The concept of entropy connects the number of possible configurations with the number of variables in large stochastic systems. Independent or weakly interacting variables render the number of configurations scale exponentially with the number of variables, making the Boltzmann–Gibbs–Shannon entropy extensive. In systems with strongly interacting variables, or with variables driven by history-dependent dynamics, this is no longer true. Here we show that contrary to the generally held belief, not only strong correlations or history-dependence, but skewed-enough distribution of visiting probabilities, that is, first-order statistics, also play a role in determining the relation between configuration space size and system size, or, equivalently, the extensive form of generalized entropy. We present a macroscopic formalism describing this interplay between first-order statistics, higher-order statistics, and configuration space growth. We demonstrate that knowing any two strongly restricts the possibilities of the third. We believe that this unified macroscopic picture of emergent degrees of freedom constraining mechanisms provides a step towards finding order in the zoo of strongly interacting complex systems.
