Human collectivities resist mechanical proportional analysis because qualitative capacities dominate

Evidence

Of course it must always be borne in mind that a recourse to the theory of fixed proportions has only a schematic and metaphoric value. In other words, it cannot be applied mechanically, since in human collectivities the qualitative element (or that of the technical and intellectual capacity of the individual components) is predominant, and this cannot be measured mathematically. Hence one may say that every human collectivity has its own specific optimum principle of fixed proportions. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 781

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the limits of the fixed-proportions theorem: schematic/metaphoric, not mechanical, because qualitative capacity dominates.