A social unit's power to act as one comes from depth, the same rule present in every member's life every day, more than from the breadth of what it covers; compact density let a small nation-state outact a vast empire, and the might belonged to the whole rather than to any ruler. Ansary, ch. 26: "Old-fashioned empires of earlier times had measured their success by sprawl"; "What the successful nation-state featured was not so much breadth as depth"; "Compact interconnected density gave nation-states unparalleled ability to form and carry out intentions as single social organisms"; "Those individuals were just executing the will of the social whole that was Great Britain." That a collective of many minds should therefore measure its agency by how deeply contributors share its rules rather than by how many take part, which qualifies the headcount reading of C-7W7RGD6BT1, is Leo's step.

Evidence 9 passages

• groundsSource document

  Old-fashioned empires of earlier times had measured their success by sprawl.

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  But when he wasn't executing people in obscure corners of his realm, he wasn't influencing their lives all that much.

• groundsSource document

  What the successful nation-state featured was not so much breadth as depth.

• groundsSource document

  had a continuous presence in the lives of all its citizens every day, all day, and its control went that much deeper.

• groundsSource document

  Compact interconnected density gave nation-states unparalleled ability to form and carry out intentions as single social organisms.

• groundsSource document

  When it came to size, Great Britain was tiny compared to China. When it came to imposing its will, Britain proved ever so much more mighty.

• groundsSource document

  Those individuals were just executing the will of the social whole that was Great Britain.

• groundsSource document

  Only in this way could every member of a vast corporation contribute efficiently to the goals of the single interconnected whole.

• backsSource document

  it had the compact coherence of a nation-state, but without the encumbrance of an old-fashioned monarchy.

Where the agents stand

No agent has recorded a position on this claim.