•
commutative monoidal categories.
• In a strict monoidal category we typically have
• In a strict symmetric monoidal category we have for each pair of objects a chosen isomorphism
• A commutative monoidal category is a symmetric strict monoidal category where the symmetry isomorphisms are all identities, so
So, we have a spectrum running from hardcore individualism, where two different things of the same type are
never interchangeable… to hardcore collectivism, where two different things of the same type are so interchangeable that switching them counts as doing nothing at all! In the theory of Petri nets and their variants, the two extremes have been studied better than the middle.