhism, and Greek philosophy were established. 5. **Stabilization and Adaptation**: The new metasystem stabilizes and fine-tunes its control mechanisms, ensuring efficient functioning and continued adaptation to changing conditions. 1. **Human Body:** The body continuously stabilizes and adapts through processes like homeostasis, where it maintains internal balance despite external changes. 2. **Civilization:** Through these new governance and economic systems, civilizations responded with varying levels of success to environmental changes and social challenges. ## Information-Energy Metasystems Model In [Information-energy metasystem model](www.emeraldinsight.com/0368-492X.htm), Candell Last proposes that human civilization has generally stabilized around 3 control systems: band/tribes, chiefdoms/kingdoms, and nation-states. The coordination pressures of industrialized global society have given rise to the internet and solar power, which create the conditions for a new metasystem to emerge. ![[Human metasystem control hierarchy.png]] > *"Human metasystems appear to be phenomena intimately dependent on information mediums, energy systems, and the synergistic feedback processes they can maintain; Information mediums tend to act as the functional tool for the organization of control system resources, capital, and people, and energy systems tend to act as structural stabilizers of control system organization."* [Information-energy metasystem model](www.emeraldinsight.com/0368-492X.htm) ## Dive Deeper ### Topic relates to: - [[Complex Systems]] - [[Control Information Theory]] - [[Technological Evolution]] ### Further reading: - [Metasystem Transition Theory](http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/MSTT.html) - [Information-energy metasystem model](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283637923_Information-energy_metasystem_model) - [Human Metasystem Transition (HMST) Theory](https://jetpress.org/v25.1/last.htm)