Hierarchy

2008-01-16T01:19:07Z

KillerFrenchFry10:

A '''hierarchy''' ([[Greek language|Greek]] ''hieros'' sacred, ''arkho'' rule) is a system of [[rank order|ranking]] and organizing things. Different fields use the word in slightly different ways, but a particular definition (below) captures the core of almost all uses.

Originally, "hierarchy" meant "rule by [[priest]]s". Since hierarchical churches such as the [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholic]] and [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox]] churches had tables of organization that were "hierarchical" in the modern sense of the word, the term came to refer to similar organizational methods in more general settings.

Examples of hierarchy:
* Theological: [[God]], saved [[soul]]s, [[angel]]s, [[man]], [[bird]]s, [[animal]]s, [[plant]]s, [[rock (geology)|rocks]]
** (See also [[hierarchy of angels]])
* [[scientific classification|Scientific classification]] of [[organism]]s: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species
* Social: [[monarch]], [[noble]]s, [[gentry]], [[yeomanry]], [[peasant]]s, [[serf]]s
* [[patriarchy|Patriarchy]] with [[ageism]]: [[father]], oldest [[son]], younger sons, [[mother]], eldest [[daughter]], other daughters

== General description (informal) ==
A precise, mathematical definition of hierarchy will be given below. This section will try to explore the ideas behind that more compact definition.

A hierarchy is based on an [[asymmetrical relationship]], such as "is the boss of", "is part of", or "is better than". Such relationships are "asymmetrical" in the sense that if they "work one way", they don't "work the other". For example, if Sally is the boss of Jim, then Jim is ''not'' the boss of Sally. When two nodes are related, one is designated the "superior" (or sometimes the "parent") and the other the "subordinate" (or sometimes the "child"). In the intuitive case of the "is the boss of" relation, the boss is the superior and the employee is the subordinate.

A hierarchy's asymmetrical relationship can link entities in one of three ways: directly, indirectly, or not at all. The illustration shows a ''direct'' link between the craft and culture sections; the craft section is directly linked to the culture section by the "contains" relationship. This is akin to how your boss is directly in charge of you. In contrast, the illustration shows an ''indirect'' link between craft and encyclopedia; the craft section is only "contained" by the encyclopedia as a whole by virtue of being "contained" by the culture section. This is akin to how the CEO of a company is in charge of a factory worker only via middle management. Finally, there is effectively ''no link'' between the art and the craft sections; neither section contains the other. This is akin to two co-workers, neither of whom is the other's boss.

''Every member is reachable from any other by following the relationship in either direction, but there is no way of coming back to a particular member by always following the relationship in the same direction.''

== General description (formal) ==
A hierarchy can be represented as a connected directed acyclic [[graph theory|graph]] with a designated initial node (the ''root''). Such structures are also commonly named ''trees'' (since they look like upside-down trees, with the root at the top).

== Examples of reasoning with hierarchies ==
Many aspects of the world are analyzed, arguably fruitfully, from a hierarchical perspective. The concept of hierarchy thus qualifies as [[interdisciplinarity|interdisciplinary]]. Science provides the following examples:

* In biology, [[organism]]s are commonly described as an assembly of parts (organs) which are themselves assemblies of yet smaller parts, and so on.
* In physics, the [[standard model]] decomposes bodies down to their smallest [[particle]] components.
* In [[linguistics]], words or sentences are often broken down into hierarchies of parts and wholes.
* In [[ethics]], various [[virtues]] are enumerated and sometimes organized hierarchically according to certain brands of [[virtue theory]].

In all of these examples, the asymmetric relationship is "is composed of".

== Social hierarchies ==
Many human [[organization]]s, such as [[business]]es, churches, armies and political movements are structured hierarchically, at least officially; commonly superiors, called ''bosses'', have more [[power (sociology)|power]] than their subordinates. Thus the asymmetrical relationship might be "has power over". (Some analysists question whether power "really" works as the traditional organizational chart indicates, however.) See also [[Chain of command]].

[[feminism|Feminists]] talk about a hierarchy of [[gender]], in which a culture sees [[male]]s or [[masculinity|masculine traits]] as [[superiority|superior]] to [[female]]s or [[femininity|feminine traits]]. In the terms above, these feminists present us a hierarchy of only two nodes, "masculine" and "feminine", connected by the asymmetrical relationship "is valued more highly by society". An example of this usage:

:The hierarchical nature of the dualism - the systematic devaluation of females and whatever is metaphorically understood as "feminine" - is what I identify as sexism. (Nelson [[1992]], p. 106)

Note that in the contexts of feminism and other social criticism, the word ''hierarchy'' usually is used as meaning ''power hierarchy'' or ''power structure.'' Feminists do not take issue with ''hierarchy'' in the most general definition of the word, but rather with the specific asymmetrical relationship of unequal value between men and women. Various other social critics take issue with different types of power hierarchies that they see as being unjust.

== Hierarchical nomenclatures in the arts and sciences ==
Hierarchies are important for categorization and organization of large numbers of objects. [[Taxonomy|Taxonomies]], for example, such as biological taxonomies, are built on hierarchies. Hierarchy is also often used to control complexity in engineering endeavors. For example, large [[electronic]] devices such as [[computer]]s are usually composed of modules, which are themselves created out of smaller components ([[integrated circuit]]s), which in turn are internally organized using hierarchial methods (e.g. using standard cells).

Hierarchies are used very extensively in [[computer science]] and [[information theory]]; here are a few examples. [[computer file|Computer files]] in a [[file system]] are stored in a hierarchy of [[directory|directories]] in most [[operating system]]s. In [[object-oriented]] programming, classes are organized hierarchically; the relationship between two related classes is called [[inheritance-oop|inheritance]]. In the [[Internet]], [[IP address]]es are increasingly organized in a [[classless inter-domain routing|hierarchy]] (so that the [[routing]] will continue to function as the Internet grows).

The [[pitch (music)|pitches]] and [[musical form|form]] of [[tonality|Tonal]] [[music]] are organized hierarchically, all pitches deriving their importance from their relationship to a [[tonic (music)|tonic]] [[key signature|key]], and secondary themes in other keys are brought back to the tonic in a recapitulation of the primary theme. [[Susan McClary]] connects this specifically in the [[sonata-allegro form]] to the feminist hierarchy of gender (see above) in her book Feminine Endings, even pointing out that primary themes were often previously called "masculine" and secondary themes "feminine."

== Wikis and Wikipedia ==

The largest Wiki [[community]], [[Wikipedia]], is hierarchical, as users differ in their editorial control over the content of the articles.
Those who frequent [[Wiki]]s might label Wikipedia's organization "[[wikiarchy|wikiarchical]]".

The founder [[Jimmy Wales]] has not renounced to his ability to control the project, by creating policies with immediate effect, or by choosing [[arbitrators]] and by being the head of the [[Wikimedia]] foundation which owns Wikipedia. A special "policy" ([[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Office Actions|Wikipedia:Office Actions]]) was created by the founder, which enables a trusted editor to "temporarily" and unilaterally [[censor]] content of the articles. Opposition to such "office actions" usually leads to immediate blocking of the offender.

In addition, some users' contributions are valued more than others, and articles are deemed "unencyclopedic" simply because there are no prior examples of the similar articles. This behavour encourages the feeling of [[seniority]], where "older" Wikipedians know how to cause some articles to be deleted.

The ''content'' of Wikipedia (as opposed to the ''[[community]]'') is organized in a fashion that is not overtly hierarchical. For the most part, the relationship between the individual articles does not form any sort of vertical structure (with the exception of categories).

==Criticism and alternatives==
Hierarchies and hierarchical thinking has been criticized by many people, including Susan McClary as above. Possible alternatives include:
*[[enumerative]] organization, a list
*[[retiary]] organization, a web or network
*[[heterarchy]] horizontal organization, opposite of hierarchy

== External links ==
*[http://www.isss.org/hierarchy.htm Principles and annotated bibliography of hierarchy theory]
*[http://www.nbi.dk/~natphil/salthe/hierarchy_th.html Summary of the Principles of Hierarchy Theory] - S.N. Salthe
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''text below to be prosified''

Generalizations: [[structure]]

Specializations:
* purpose: [[hierarchical organization]]
* structural properties: [[hierarchical tree structure]], [[rooted hierarchy]]
* nature of the hierarchical relationship: [[part-whole hierarchy]], [[containment hierarchy]], [[inheritance hierarchy]], [[responsibility hierarchy]], [[control hierarchy]]

Relevant examples:
* Biology: [[Linnaean taxonomy]]
* Computer science: [[hierarchy (object-oriented programming)]], [[class (computer science)|Classes]]
* Genealogy: [[genealogy tree]]
* Linguistics: [[Chomsky hierarchy]]
* Psychology: [[Maslow's hierarchy of needs]]
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==See also==
*[[unity of command]]

== References ==
* Julie Nelson (1992). "Gender, Metaphor and the Definition of Economics". ''Economics and Philosophy'', 8:103-125.

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Capitalism

2008-01-16T01:18:34Z

KillerFrenchFry10:

Capitalism is the root of all [[inequalities]] and injustices of the whole world. Nothing good can come out of this kind of anti-human system which causes only poverty, war and mass mental sickness. Capitalism stimulates only the ugliest traits of human character thus encouraging only greed and deceit. 
Capitalism perpetuates only hate and suffering, business is a criminal activity of cheating and manipulating our instinct of [[survival]] [[creating ]]the [[hierarchy]] of mass misery.
Capitalism will be abolished by voluntary anarchism before it succeeds in completely enslaving us and fully ruining the planet. 
Capitalism, like feudalism and slavery before it, causes plenty of suffering and brutalizes the populace bringing with it havoc to the community and complete destruction of nature. 
Everywhere people are unhappy, everywhere the majority is poor and oppressed and the few continue to profit and prosper at the expense of the rest. This will not last for ever; the capitalist system will soon come to an end. The rich will have to learn to live with us on equal terms, without this, resistance and [[class revolution]] will expand. 
Religious terrorism is part of capitalist terrorism; it is good for state security and for the diminishing of human and civil rights. 
The vast majority of the world population wants to live in dignity and in equality, but there can never be a true and real peace unless there is a factual equality and concrete distribution of wealth. Capitalism forbids good living to the majority of the people, a sufficient reason for revolting. Capitalism is a never ending war against all the people of the planet, uniformed mercenaries in a rampage against life and nature in the name of the rich and the leader. 
No more, the people are beginning to rise, they are beginning to insurrect and will one day soon participate in the universal anarcho-social revolution. We are fed up with this kind of un-living; we are sick and tired of this sort of imposed alienated social existence, which is miserable, dull and permanently vanquished. 
The world and people have to completely and radically change or they will die and vanish. But life is stronger than [[slavery]] and capitalism and anarchy awaits us all - Capitalism is a primitive cruel idea with a modern technological cover up.

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Hierarchy

Capitalism