I see where you're coming from now. I'm familiar with some of this complex systems theory (such as the emergence of mental properties from the brain).

I wonder what's generally responsible, though, for the winner-take-all effect in these systems. The law of oligarchy is about the social group's self-organization, the point being that you tend to need to centralize power to manage the parts of the system.

The body evolved the brain, and the brain seems to have evolved a control system within the control center (self-consciousness), although it doesn't exactly govern the whole brain. But is there a winner-take-all effect, say, in the ecosystem or in all complex systems? If not, what's the deciding factor that generates that effect?

I referred to military conflict in response to the last paragraph of your previous comment, but I suppose you were just using WWII as an example of a conflict.