Layer-multiplicity as a community order-parameter

TL;DR

This paper introduces a model linking community complexity to a small set of broken symmetries and proposes that task-layer multiplicity can serve as an order-parameter for community health, with potential applications in policy and social management.

Contribution

It presents a novel model connecting broken symmetries to community complexity and suggests empirical methods for measuring task-layer multiplicity as a community health indicator.

Findings

Behaviorally-diverse communities have a characteristic task layer-multiplicity of about 4.25.

The model predicts that community complexity relates to a small set of symmetry-breaking layers.

Empirical data collection methods like experience-sampling are suggested for future research.

Abstract

A small number of (perhaps only 6) broken-symmetries, marked by the edges of a hierarchical series of physical {\em subsystem-types}, underlie the delicate correlation-based complexity of life on our planet's surface. Order-parameters associated with these broken symmetries might in the future help us broaden our definitions of community health. For instance we show that a model of metazoan attention-focus, on correlation-layers that look in/out from the 3 boundaries of skin, family & culture, predicts that behaviorally-diverse communities require a characteristic task layer-multiplicity {\em per individual} of only about $4 \frac14$ of the six correlation layers that comprise that community. The model may facilitate explorations of task-layer diversity, go beyond GDP & body count in quantifying the impact of policy-changes & disasters, and help manage electronic idea-streams in ways that strengthen community networks. Empirical methods for acquiring task-layer multiplicity data are in their infancy, although experience-sampling via cell-phone button-clicks might be one place to start.