Network collapse

Experiments with multi-agent systems have inspired a generation of Techno-utopian thinkers, who believe they are a blueprint for decentralised societies governed by algorithm rather than institution. But these simulations concentrate on rational, computational behaviours: signalling, calculating optimal paths, and converging on consensus through statistical aggregation.

These studies explore the gaps in this vision by extending the same modelling approach to include dynamics inspired by epistemic vices. Even modest additions of these behaviours produce systems that are far more fragile and easily destabilised than Techno-utopian models suggest. Human societies are not merely systems of control and coordination, but domains shaped as much by storytelling, art, and morality as by rivalry, corruption, and even evil—forces the Techno-utopians would rather ignore.