The Theory of Decoherence in Society and Individuals
Decoherence, as a framework, posits that societal and individual stability is constantly disrupted by the deterministic forces of reality clashing with constructed illusions. These illusions—be they ideological, cultural, or economic—serve as adaptive mechanisms but ultimately fail when the data they exclude or distort becomes undeniable. The theory draws on Sapolsky’s insights into stress and human behavior, particularly how societies construct systems to reduce perceived chaos but often create long-term systemic stress. Harari’s work highlights how myths and narratives are essential to human cohesion, yet inherently fragile because they are abstractions that oversimplify reality. Turchin’s cyclical model of societal rise and fall aligns with Decoherence’s emphasis on elite overproduction and societal delusion as triggers for instability. Diamond’s exploration of societal collapse provides empirical evidence that ignoring environmental and systemic data accelerates Decoherence. Together, these thinkers support the idea that societies resist coherence with reality until forced by systemic failures, leading to cycles of crisis and reorganization. Decoherence rejects the notion of free will, seeing human actions as predictable outcomes of available data and systemic constraints, and emphasizes that chaos is merely the result of insufficient data resolution.