In Fritjof Capra’s 2002 book The Hidden Connections he uses the principles of complexity theory to analyze human interactions. In order to be sustainable, the principles underlying our social institutions must be consistent with the organization that nature has evolved to sustain the web of life . In this book he shows how the theoretical ideas of science can be applied to the practical concerns of human nature. He describes culture as resulting from human social dynamics which produces a sustainable system of shared values and beliefs :

Our ability to hold mental images and project them into the future not only allows us to identify goals and purposes and develop strategies and designs, but also enables us to choose among several alternatives and hence to formulate values and social rules of behavior.  All of these social phenomenon are generated by networks of communications as a consequence of the dual role human communication. On one hand, the network continually generates mental images, thoughts and meaning, on the other hand, it continually coordinates the behavior of its members. From the complex dynamics and interdependence of these processes emerges the integrated system of values, beliefs and rules of conduct that we associate with the phenomenon of culture.

For our systematic analysis of social reality we need to focus on the anthropological meaning of culture, which the Columbia Encyclopedia defines as “the integrated system of socially acquired values, beliefs and rules of conduct that delimit the rage of accepted behaviors in any given society.”  When we explore the details of this definition, we discover that culture arises from a complex, highly nonlinear dynamic. It is created by a social network involving multiple feedback loops through which values, beliefs and rules of conduct are continually communicated, modified and sustained. It emerges from a network of communications among individuals; and as it emerges, it produces constraints on their actions. In other words, the social structures, or rules of behavior, that constrain, the actions of the individuals are produced and continually reinforced by their on network of communications.

The social network also produces a shared body of knowledge – including information, ideas and skills – that shapes the culture’s distinctive way of life in addition to its values and beliefs. Moreover, the culture’s values and beliefs affect its body of knowledge. They are part of the lens through which we see the world. They help us to interpret our experiences and to decide what kind of knowledge is meaningful. This meaningful knowledge, continually modified by the network of communications, is passed on from generation to generation together with the culture’s values, beliefs, and rules of conduct.

The system of shared values and beliefs creates an identity among the members of the social network, based on a sense of belonging. People in different cultures have different identities because they share different sets of values and beliefs. At the same time, and individual may belong to several different cultures. People’s behavior is informed and restricted by their cultural identities, which in turn reinforces their sense of belonging. Culture is embedded in people’s way of life, and it tends to be so pervasive that it escapes our everyday awareness.

Cultural identity also reinforces the closure of the network by creating a boundary of meaning and expectations that limits the access of  people and information to the network. Thus the social network is engaged in communication within a cultural boundary which it members continually re-crate and renegotiate.  This situation is not unlike that of the metabolic network, which continually produces and recreates a boundary – the cell membrane – that confines it and gives it its identity.  However there are some crucial differences between cellular and social boundaries.  Social boundaries, as I have emphasized are not necessarily physical boundaries but boundaries of meaning and expectations.  They do not literally surround the network but exist in a mental realm that does not have the topological properties of physical space.