مقاله سال ۲۰۱۶

As a collective, or set of collectives, it is no secret that human society at all levels faces many problems that can only be tackled with cooperation in and between groups of individuals. Due to the global nature of today’s world, there are many issues that require collaboration between very geographically and culturally distinct groups. Such problems include but are not limited to: uncontrolled climate change, vast poverty, and a variety of wars with many global causative factors. Prior to best deciding upon the best methods by which these problems might be solved, an understanding of what human society actually is must be reached. Such an understanding will illuminate our strengths and weaknesses and indicate ways that we might be able to increase our collective ability and efficiency.

For a starting point towards improving the human condition, this paper champions the idea of society as a vast planetary superorganism. This vision both reinforces our collectivity and points a finger in the direction of potential solutions to our problems. These solutions rely upon the ability of an advanced “Nervous System” for the superorganism that will be able to effectively manage problems that society faces in its environment. This new nervous system, based on expanding and advancing information and communication technologies (ICT) has already transformed our world and promises great things for the future. A vulnerability to the superorganism’s evolution arises based on the central role that information and communication play. Specifically, it is the danger that the current power brokers in the world today will be averse to changes that will arise in society’s structure as we continue to evolve. If not resisted, these elements of society may be able to halt the superorganism’s progress, or slow it down enough to significantly damage ourselves and our planet. After further detailing this problem, a methodology for scholarship and action will be proposed that could be hugely important in assisting the superorganism’s development.

The idea that society functions as a superorganism put forth in detail first most notably by Spencer (1860), later modernized by Stock (1993), and since elaborated upon by Heylighen (2007a) and is now a relatively widely known interpretation of our species. The numerous analogies between society and those things that have been historically accepted as discrete organisms are vast, but need not be enumerated in depth again in this paper. A healthy debate has raged over the past several decades whether or not such collections of individuals should be elevated to the point where it they are actually considered a new type of organism. These debates have focused largely on what the appropriate unit of evolutionary selection is, and whether or not arguments by analogy are enough to validate superorganisms’ existence. Important are the arguments made by Haber (2013) who defends the concept of the superorganism by strengthening both strains of argument. While Haber’s paper focuses on the status of insect colonies and did not make mention of human society, it will for now be accepted that his arguments may be reasonably extended to “human colonies,” though this extension is not trivial.