Octopuses and Ottonians : Biological Systems as Models for Decentralized Medieval Government
What can octopuses teach us about history? And what did the Ottonians, the tenth-century Saxon dynasty that established and ruled the Holy Roman Empire, have in common with them? This essay is a thought experiment, postulating ways that history and biology might provide fresh insights into aspects o...
| Veröffentlicht in: | Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien. Serie A für Mineralogie und Petrographie, Geologie und Paläontologie, Anthropologie und Prähistorie. - Naturhistorisches Museum Wien. - 120(2018) vom: Jan., Seite 31-50 |
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| Format: | Online-Aufsatz |
| Sprache: | English |
| Veröffentlicht: |
2018
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| Zugriff auf das übergeordnete Werk: | Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien. Serie A für Mineralogie und Petrographie, Geologie und Paläontologie, Anthropologie und Prähistorie |
| Schlagworte: | Biological Systems Embodied Systems Octopus Ottonians Kingship Biological sciences Political science Behavioral sciences Economics |
| Zusammenfassung: | What can octopuses teach us about history? And what did the Ottonians, the tenth-century Saxon dynasty that established and ruled the Holy Roman Empire, have in common with them? This essay is a thought experiment, postulating ways that history and biology might provide fresh insights into aspects of history that have proved elusive to historians operating within traditional historical investigative methodologies. The biological systems of octopuses, including neurobiological and physiological systems, have been used as models to inform design in a range of modern organizational applications such as US Homeland Security systems and the information self-structuring of semiautonomous robots. This article suggests that the biological systems of octopuses may also provide models for understanding the architecture of a premodern decentralized government, that of the Ottonians. |
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| ISSN: | 02550091 |