Diagram 8.1: Entity Abstraction Diagram

entities

In this high level object abstraction of the model three types of real world physical entities are recognized; Things, Organizations, and Persons (Kenneth Boulding’s "TOP" saga).

things

things are all real world physical objects except people.  They can be thought of as two types; naturally occurring and human artifacts. 

Everything, including every duplicate, is contained in the set of things.  When a new thing is created, it is added to the set of things.  When a new thing is destroyed or used up, it is removed from the set of things.

The creation and removal of things is the point at which physical models of the real world interface to the structure of the theory of society and to the simulations within this structure.

organizations

organizations consist of both formal and informal organizations.  An organization is defined as any relationship of entities, which includes two or more entities.  The organization literature and the common vernacular typically identify informal organizations as networks.  The concept here goes beyond that usage.  For example, a mob would typically not be considered an organization, but here I would do so.  Organizations can be very long or very short lived. 

Every organization is individually represented in the set of organizations.  When a new organization is created it is added to the set of organizations.  When an organization is ended it is removed from the set of organizations.  If the structure of an organization changes, then the entry in the entity relation structure object is changed.

persons

persons are, of course, individual members of the species Homo sapiens.  When a person is born, he or she is added to the set of persons.  When a person dies, he or she is removed from the set of persons. 

person mimeme structure

During the life of an individual he or she will acquire (and perhaps lose) mimemes.  The person mimeme structure object is a list of all mimemes that a person possesses.

I will provide an explicit definition of mimemes in the Chapter on Mimetics.

entity relation structure or entity meme structure

The entity relation structure can more accurately be called the entity meme structure.  This structure contains a list of all relations between entities and the memes that comprise an organization.  These structures include formal and informal organizations, all networks, and all relations even if they are only very temporary.  The whole of society is an organization with an entity relation structure that includes everything.

I will provide an explicit definition of memes in the Chapter on Memetics.

ç  Prior Page of Text     Next Page of Text è
(C) 2005-2014 Wayne M. Angel.  All rights reserved.