We describe in this paper a physical ``broken-symmetry'' approach toward community-structure inventories. It is integrative in that it is inspired by work on broken-symmetries in simpler physical systems, and in that its basics should apply to living systems on other levels of organization and in different astrophysical settings.
Note also that the discussion has not been about ``stand-alone states'' but about the relationship between subsystems, which subsystems of course include ourselves i.e. the knower. The promise of correlation-focused approaches to fundamental systems\cite{Markopoulou2000} may also, therefore, have practical benefits in the complex systems discussed here.
Acknowledgements: Thanks to Myron Tribus & E. T. Jaynes for their work.
Related references:
Fotini Markopoulou (2000) An insider's guide to quantum causal histories, Nucl.Phys.Proc. Suppl. 88, 308-313 link.