This new section is dedicated to document 'historical phase transitions', and material that can help us think through this topic.

It's part of a set of related documentary sections:

• on Civilizational Analysis and Macrohistory [1]

• on identifying Patterns and change dynamics [2]

• on identifying cycles and cyclical patterns in human history [3]]

We also have more specific sections on transitions dedicated to

1. the Commons-Oriented Transitions [4] and '
2. P2P Transitions' Transition]

Quotes

What happens after a transition ?

"Overall, big history exhibits a trend of advances in power, through the production of organisations capable of acquiring and managing even higher amounts of energy flow.

Second, once the transition processes have settled down, a new historical ‘regime’ has effectively been instituted. A regime is the set of principles or rules which govern how a historical system operates. A period of transition, composed of the stages of novelty and adjustment in organisation and control, is thus followed by a preservation period, during which the energy flow established by the transition is maintained over time. During periods of regime preservation, energy use remains relatively stable through the repetition of work cycles. A regime tends to persist until a new transition is initiated by a new energy - extraction novelty, resulting in cycles of ‘punctuated disequilibrium’ between NESSTs and regimes."

- Robert Aunger [5]

The Noosphere as a Evolutionary Transition

"We are witnessing a new major transition going on right in front of us, and each of us is part of it. Without understanding the concept of the noosphere and how it relates to the major evolutionary transitions, the environmental crisis will remain inexplicable.

The major evolutionary transition that the reader is part of right now, through conceiving these thoughts of mine, depends on socialization of the minds. The minds, which so far were limited to single organisms, extend into a cognitive community of shared symbolic signs and meaning, independent of the environment.

The noosphere involves similar features as the previous transitions, where singular and isolated units managed to overcome their egocentric isolation without engulfing their fellow organisms. The 'we' invokes a capacity for common action so far unseen in the biosphere: A shared cognitive space independent of the adaptive demands of the ecological niche, and instead adapting to the noosphere, with all its new challenges, fears and possibilities (Gillings et al., 2016)."

- Marcus Lindholm [6]

Richard Hames on the Process of 'Networked' Change

"The crucial catalyst for this network effect is the emergence of new standards, not as rigid regulations handed down from on high, but as dynamic protocols emerging from the ground up. Imagine a living standard for Ecolitic Integrity, a constantly evolving set of criteria co-created by this alliance of pioneers. A business, a municipality, even an entire bioregion, could be assessed not on its GDP, but on its capacity for generative reciprocity—its ability to enhance social fabric, enrich biodiversity, and circulate wealth equitably. Adherence to such a standard would become a badge of honour, a signal to conscious citizens and other aligned entities that this is a node of trust and vitality within the emerging network. This creates a powerful positive feedback loop: the standard strengthens the network, and the growing network legitimises and refines the standard.

This is the alchemy of connection. The isolated project becomes a linked node. The linked nodes become a resilient web. The web begins to exhibit collective intelligence, a kind of synergetic mind capable of solving problems that would cripple any single node. A community currency developed in Bristol can be adapted and improved in Bangalore. A participatory decision-making model from a Zapatista council can inspire governance in a Scottish town. This is not globalisation, nor is it localisation. It is “cosmolocalism” in its most compelling form: a rhizomatic, planetary nervous system operating on the principles of Ecority. As this neural network gains coherence, one must wonder, what new forms of stewardship and responsibility will its most conscious nodes be called to bear?

The great transition, then, is not a battle to be won against the old guard, but a process of fostering the conditions for this new consciousness to emerge at scale."

- Richard Hames [7]