Change
I want two things to be clear: sociology is not independent of physics, and systems work collectively. Our societies are made of individuals, made of particles, made of matter. Matter is any substance that possesses mass or energy and exists somewhere in space (Md Nasim, 2023). We, as people, are manifested through the medium of matter and energy; we all abide by the same rules.
A societal revolution happens when the system goes through “disruptions” and becomes “chaotic” for a while before it stabilizes again. To measure change, we look at a system before and after a disruption. Understanding the laws of physics in the realm of social sciences creates a mixture of scientific clay made of hard and soft sciences, one that we can mold according to the ontology of humans.
Our bodies produce electromagnetic fields.
“Just as magnetic systems spontaneously choose a magnetization direction below the critical temperature, social systems can spontaneously break symmetry”
(Mullic & Sen, 2025).
To understand some terminologies, I’m going to make an analogy. Magnets are objects that attract and repel other objects, just like when we like or dislike something. Magnets are a collection of particles. We instantly create connections with objects and species through experience, whether liking or disliking; this connection we could call electricity, or the electric field (Mullic & Sen, 2025). Each magnet is a whole of particles that attract and repel, creating an electric energy. Each society is a whole of people who like and dislike, creating relationships and connections.
A spin is a physical property of a particle, such as eyes, ears, or nose, that detects the electromagnetic field, which can be thought of as reflecting preferences or connections. In Physics, the Ising model describes the transitional fluctuations of the binary states (+ or –) of a spin, meaning order and disorder. In a society (magnet), people (particles) either agree or disagree with each other (order and disorder) (Mullic & Sen, 2025). The Potts model adds that spins can be more than binary, using statistical mechanics, meaning a spin can take multiple values. I can like a person, but I don’t have to agree with them on everything; this allows for options that still follow the law of binary states. Particles are inclined to synchronize with each other, so the system’s energy remains low. If one goes from – to +, the nearest particle will imitate its behavior. People also tend to do this; they listen to a trendy song that isn’t really good simply because they go with the trend.
The cultural dissemination model shows how opinions spread in relation to the Potts model (Frank, 2018). Opinions are influenced by assimilation, which is when people tend to have similar views through interaction. For example, same school graduates are more likely to think alike. Opinions are also influenced by homophily, where people are more likely to interact with those who share similar opinions, such as befriending someone at school because you think alike. Meaning, we can either agree or disagree and are likely to either interact with people who agree with us or agree with those with whom we interact.
Stability
Humans search for stability and assemble themselves, creating a community that resonates with each other. Migration, war, displacement, disasters, and conflicts are either factors or consequences of segregation. Binary states (like or dislike; + or -) explain why people tend to repel what doesn’t resemble them or adopt the behaviors of others. Observations in social segregation through Schelling’s model (physics, sociology, economy, computer science) (Mullic & Sen, 2025) show the likelihood of an agent changing position if “unhappy”. Happiness here refers to a state where the whole system is structurally organized. This model explains why the resemblance between the surroundings and the person is crucial to their position, meaning we are almost likely to live in groups that behave, think, or at least don’t conflict with us (Mullic & Sen, 2025).
Particles also occupy and change positions. Imagine ten pebbles on a tray. Particles have more energy and move more when heat or energy is applied, so if we slightly shake the tray, the pieces move randomly. Their nature makes them diffuse to attain a minimal energy configuration among possible positions, so over time, they settle and move less. Once the shaking stops, the pebbles remain where they are. Particles aim to reach a static state (inner peace). They organize themselves to diffuse minimal energy (stability) and become chaotic when in motion (instability). Social systems behave similarly: they rest and remain at lower energy when they are stable or safe (order) and become active with high energy when changes occur (disorder).
Imagine we’re looking at a digital image of a house. On the macro level (zoom out), the pixels appear similar, forming the shape we perceive. At the micro level (zoom in), each pixel is different from the other, and the variations in their color shades become visible. Now zoom out again: if the house were to melt and dots were to scatter, the colors would seem to blend into each other. In reality, the pixels are simply gaining more positional options instead of remaining in the limited arrangement that originally formed the house. This “melted” image would have a higher entropy. Entropy refers to the level of homogeneity in a system, so we can say that we (as particles) tend toward lower entropy, meaning more structure, more identity, less energy, and less randomness (Drake, 2025).
Structure
“It follows that reality is constituted by physical particles organized into systems like mountains, planets, rivers, and humans” (Giuliano, 2015).
Particles behave toward a goal (Nakhmanson, 2001), according to structural components (why things are the way they are) and functional laws (how things operate). Some forces govern our societies just as they govern the physical world (Md Nasim, 2023). Levi Strauss explains that language is like a culture: words positioned in different orders differ in meaning and function (Strauss, 1963). When switching languages, structural functions also change.
Social reality, according to Durkheim, is lived through social facts, which are like regular facts: they possess objectivity and can be studied through physics (Md Nasim, 2023). The meaning of each social fact is socially constructed across all societies, so structures and functions exist universally. A visible observation (physics) could be going to a bar to have a drink with a friend, while the invisible observation (sociology) involves conforming to norms: wearing clothes, paying with money, and communicating with others (Giuliano, 2015). In that context, regulative rules (physics) exert power through normative regulations (culture) on the constitutive components (your friend, the bartender, and others).
Hypothetically, if you woke up in a room full of naked people casually having a meeting while you are fully dressed, you would feel like an outsider and might even question whether you were wrong to be wearing clothes. They might perceive you as disrespectful or simply different. Max Weber discussed rationality in decision-making and explained that choices differ depending on the outcome sought (Md Nasim, 2023). A value-driven action is not the same as a goal-driven action. I may tell a cashier they miscalculated and gave me extra change, or I may keep it; my action depends on my values. But if I were starving, I might steal, even if against my values, because my goal would be to survive.
Postmodernist constructionist theory explains that there is no objective truth. We construct what we see because of how we see it, shaped by the experiences we live. This highlights the inevitability of influence: space, time, speed, and light (physics), and values, traditions, principles, ceremonies, and beliefs (sociology) vary across particles and groups, but are present in all of them.
We all have been in situations where our behavior changed because someone was watching us; let’s call that the observer’s effect. In quantum physics, when photons (light) are measured, the interaction between the observer and the observed alters the measurement itself. The tool changes the object, and thus the particle’s reality shifts, such as forgetting how to walk in front of a big crowd (Md Nasim, 2023). Realism holds that reality exists independent of our perception; whether we see something or not doesn’t determine whether it exists or not. Realism is a fundamental ideology in physics that aims to understand the natural world. It resonates with the structural concept that something has a structure, whether we see it or not (Md Nasim, 2023).
The law of the other
“It appears that there can be two possible stable states, and the world fluctuates between these two structures” (Y. Itoh, S. Ueda, 2001).
Binary oppositions exist in other aspects of society and culture, such as myths (good and bad), values (morally acceptable and unacceptable), religion (sacred and profane), economic or political systems (law and resistance), and everyday experiences such as conflict, dominance, loss, and the most fundamental cycle of life and death.
“The wave-particle duality is a mind-body one. In the real 3D-space, there exists only the particle; the wave exists in its consciousness” (Nakhmanson, 2001).
Sociophysics is a vast interdisciplinary field that opens quantum doors (figuratively) to diverse dimensions of our reality (literally). It stands among other interdisciplinary outlooks that offer valuable insights. It pushes us to question reality while also addressing a question we all ask: why are we here? We are here to live and die; everything that falls in between these two reflects a consciousness in structure. I suggest for further information, to dive into the twelve universal laws.
References
Uddin, Md Nasim. (2023). The Relationship between Physics and Sociology: An Epistemological and
Methodological Perspective. 10. a322-28.
Schweitzer, Frank. (2018). Sociophysics. Physics Today. 71. 40–46. 10.1063/PT.3.3845.
Di Bernardo, Giuliano. (2015). From Physics to Sociology. 121–133. 10.1007/978-3-319-16369-7_9.
Nakhmanson, R. (2001, November 13). Mind-body interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. arXiv.org.
Mullick, P., & Sen, P. (2025, June 30). Sociophysics models inspired by the Ising model. arXiv.org.
Drake, G. W. F. (2025, November 7). Entropy | definition & equation | Britannica. Britannica.
Lévi-Strauss, C. (1963). Structural anthropology. Basic Books.
Y. Itoh, S. Ueda, (2001). The Ising model for changes in word ordering rule in natural language.Physica D Nonlinear Phenom. 198, 333–339.
Edited and copyedited under the supervision of Fatima Nazar
