I will briefly comment on your excellent and enjoyable responses but I have something more important to say below. Concerning the comments: First, distributed systems perform much better than centralized ones for most tasks. Yes, ‘single function or project or purpose’ may be the family of tasks for centralization but it is unclear which came first the oligarchy or the single purpose (by the way, the chicken and egg problem has been convincingly solved by science! At some point a mutated non-chicken egg brought about the first chicken). From a ‘distance’, every distributed system looks like one unit. At a small enough scale, it is somewhat arbitrary what we consider to be a decision and what we consider to be a reaction. At a small enough scale, everything is protocol/genetic/instinctive. By contrast, at a large enough scale, many things look centralized. Second, the ‘army’ description was based on two actual armies in conflict of which I’ve read several books about.

Here’s what I really want to say:

For a society, the arts and the humanities are the most precious part of their existence. It is how a society feels and hopes. It is there that a society’s pain and joy are first expressed in an unfettered way and that its hopes and dreams are created. Next comes philosophy, being familiar with both art, history and logic, enunciates and formalizes the present but also the paths to the future in a way that marries the emotions with logic, the unspeakable to the mundane. It is philosophy that first identifies and presents the mental options or paths to society. It plays a fundamental role in channeling a society towards specific visions. Finally, choosing one path, science understands and engineering uses this understanding to plan and transform society.

Here, I’m using art, philosophy, science and engineering as a perspective rather than as specific disciplines and applied to society rather than the material world. Anyone can participate in any of those perspectives but there are some who excel at one or the other of those perspectives due to their talent, training, inclination or all three.

All human societies face a dire future. Nuclear war and climate change loom as the two most ominous challenges. We need to choose our paths to the future well. “Occupy Wall Street” are among the ‘artists’ who have expressed both the pain and the hopes towards a better society. They need philosophers then scientists and engineers. You have expressed interest in the “search for meaning” and that view has resonated with me ever since I’ve read Frankl some 40 to 50 years ago. To me, you look like a master of the philosophic perspective. We need philosophies of the future that enunciates the hopes of those who wish to have searchers for meaning being widespread and that can formalize such philosophies and in sufficient solidity that scientists and engineers can build on.