culture is integrated like the general theory of relativity whereas a social system is integrated like an organism

An example of analogy drawing upon scientific concepts,

"By logical-meaningful integration, characteristic of culture, is meant the sort of integration one finds in a Bach fugue, in Catholic dogma, or in the general theory of relativity; it is a unity of style, of logical implication, of meaning and value. By causal-functional integration, characteristic of the social system, is meant the kind of integration one finds in an organism, where all the parts are united in a single causal web; each part of an element in a reverberating causal ring which 'keeps the system going'."

Clifford Geertz (2000) Ritual and social change: a Javanese example (first published 1959), in The Interpretation of Cultures. Selected Essays. 2nd Edition. New York. Basic Books

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Author: Keith

Former school and college science teacher, teacher educator, research supervisor, and research methods lecturer. Emeritus Professor of Science Education at the University of Cambridge.