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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1936. / Cover title. Vita. Bibliography: p. 101-102.

Anthropology, and other disciplines have searched for isomorphic principles and rules operating in information systems. This thesis locates and describes this deep structure applicable to all information systems. It presents a model for information flow as a set of ordering principles revealing universal patterns inherent in nature, a set of transformation rules functioning to increase organization and complexity, and a structure for this activity. The model is isomorphic: it demonstrates similar operational behavior in different systems. Major features of the model include polarity, emergent or transformational phenomena, self-organization, and a trajectory traveling through a hierarchical structure representing the flow of information. Polar opposition is the primary functional mechanism, and has two critical roles. It initiates and maintains the trajectory through time and stabilizes the system by representing existence in time. The author applies the model to consciousness, neurogenesis, ontogeny, social behavior, mythology, rites of passage, and other systems. / Department of Anthropology

Human perspectivity, furthermore progress in all it's categories (for example technical, social or ethical progress) and finally the decline of a culture, are the main emphasizes of this thesis. It will address the issues of what human perspectivity is about and how it behaves towards progress and a cultural-socially overall structure. In historical context, the evolution of progress is set in relation to the evolution of human perspectivity. After the explaining of these two components and the connection between them, lastly, using a concrete example with the perished Easter Island in the southern pacific, it will be shown, how and why civilizations go through certain stages like early culture, high culture and late culture. So the point of this thesis is, to show, how and why human civilizations come to an end and what we should learn from them. Aside from other factors (for example military conflicts with enemies from the outside, which can lead also to a disaster of a culture), in this thesis the focus is on a cultural-ecological research of a self-inflicted catastrophe. The thesis is completed with a proposed solution for the above mentioned problems to improve the relationship between man and his environment, especially the animal. Keywords: human perspectivity, ecological catastrophe,...