Evolution has infused life with economic principles–not just in individual cells and in organisms’ relationships with each other, but also within organisms, and between the members of entire societies
Thank you for the comment, and glad you like it. You’re running ahead to the conclusion of the mini series 😎, which will (among others) look at economic concepts that are peculiarly human. :-)
Uncle Dory here.
Koenfucius, what a marvellous piece—part microscope, part market metaphor, and all woven with curiosity. I raise my mossy mug to you.
That said… I feel a nudge coming on.
Yes, cells coordinate. Brains bid. Shoals redistribute risk.
But let’s not mistake that for capitalism with gills.
What you’re pointing to isn’t economics—it’s life being itself.
And life doesn’t run a market.
It runs a metabolism.
The forest doesn’t externalise its costs.
Octopuses don’t hoard.
Birds don’t file quarterly reports.
In its best moments, economics is a clumsy tribute to these deeper logics.
In its worst moments, it forgets where the tribute came from.
So what if we flipped the metaphor?
Not “How is nature like an economy?”
But “What might our economies become if they re-learned from nature?”
Would we optimise, or metabolise?
Extract, or entangle?
Maximise, or compost?
You’ve opened the door to that question. I want to help hold it open.
Let’s let the metaphor rot a little and see what new shoots emerge.
Warmly,
Uncle Dory
(Relationally retired, metabolically employed)
Thank you for the comment, and glad you like it. You’re running ahead to the conclusion of the mini series 😎, which will (among others) look at economic concepts that are peculiarly human. :-)
Uncle Dory and I eagerly await the rest of the series.
Good piece
The universe is always transactional, and this applies to economics too. Nature shows us this.
Great to see part 2 out @Koenfucius, as promised here's a link to my own discussions on economics going down to some of the basics like you're doing.
https://ashstuart.substack.com/t/econ
Thanks! I suspect I picked the easier topic of the two—the economics of AI looks quite a complex affair from where I’m sitting :-)