Competitive Dynamics of Information Systems

Information systems actively "vie for dominance". This competition occurs at multiple levels—from the internal cognitive landscape of individual agents to the collective consciousness of groups and entire societies, and even between abstract formal systems within specialized domains. It unfolds through diverse mechanisms, driven fundamentally by the need for limited resources, such as cognitive processing capacity, attention of hosts, and the material or energetic means for instantiation and propagation. While this struggle can lead to conflict and the suppression of alternative informational patterns, it also serves as a primary driver for the evolution, refinement, and diversification of information systems themselves.

A crucial aspect of this dynamic is how dominant information systems are maintained. Often, this involves the bio-informational complex—the integrated unit of the host agent and the prevailing information systems they instantiate. This complex can agentically react to neutralize or suppress information systems perceived as threats to its established patterns, frequently through host cognitive mechanisms like the cognitive dissonance response, thereby protecting the integrity and influence of these dominant patterns. For instance, deeply entrenched ideologies may foster strong resistance in their adherents to contradictory evidence. Similarly, "wars of conquest" can be partly understood as these bio-informational complexes, impelled by their dominant information systems, attempting to expand their "territory" (minds, cultures, geographical regions) and create a more hospitable environment for their own propagation.