    13

    ever

    ything.  The one notion they concurred on enthusiastically was

    that bureaucratic agencies--such as government

    departments--mindlessly and inexorably attempt to increase their

    power, their budget, and their size.  Like hungry amoebas, social

    groups have an automatic desire to grow.

    Schlesinger and Buckley had noticed a mechanism that guides

    the behavior of every kind of social pack, from a cluster of converts in a

    brand new religion to the followers of a fresh scientific idea or the

    patriotic citizens of a state.  Jeffrey S. Wicken, of Penn State University,

    feels that this hunger is characteristic of all evolving complexes of

    components--from genes and memes to massive ecological systems.

    He says, "for any evolving system, innovations and strategies that focus

    resources into the system, while at the same time stabilizing the web of

    energetic interconnections of that system, will be selected for."20

    Superorganisms are hungry creatures, attempting to break down

    the boundaries of their competitors, chew off chunks of their

    opponents' substance and digest and redistribute it as part of

    themselves.  Human conglomerations have an advantage over those of

    other species, for in their voracity they are driven by two henchmen:

    the meme and the animal  brain.

    Egged on by its co-conspirators, the ravenous voice of a

    superorganism  calls out to charismatic men and women.  Disguised as

    revelation or inspiration, it has spoken to humans as diverse as

    Mohammed, St. Paul, Moses, Hitler, Joan of Arc, Mahatma Gandhi,

    Saddam Hussein, Lenin and the Ayatollah Khomeini.  Its message

    varies.  But under the many disguises is one imperative: gather a group

    together and awaken them with my words. Take all those who find

    themselves in the condition which I describe and weld them into a

    mighty force which will impose its dominion on a large swatch of the

    world.

    The voice of the superorganism calls out to those on a lower level

    as well.  To them, it dictates sacrifice.  The converts have a sublime

    perception of truth and feel caught up in a frenzied oneness with some

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