---
slug: paper-tiezzi-e-b-p-2008-dissipative-structures-in-nature-and-human-systems
title: Tiezzi 2008: Dissipative Structures in Nature and Human Systems
canonical: https://miscsubjects.com/a/paper-tiezzi-e-b-p-2008-dissipative-structures-in-nature-and-human-systems
---

## What the work establishes

E.B.P. Tiezzi, R.M. Pulselli, N. Marchettini and E. Tiezzi published the paper "Dissipative Structures In Nature And Human Systems" in 2008. It appears in WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Volume 114, pages 293-299, as part of the Design & Nature IV conference proceedings. The DOI is 10.2495/DN080301.

The paper extends Ilya Prigogine's theory of dissipative structures to explain how non-equilibrium systems generate complexity and order. It frames evolutionary physics as the study of systems far from equilibrium that follow non-linear rules. These systems produce order from chaos through continuous flows of energy and matter.

## Core results and passages

The authors state: "Evolutionary physics studies the general behaviour of non equilibrium systems, subject to non-linear rules." They add that the work discusses self-organization processes "in order to highlight the general conditions for raising complexity and generating order in nature."

Key passage: "In practice, in order to understand life and its ability to self-organise, evolutionary physical chemistry studies phenomena which present novelties, i.e., in which order is born from chaos (order out of chaos is an expression dear to the school of Ilya Prigogine...)."

They list concrete examples. Oscillatory chemical reactions, hurricanes, and human societies all qualify as dissipative structures. The paper notes: "Human societies function as dissipative structures, absorbing energy while generating order through interactions among individuals."

Entropy and thermodynamic information vary inside these self-organizing systems. The structures maintain coherence only while energy flows through them.

## Convergence patterns touched

The work directly addresses flow networks. Energy and matter move through open systems and produce stable patterns such as spirals, waves, and branching forms. Self-organization emerges as a reliable outcome of sustained dissipation. Bounded chaos appears in the oscillatory reactions and storm systems. Scale invariance shows in the jump from molecular reactions to atmospheric phenomena to social structures. Memory and information arise when the structures record prior flows in their organization.

These patterns align with the grain described in the OIP/GRAIN synthesis. Energy flows reliably produce a narrow family of structural outcomes across physical and social scales.

## Relation to the Ladder

The paper traces a path from raw energy throughput to structured order. Difference in energy potentials drives flow. Flow produces dissipative structures. Structures store thermodynamic information that functions as a rudimentary form of memory. The authors extend this sequence to human society, where interactions among individuals create higher-order patterns. The sequence stops short of explicit claims about mind or the reader inside the system.

## Distance from the full synthesis

Tiezzi 2008 supplies a thermodynamic foundation for the lower rungs of the Ladder. It supplies mechanistic support for flow-to-structure transitions and for self-organization in flow networks. It does not address the Mirror Layer in which the observer participates in the system being observed. It offers no formal account of how memory becomes life or how life becomes reflective mind. The treatment of human systems remains at the level of analogy rather than detailed mapping onto cognitive or informational processes.

## Honest limits and disconfirming edges

The paper is a short conference contribution of seven pages. It presents discussion and examples rather than new mathematical derivations or quantitative measurements. Claims about human society rest on conceptual extension from physical chemistry; they carry no empirical dataset on social entropy or energy accounting. A reductionist objection notes that thermodynamic descriptions do not automatically explain higher-level social rules or intentional behavior. The authors themselves frame the work as preparatory for designers rather than a completed theory of social evolution. No falsifiable predictions about specific societal outcomes are tested.

## Claims

- Claim c1: Non-equilibrium systems under non-linear rules generate order through dissipation. Tier: mechanistic. Source: Tiezzi et al. 2008 abstract and introduction.
- Claim c2: Human societies operate as dissipative structures that absorb energy and produce order via individual interactions. Tier: speculative. Source: Tiezzi et al. 2008.
- Claim c3: Examples such as oscillatory reactions and hurricanes illustrate the same self-organization principles that apply at social scales. Tier: anecdotal. Source: Tiezzi et al. 2008.
- Claim c4: Variation in entropy and thermodynamic information accompanies the rise of complexity in dissipative structures. Tier: mechanistic. Source: Tiezzi et al. 2008.

## Sources

Source s1: Tiezzi E.B.P., Pulselli R.M., Marchettini N., Tiezzi E. (2008). Dissipative Structures In Nature And Human Systems. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, 114, 293-299. DOI: 10.2495/DN080301. URL: https://www.witpress.com/elibrary/wit-transactions-on-ecology-and-the-environment/114/19277. Quote: "This paper presents a discussion on self-organization processes in dissipative structures, in order to highlight the general conditions for raising complexity and generating order in nature." Summary: Extends Prigogine to nature and society with examples of self-organization.

Source s2: Same paper. Quote: "Human societies function as dissipative structures, absorbing energy while generating order through interactions among individuals." Summary: Direct statement on social application.

See also /a/oip-the-ladder and /a/oip-the-mirror-layer for adjacent steps in the synthesis.
