Words like "flat", "equity" and even "equality" are misleading and cause confusion perhaps because they are causal terms and not scientific terms and phrases like "equivalence class" and "fungible in some context". But on the other hand such vague idealizations function so that average people can organize around a/some common cause(s) (even if it is just a vague aesthetic sense).
I have recently wondered if the word "system" necessarily presupposes that there will be hierarchy at least in some tiny amount somewhere. After all what would an actual Communist or entirely flat type "system" look like once formalized? All living systems, most technology and even meaning have asymmetric characteristics. Can anyone name an existing thing or system that the Communist utopia would be analogous too?
I would speculate that extreme inequality and hierarchy have to do with difference between additive and multiplicative dynamics in feedback. That is, if we all lived in isolated primitive groups the difference in value creation between each tribe would be like flipping coins where each flip is entirely independent of the next. In such an environment we wouldn't have as much differentiation (specialization) and grouping (organizations). The increased reach of our social and logistical networks of interactions and trade have had a multiplicative effect on an individual's ability to generate value. In recent times these networks are becoming huge and very stratified. It is like globalization (speaking very generally) is leading towards the globe becoming a literal fractal and thus power law distributions are now showing up where they were not before.
If the human superorganism is following a trend similar to Per Bak's sand pile model ("Self-organized criticality") then perhaps the end of history will be the opposite of flat.
I have recently wondered if the word "system" necessarily presupposes that there will be hierarchy at least in some tiny amount somewhere. After all what would an actual Communist or entirely flat type "system" look like once formalized? All living systems, most technology and even meaning have asymmetric characteristics. Can anyone name an existing thing or system that the Communist utopia would be analogous too?
I would speculate that extreme inequality and hierarchy have to do with difference between additive and multiplicative dynamics in feedback. That is, if we all lived in isolated primitive groups the difference in value creation between each tribe would be like flipping coins where each flip is entirely independent of the next. In such an environment we wouldn't have as much differentiation (specialization) and grouping (organizations). The increased reach of our social and logistical networks of interactions and trade have had a multiplicative effect on an individual's ability to generate value. In recent times these networks are becoming huge and very stratified. It is like globalization (speaking very generally) is leading towards the globe becoming a literal fractal and thus power law distributions are now showing up where they were not before.
If the human superorganism is following a trend similar to Per Bak's sand pile model ("Self-organized criticality") then perhaps the end of history will be the opposite of flat.