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Postulate I.
If there exists a particular state of a human
relation system that, macroscopically, is determined completely by the
internal relation energy E, the relation volume V, and the entity
numbers N1, N2, . . . Nr, then this
state is called an equilibrium state and the system is called simple.
The designation
'simple' is in anticipation that there are many interactions between the
entities of a human system that aggregate to an observable macroscopic
parameter. Physical analogies are electric charge, magnetic dipole
moment, elastic strain, etc. Potential relation parameters may be locus
of control, Mitchell's "experiential lifestyle", Relationship Awareness
type "Altruistic-Nurturing", etc. When these parameters arise they play
a role analogous to volume. The existence of these parameters are an
integral and essential element of thermodynamics from a practical
perspective. The basic theoretical development can, however, be
accomplished without their introduction.
Of far more
significance is the equilibrium condition. Callen [1960, 11-14]
provides a discussion of this for physical systems. He concludes with
"In actuality, few systems are in absolute and true equilibrium, but
many are in metastable equilibrium. . . . We return to the
criterion, admittedly circular, that a system is effectively in
equilibrium (i.e., in metastable equilibrium) if its properties are
consistent with thermodynamic theory." [Callen, 1960, 14]
Conceptually the human
system situation is the same as the physical system situation with one
exception. Any system which includes a Darwinian evolutionary mechanism
is clearly not in equilibrium. In the case of a human system we might
be able to ignore memetic evolution if its characteristic times are much
longer than the processes which we may be investigating, and the
relation energy devoted to memetic evolution is significantly smaller
than that devoted to the processes we are investigating. For the moment
I shall assume that a relation thermodynamic equilibrium state implies a
memetically quasi static state.
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(C) 2005-2014 Wayne M. Angel.
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