The state of a civilization

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to reveal the mechanism underlying many inexplicable phenomena observed in social organizations and human history by using the general systemic yoyo model.

Design/methodology/approach

Such traditional tools as laboratory experiments, calculus‐based methods, quantitative reasoning of microeconomics, and set‐theoretical logic are collectively employed to present a brand new method for the study of many unsettled problems in the research of civilizations.

Findings

Among a whole series of open problems, novel explanations are provided for important questions like: how do civilizations or cultures form? Why did Western democracy not originate in Eastern Asian or other parts of the world? Why does each blown‐up that it bridges a transition between organizational expansion and contraction represents a weakest link in the evolution of a social entity? Why are there nation states within a civilization? Why is the Western civilization having multiple centers or core states, while the Sinic civilization has one core state and the Islamic civilization does not seem to have any core states? How can policy makers separate civilizations from each other?

Originality/value

This work presents how systems science in general and the systemic yoyo model in particular can bring forward tangible results in social science with solid scientific merits. Owing to the novelty of reasoning and sound conclusions derived on solid scientific foundations, it is expected that this work will produce such results that can be truly useful for policy makers at national and international levels.

Citation

Lin, Y. and Forrest, B. (2010), "The state of a civilization", Kybernetes, Vol. 39 No. 2, pp. 343-356. https://doi.org/10.1108/03684921011021516