Sequel to Alt-QAnon: A conspiracy theory for the rest of us. There, I suggested that we create a movement that reframes the news in terms of what is really going on -- how it's not the Clintons, George Soros, or another cabal of depraved humans, it's the WRAITHs ("wraith-like artificially intelligent transhuman hives") that are sending the world down a path toward ruination. Rather than search the web for confirmation that the problems of the world are caused by a few powerful and evil people, let's place the blame where it really lies -- on WRAITHS and our failure to control them. And let's work together to reframe our understanding of world events in these terms.
Although I independently had the idea that corporations are artificially intelligent super-organisms, Steve Coulter had the idea of corporations being superorganisms well before I did, and Jeremy Lent published the idea of them being "artificial intelligence" around the same time I did.
Here's Steve Coulter's take, in a nutshell:
[T]he corporation is a new form of superorganism that has become the dominant species on the planet and . . . the immense, intractable power of a globalized, corporate hive-mind has become the principal obstacle to addressing the planetary emergency of climate change. Reframing our metaphoric understanding of corporations as biological entities in the planetary biosphere may enable us to imagine ways to resist their increasing dominance and create a sustainable future.
Coulter, Steven, Resistance is Futile: The Borg, the Hive, and Corporate Hegemony, Revista Teknokultura Vol. 13(1), 217-244 (2016).
Coulter points out that the prevailing metaphor is that of a corporation as an individual, and that this metaphor gained steam with the Supreme Court's decision Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad (1876) (holding that that a private corporation is a natural person under the U.S. Constitution) and was cemented in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (holding that corporations are fully protected by the First Amendment, and thus can make unlimited campaign donations via super PACs). The corporation-as-person metaphor is obviously both dangerous and wrong, since corporations have no morals, no fear of punishment (except as part of a calculation), feel no pain, and are immortal.
Coulter goes on to point out how the metaphor of corporations as machines is inadequate, and brushes against the theory of corporations as Artificial Intelligence in the process:
Machines are distinguished from humans and human organizations by their inability to program themselves for the purpose of maintaining their own survival. There have been many examples in science fiction of machines gaining self-consciousness and the will to survive. But this possibility has yet to come to pass, and machines left to their own devices will do nothing unless we tell them to do something. In contrast, corporations, like individual humans, possess the ability to change their behavior to maintain their survival. They are clearly more than mere machines.
He then notes that human civilizations have been likened to superorganisms:
This is a fascinating way to view civilizations, but it does not fit several of the key characteristics of a superorganism as defined by sociobiology. Members of a civilization can survive and even flourish far from their home, while members of insect superorganisms are tied to their hive or nest. The system of communication within a civilization is not closed as civilizations communicate with each other through translation and learning different languages, while insect superorganisms only communicate within themselves. The division of labor in a civilization is not fixed and reproduction occurs within all castes, while insect superorganisms have fixed division of labor and reproduction. However, the metaphor of civilization as superorganism is fascinating and adds to our understanding of the history and future of human civilization from a sociobiological perspective.
Here, he appears to be suggesting that superorganism is at best a loose analogy for civilizations, paving the way for his argument that it's a super-apt analogy for corporations. As I will doubtless discuss in subsequent posts, I still believe that the analogy of nation states to superorganisms is a good one, but he's got a point when he explain how apt the analogy is as to corporations:
• An organism is made of cells that contain DNA. A corporation can be interpreted to be similar in several ways. A corporation does not exist without humans to staff it. Those humans are made up of cells that contain DNA. In an organism, DNA is the plan for the structure of the organism. In corporations, the plan for the corporation is contained in two forms: the legal documents that structure the organization, and the understanding of those documents contained in the minds of the people in the corporation. The important point is this: the composition and plan for the composition of the corporation has a biological basis. It would not exist without DNA and human biology to ensure its continuation.
• Living things maintain order inside their cells and bodies. Corporations are constantly engaged in the task of maintaining order inside of themselves. A corporation that allowed any significant disorganization would cease to exist. Its very existence is defined by its organization.
• Living things regulate their systems. Corporations regulate their systems to maintain profitability. They raise and lower prices, stock up on supplies, hire productive employees, maintain their physical plants, relocate if it is advantageous, etc.
• Living things respond to signals in the environment. Corporations are continually engaged in market research, public relations, and advertising. They continually recreate their images and behavior in response to the marketplace.
• Living things transfer energy among themselves and between themselves and their environment. Corporations transfer energy to and from each other and the environment in the form of products and currency. The currency is symbolic of and redeemable for various forms of energy and raw materials.
• Living things grow and develop. Corporations are constantly growing by expanding their operations and by merging with or acquiring other corporations. Growth is symbolically represented by the accumulation of currency adding to the net value and power.
• Living things reproduce. Through reproduction, organisms enable the continued existence of their genome. Corporations do not have to reproduce because they are potentially immortal. Individual employees die, but the corporation lives on. Corporate reproduction is essentially continuous, and in a capitalist system, is dependent on continuous growth.
• Living things have traits that evolved over time. Corporations evolve over time. Because of competition, the most efficient and profitable corporations survive, and their competitors die. The most efficient corporate traits are copied by new corporations improving quality and creating continuous competition.
I'll let you read the rest of the article - there are several interesting and informative digressions. But the main takeaway for me remains the conclusion, since it's exactly what I've been thinking:
We like to believe that humans are the most powerful species on the planet, but this is an illusion, for the corporate superorganism is now the most powerful species on the planet. Perhaps by more fully understanding its rampant success through the lens of sociobiology, we will be able to imagine ways to undermine its dominance and apparent invincibility.
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