Back to Search
Start Over
Evolutionary possibilities: Can a society be constrained so that “the good” self-organizes?
- Source :
-
World Futures: The Journal of General Evolution . 2018, Vol. 74 Issue 1, p1-35. 35p. - Publication Year :
- 2018
-
Abstract
- Can a human society be constrained in such a way that self-organization will thereafter tend to produce outcomes that advance the goals of the society? Such a society would be self-organizing in the sense that individuals who pursue only their own interests would none-the-less act in the interests of the society as a whole, irrespective of any intention to do so. The paper sketches an agent-based model that identifies the conditions that must be met if such a self-organizing society is to emerge. The model draws heavily on an understanding of how self-organizing societies have emerged repeatedly during the evolution of life on Earth. The model demonstrates that the key enabling requirement for a self-organizing society is ‘consequence-capture’. Broadly this means that all agents in the society must capture sufficient of the beneficial (and harmful) consequences of their actions for the goals of the society. ‘Consequence-capture’ can be organized in a society by appropriate management (systems of evolvable constraints) that suppresses free riders and supports pro-social actions. In human societies these constraints include institutions such as systems of governance and social norms. If a self-organizing society is to emerge, consequence-capture must apply to all agents in the society, including those involved in the establishment and adaptation of institutions. If this is achieved, the result will be a fully self-organizing society in which the interests of all agents (including individuals, firms, multi-national corporations, political organizations, institutions and governments) are aligned with the interests of the society as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Subjects :
- *MANAGEMENT
*SOCIETIES
*ASSOCIATIONS, institutions, etc.
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 02604027
- Volume :
- 74
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- World Futures: The Journal of General Evolution
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 127587439
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1080/02604027.2017.1357985