Every society, whether modern or traditional, technical or physical, has a social environment. This chapter links the arcane role of society to modern technology. It presents Enron and the credit meltdown as social environment errors at the information level. In the following, bear in mind that a social system is always people interacting with people, regardless of the base architecture. Social implementations tried in the physical world, like communism or capitalism, can be tried online, and those tried online can be applied offline, as the Arab spring illustrates. Next
5.1 Homo Economicus
5.4 The Tragedy of the Commons
5.5 Social Synergy
5.6 Social Defection
5.7 Social Dilemmas are Common
5.10 Social Order
5.11 Social Hijack
5.12 Social Inventions
5.13 Social Health
5.15 Social Inflation
5.16 Higher Social Levels
5.17 The Golden Rule
5.18 Free-Giving
5.20 Beyond Profit
Chapter 5. Key Terms
Chapter 5. Discussion Questions
Chapter 5. References