What do you think?
Rate this book
In Sync: The Emergence of Function in Minds, Groups and Societies
This book introduces the reader to the concept of functional synchronization and how it operates on very different levels in psychological and social systems – from the emergence of thought to the formation of social relations and the structure of societies.
For years, psychologists have investigated phenomena such as self-concept, social judgment, social relations, group dynamics, and cooperation and conflict, but have discussed these phenomena seoarately.This book shows how synchronization provides a foundational approach to these otherwise distinct and diverse psychological processes.This work shows that there is a basic tendency with many processes to become coordinated and progressively integrated into increasingly larger units through well-defined processes. For these larger units, new and largely adaptive functions emerge.
Although synchronization affords progressive integration of system elements to enable correspondingly higher-order functions, the trajectory of synchronization is often characterized by periods of assembly and disassembly of system elements. This occurs when a task is completed and synchronization is no longer essential so that the elements once again operate in an independent fashion. It is argued that the disassembly-resynchronization scenario occurs at all levels of psychological and social reality. The implications of this approach for important issues in interpersonal relations and societal processes are discussed.
For years, psychologists have investigated phenomena such as self-concept, social judgment, social relations, group dynamics, and cooperation and conflict, but have discussed these phenomena seoarately.This book shows how synchronization provides a foundational approach to these otherwise distinct and diverse psychological processes.This work shows that there is a basic tendency with many processes to become coordinated and progressively integrated into increasingly larger units through well-defined processes. For these larger units, new and largely adaptive functions emerge.
Although synchronization affords progressive integration of system elements to enable correspondingly higher-order functions, the trajectory of synchronization is often characterized by periods of assembly and disassembly of system elements. This occurs when a task is completed and synchronization is no longer essential so that the elements once again operate in an independent fashion. It is argued that the disassembly-resynchronization scenario occurs at all levels of psychological and social reality. The implications of this approach for important issues in interpersonal relations and societal processes are discussed.
242 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 16, 2020
1 person is currently reading
5 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 19, 2020
The book describes the functionality of intermittent synchronization at different levels of abstraction from neural synchronizations, through lower level cognitive functions (e.g., attention, perception, etc.) and higher level psychological concepts such as decision making and self-image to psychological dyads (2-person relationships), to social and group synchronizations.
Although the book does a good job abstracting the dynamical properties of synchronization at different levels, it sometimes gets distracted by details and loses the sight of its bigger picture, to the point that the second part of the book is loosely related to the mathematical dynamics of temporal systems and is based solely on unverified assumptions.
All in all, the book draws a cohesive picture about how synchronization would possibly emerge from systems which are different in scope, while lots of its statements are yet to be tested.
Although the book does a good job abstracting the dynamical properties of synchronization at different levels, it sometimes gets distracted by details and loses the sight of its bigger picture, to the point that the second part of the book is loosely related to the mathematical dynamics of temporal systems and is based solely on unverified assumptions.
All in all, the book draws a cohesive picture about how synchronization would possibly emerge from systems which are different in scope, while lots of its statements are yet to be tested.
Displaying 1 of 1 review