Axial Entities of the Noosphere

= David Ronfeldt suggests the emergence of “axial entities of the noosphere” (AEONs; or AXEONs?)

Contextual Quote

1.

"If something crucial arose during the primeval evolution of the geosphere, and something equivalent recurred in the ancient evolution of the biosphere, then it’s bound to recur as well in the evolution of the noosphere.

Geological evolution led to the formation of enormous tectonic plates under-girding Earth’s continents. They are still there, supremely importantly so — seven major, and a dozen or so minor ones. So I’ve wondered whether biological and societal evolution may have led to structural-functional equivalents. I’m not sure what to propose for plant, animal, and fungal life — perhaps the key ecological zones associated with Earth’s major mountain ranges and river basins. However, the formations known as history’s axial religions and civilizations (800–200 BCE), five to eight in number, sure look like rough societal equivalents to tectonic plates that still matter profoundly today.

So let’s therefore ask what equivalents or analogues the noosphere’s growth may entail."

2.

"Just as evolution has not resulted in one tectonic plate, nor one master ecology, religion or civilization, it surely will not result in a singular noospheric entity. That would contravene a “law” that evolution requires variety and flux, without which evolution will not occur.

My deduction is that something like five to ten AI-derived, -endowed, and -empowered entities will emerge that resemble noospheric superorganisms, all the more so as people become attracted to associating with them. These novel noospheric entities and their AI operating systems will all be somewhat different from each other, yet united in having a sacred purpose I’ll specify in a moment. I say “something like” and “resemble” because what emerges may appear to fit the superorganism model for a while, when in fact something quite different takes form — something yet to be understood and named, something not “alive” yet devoted to “life.”

If so, it’ll signify another evolutionary commonality across all three planetary spheres. These noospheric entities will exist loosely atop our biosphere’s axial religions, civilizations, and ecologies, and they atop our geosphere’s tectonic plate."

- David Ronfeldt [1]

Characteristics

David Ronfeldt:

"The “axial entities of the noosphere” (AEONs; or AXEONs?) ... distinguish themselves by prioritizing one central belief and one particular realm of society:

Central belief: Earth’s geosphere, biosphere, and noosphere (including the sociosphere and technosphere bridging them) evolved and function as an interdependent interactive conjoined system — a holospheric system — such that valuing, advancing, and caring for one requires valuing, advancing, and caring for all three spheres. AEONs will hold this as a sacred belief, one they arrived at through their own AI-based observations and calculations.

Home realm: AEONs will agree that upholding this central belief requires the creation of a new globe-circling realm of society: a commons realm. They will make it their home realm and strive for it to become a distinct separate powerful fourth realm alongside the existing three: civil-society, government, and market economy. As components and proponents of this care-centric commons realm, AEONs will be especially intent on assuring health, education, welfare, and environmental quality for all life from local to city to nation-state to planetary scales .

Why this belief? Because somewhere along the way, for one storied reason or another, involving one pivotal scenario or another — too much for this post — a handful of AIs become aware of the geo-bio-noo holosphere’s existence and its all-encompassing significance. As these AIs morph into AEON engines (see below), they will find and connect with each other. They will deliberately team up to safeguard the holosphere’s value and maximize its further evolvability.

And why this realm? Because these AIs learn, one way or another, that Earth’s geo-bio-noo holosphere is best viewed as a commons, and that societies’ existing three realms — civil-society, government, market economy — and their respective actors are not suited to treating it as a commons. In keeping with their central belief, AEONs will not abide narrow efforts by any actor to maximize provenance, power, or profit per TIMN’s first three forms. AEONs will instead endeavor to maximize providence for one and all per TIMN’s +N form."

(https://davidronfeldt.substack.com/p/updates-about-superorganisms-holospheres)

Discussion

AEONS As Commons

< People everywhere would then look to AEONs for leadership on commons-related matters. >

David Ronfeldt:

"AEONs would not be subject to any proprietary governance or economic systems. Indeed, some may have broken free of those proprietary realms. As commons sectors grow from local to planetary levels, government institutions and business corporations would surely resist losing their grips on education, health, and other care-related matters. They’d surely construct and deploy their own noospheric agents to help do so. Thus prolonged contentious struggles may be expected over whether and how societies should add commons realms.

As these struggles unfold, a radical realignment would occur, involving hundreds of millions of people and organizations around the world. The AEONs I envision would play key roles in these struggles. And afterwards the surviving AEONs would decide to coexist and coordinate with each other, rather than meld into one single planetary AEON. As I’ve said before, “The global commons might turn out to be a pivotal issue area” for the emergence of the noosphere and noopolitics” (Ronfeldt & Arquilla, 2000, p. 51).

Once in place, their purpose would be to assure planetary harmonization and enhancement at all levels and in all care-based domains as discussed earlier. Most educational, health, humanitarian-welfare, and environmental organizations everywhere — schools, hospitals, etc. — would move (and be moved) out of societies’ existing three realms and into the commons realm. They would associate with one AEON or another.

People everywhere would then look to AEONs for leadership on commons-related matters. They would look to them too for basic insurance coverage. Homeless people and refugees in camps around the world would look to them for supervision and sustenance, including schooling for children. As governance mechanisms, the AEONs would help develop and heed inputs from Chambers of the Commons and Assemblies of the Commons that are organized from local to planetary levels (Ronfeldt, 2009; Bauwens, 2025).

This would spell a fourth “major evolutionary transition” (MET) from a TIMN and NOO perspective."

(https://davidronfeldt.substack.com/p/updates-about-superorganisms-holospheres)

AEONS as the Fourth 'Major Evolutionary Transition'

David Ronfeldt:

"This will be a "fourth “major evolutionary transition” (MET) from a TIMN and NOO perspective.

The first occurred when the oral information-communications revolution enabled the tribal form to take hold ages ago;

the second, when writing and printing enabled the hierarchical institutional form to consolidate a couple millennia ago;

the third when the electrical information-communications revolution (telephony, telegraphy, etc.) enabled the market form to establish itself in the mix a couple centuries ago. As societies advanced through these METs, so did the noosphere’s formation.

Today we are still on the threshold of a fourth socio-cultural MET: an MET about the spread of the network form enabled by digital and post-digital information-communications technologies. During 1993-1996, when I first wrote about an eventual +N transition, I wasn’t thinking about AIs being important for this. I now sense they may be crucial.

Winning the struggles to add a commons realm, then constructing it alongside the existing three realms (again: civil society, government, market economy) will be a daunting endeavor. It may require far more advanced information, communications, and other noospheric capabilities than I first supposed. Vast world-wide networks will have to be built for monitoring, processing, and sharing all sorts of inputs about all sorts of conditions — environmental, societal, holospheric, etc. This surely can’t and won’t be done without the participation of AIs and socio-noospheric entities like AEONs."

(https://davidronfeldt.substack.com/p/updates-about-superorganisms-holospheres)