| The Universal Law of Increasing Complexity ““To improve the future, we must learn history” Preface This column is inspired by Professor Yuval Noah Harari’s Global History course at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Harari’s insights, combined with my personal journey, have shaped a broader understanding of poverty and prosperity throughout human history, which I share with you here.
Scientific inquiry thrives on curiosity and critique, so I welcome your thoughts and reflections on these ideas. This column integrates well-established concepts in human history—such as the Linguistic and Agricultural Revolutions, and the roles of abstract thought, myths, and gossip in human evolution. These foundational ideas are presented briefly to support the central argument. For deeper exploration, I highly recommend engaging with Yuval Noah Harari’s works and lectures, including his book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind.
A Journey from Technology to Realization
Throughout my career - as a farmer, soldier, student, and entrepreneur - I believed technological innovation was the key to solving global poverty among farmers. As the founder of an agrotech company, I developed a breakthrough crop protection technology that reduced fruit fly infestation by 99% without sprays, enabling farmers to double or triple their incomes in a single season. Yet, despite these gains, they remained impoverished.
This unsettling outcome was not an isolated experience but part of a global pattern: despite significant investments in technology and financial aid programs, millions of solonist farmers remained trapped in poverty, and developing nations struggled to lift their citizens from hardship. The realization was undeniable: technology alone cannot solve poverty. The true causes lie deeper, beyond tech innovation and capital.
Earlier Findings and a New Law
Determined to uncover the true drivers of poverty and prosperity, I embarked on a journey that demanded persistence and open-mindedness, even when exploring directions that seemed counterintuitive. I examined agricultural technologies, human history, governance, economic models, and organizational structures.
This exploration led to two key discoveries: the Prosperity Formula and the Togetherness-Prosperity Principle. Together, they revealed a fundamental truth—societal structures, not technology, drive prosperity. Technology accelerates progress, but it is societal structures that initiate and determine the potential for prosperity.
While these insights answered many questions, I sensed that something fundamental was still missing—an overarching law connecting these findings to broader global phenomena.
Then came the breakthrough: I identified a universal law that unites these principles, revealing patterns of poverty and prosperity across history and disciplines, from physics to biology and human society. I call it The Universal Law of Increasing Complexity. This law forms a scientific cornerstone, integrating the Prosperity Formula and the Togetherness-Prosperity Principle into a cohesive framework. It bridges these concepts with fundamental laws of physics, illustrating how universal patterns of complexity and structure drive human prosperity.
The Universal Law of Increasing Complexity
Since the Big Bang, complexity has emerged through transformational leaps across four structural layers:
Physics: 13.8 billion years ago, matter and energy emerged, forming subatomic particles and cosmic structures. Transformational processes created increasing physical complexity. The realm of the transformation of matter and energy is called physics.
Chemistry: 300,000 years later, atoms bonded into molecules and, through transformation, enabled complex chemical structures. The realm of transformation of atoms and molecules is called chemistry.
Biology: About 10 billion years later, molecules formed self-replicating biological structures, unlocking new levels of complexity. The realm of transformation of self-replicating organisms is called biology.
History: 70,000 years ago, Homo sapiens formed complex societal structures driven by language, culture, and organizational structures. The realm of transformation of Homo sapiens complex societies is called history.
Each new layer of complexity emerged when structures at the preceding level reached a high degree of sophistication. These advanced structures unlocked new capabilities and enabled tasks previously impossible. Crucially, all preceding layers govern and constrain higher layers. Human societies, therefore, are shaped by the principles of physics, chemistry, and biology, with additional limitations imposed by their historical and cultural evolution. This leads to a key question: How did Homo sapiens increase the complexity of its societal structures?
The Language Revolution Let’s explore one of the earliest leaps in complexity that enabled Homo sapiens to dominate the natural world. For billions of years, evolution was driven by slow genetic changes—traits like bipedalism or speech took millions of years to develop. But around 70,000 years ago, the Language Revolution marked a pivotal shift from biological to cultural evolution. This shift accelerated human adaptation through stories, myths, and shared knowledge, enabling cooperation within large groups united by a shared vision or mission. Myths conveyed shared visions—gods, kingdoms, and social laws—allowing large-scale coordination. Gossip, a form of social knowledge-sharing, expanded trust networks beyond kinship, supporting trade, alliances, and collective action. Mission-driven structures, such as LLCs (Limited Liability Companies) and Kibbutzim, transformed shared stories into collective action, consistently outperforming fragmented efforts, e.g., solonist farmers. This leap shattered the biological group-size limit encoded in our DNA, which constrained cooperation to tens of members and up to 150. The Language Revolution marked the transition from slow, biological evolution to rapid, cultural evolution - the first great leap in societal complexity. From that moment on, societies grew from thousands to millions and beyond. In summary:
Language enabled cooperation within small groups.
Myths enabled large-scale collaboration through shared beliefs.
Gossip built trust networks, supporting trade and alliances.
In light of the Universal Law of Increasing Complexity, can you identify the inherent disadvantage of the simpler structure of solonist farmers compared to much more complex organizational structures, such as LLCs and Kibbutzim?
The Law, The Formula, and The Principle Understanding how the Universal Law of Increasing Complexity, the Prosperity Formula, and the Togetherness-Prosperity Principle interconnect is key to grasping their collective power in driving societal advancement and prosperity.
* Universal Law of Increasing Complexity: Increased complexity unlocks new capabilities, but only when structured around mission-oriented goals.
* The Prosperity Formula: Quantifies how societal structures generate prosperity:
P = f(E + Si) / I P (Prosperity): Result of effective societal structures.
E (External Integration): Trade, alliances, and connectivity.
Si (Social Integration): Cohesion, cooperation, and governance.
I (Internal Disintegration): Corruption, inefficiency, and conflict. * The Togetherness-Prosperity Principle: Provides a graphical representation of the Prosperity Formula. It shows that prosperity emerges from aligning external integration and internal cohesion with mission-driven goals. It highlights that prosperity results from purposeful collective action—not from complexity alone.
This framework clarifies that while increasing complexity expands capabilities, it is mission-driven structures that convert potential into prosperity.
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