The social quantum model of dissonance: From social organization to cultural evolution

Distinguishing between a group and the aggregate of individuals who compose the group remains an unsolved theoretical problem. Luce and Raiffa concluded that traditional theory based on the perspective of a rational individual cannot distinguish between these two utilities, precluding an analytical model. The obstacle to advancing beyond Luce and Raiffa with multiple-agent systems, including those with "swarm" intelligence, is that they lack the key ingredients of the social interaction, specifically the conjugate uncertainties of action and observation. But based on Bohr's quantum theory, to our knowledge the only complete model of the interaction, the authors have discovered significant differences between human groups and their constituents, in the process concluding that competition functions to create information and reduce the power of ideology, social values not previously recognized. The authors extend their prior research to build an analytical model by considering the multifaceted ramifications, for social life, of argumentation.