cloquewerk's thought bank

Pursuant to a debate over societal progress and advancement last night, I
came across this quote while reading Gregory Bateson's Steps to an
Ecology of Mind:

[Cyberneticist] Ashby has pointed out in rigorous terms that the
steady state and continued existence of complex interactive systems depend
upon preventing the maximization of any variable, and that any continued
increase in any variable will inevitably result in, and be limited by,
irreversible changes in the system.

Specifically with regards to steady-state systems, Bateson discusses the
Balinese society as studied by him and Margaret Mead in the 30s:

Neither the individual nor the village is concerned to maximize
any simple variable. Rather they would seem to be concerned to maximize
something which we may call stability, using this term perhaps in a highly
metaphorical way. . . . In sum it seems that the Balinese extend to human
relationships attitudes based upon bodily balance, and that they generalize
the idea that motion is essential to balance. This last point gives us, I
believe, a partial answer to the question of why the society not only
continues to function but functions rapidly and busily, continually
undertaking ceremonial and artistic tasks which are not economically or
competitively determined. This steady state is maintained by continual
nonprogressive change.