1. mutualism – pronunciation: ‘m yoochoou'lizum
Matching terms: mutualist

2. from wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia:
Mutualism is an interaction in which both organisms in a close relationship derive some degree of benefit. Mutualism is usually temporary or not obligatory Mutualism is the form of anarchism described by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

3. Biology Dictionary
Definition: A type of symbiosis where two (or more) organisms from different species live in close proximity to one another and rely on one another for nutrients, protection, or other life functions. Both (or all) of the organisms involved benefit from the relationship.
Synonyms: mutualist

4. WordNet Dictionary
Definition: [n] the relation between two different species of organisms that are interdependent; each gains benefits from the other
Synonyms: symbiosis
See Also: interdependence, interdependency, mutuality, trophobiosis

5. Webster's 1913 Dictionary
Definition: \Mu"tu*al*ism\, n. (Ethics) The doctrine of mutual dependence as the condition of individual and social welfare. -- F. Harrison. -- H. Spencer. -- Mallock.

6. "What is Mutualism?'', published by the Vanguard Press and copyrighted April, 1927.

Here is an extract:

Remember, what you are about to read was written in the 1920s by American libertarians! MUTUALISM -- A Social System Based on Equal Freedom, Reciprocity, and the Sovereignty of the Individual Over Himself, His Affairs, and His Products, Realized Through Individual Initiative, Free Contract, Cooperation, Competition, and Voluntary Association for Defence Against the Invasive and for the Protection of Life, Liberty and Property of the Non-invasive.

And this is only a small extract! This book includes a condemnation of communism in general and Soviet style communism in particular.

The Discussion of what was wrong in the Soviet Union isvery prophetic. These guys didn't need a weather man to tell which way the wind was blowing! Interestingly the bio/bibliography at the back of the book includes Benjamin Tucker, but excludes Lysander Spooner; it includes John Milton but Excludes John Locke. The authors were clearly "Social Revolutionaries'' in that the interests of the "working man'' are of prime importance to them.

There is even a Section on the role of the trade union movement in bringing about a Mutualist society.


7. Mutualism - Pierre-Joseph Proudhon: Selected Writings (excerpts)

...mutualism intends men to associate only insofar as this is required by the demands of production, the cheapness of goods, the needs of consumption and security of the producers themselves, i.e., in those cases where it is not possible for the public to rely upon private industry... Thus no systematized outlook... party spirit or vain sentimentality unites the persons concerned.

In cases in which production requires great division of labour, it is necessary to form an ASSOCIATION among the workers... because without that they would remain isolated as subordinates and superiors, and there would ensue two industrial castes of masters and wage workers, which is repugnant in a free and democratic society. But where the product can be obtained by the action of an individual or a family... there is no opportunity for association.

Where shall we find a power capable of counter-balancing the... State? There is none other than property... The absolute right of the State is in conflict with the absolute right of the property owner. Property is the greatest revolutionary force which exists.

...the more ground the principles of democracy have gained, the more I have seen the working classes interpret these principles favourably to individual ownership.
very prophetic. These guys didn't need a weather man to tell which way the wind was blowing! Interestingly the bio/bibliography at the back of the book includes Benjamin Tucker, but excludes Lysander Spooner; it includes John Milton but Excludes John Locke. The authors were clearly "Social Revolutionaries'' in that the interests of the "working man'' are of prime importance to them.
[Mutualism] ...will make capital and the State subordinate to labor.

That every individual in the association... has an undivided share in the company... a right to fill any position according to suitability... all positions are elective, and the by-laws subject to approval of the members. That pay is to be proportional to the nature of the position, the importance of the talents, and the extent of responsibility.

In a free society, the role of the government is essentially that of legislating, instituting, creating, beginning, establishing, as little as possible should it be executive... The state is not an entrepreneur... Once a beginning has been made, the machinery established, the state withdraws, leaving the execution of the task to local authorities and citizens.

[Coinage] ...it is an industry left to the towns. That there should be an inspector to supervise its manufacture I admit, but the role of the state extends no farther than that.

All my economic ideas, developed over the last 25 years, can be defined in three words, agro industrial federation; all my political views... political federation or decentralization, all my hopes for the present and future... progressive federation.
There is even a Section on the role of the trade union movement in bringing about a Mutualist society.

8. The Mutual Information

To measure all deviations from the statistical independence the mutual information function I(k) can be introduced as follows [SHANNON 48]:

The mutual information is strongly related to the Kullback entropy (or relative entropy),
which is a measure of the “distance” between two probability distributions
[KULLBACK 59].

However, since the Kullback entropy is not symmetric, it is not a distance in the mathematical sense. In this context thismeasure can be interpreted as the distance between the null hypothesis of statistical independence (pi x pj) and the actual joint distribution pi j(k) of the symbols sn = Xi and sn+k = Xj in a distance k [STEUER ET AL. 02].

The Kullback entropy and therefore the mutual information is always non-negative and zero only if the probabilities are equal, i.e. if all symbols are statistically independent.

Thus the mutual information takes into account the whole dependency structure of the two random variables [GROSSE 95]. By choosing the logarithm to the base 2, I(k) is measured in “bit” and can be interpreted as the information gain about an unknown symbol sn by knowing the letter k positions upstream.