May 9, 2009

Mr. Axelrod,

I am writing because I have come across your work in my research into the Evolution of Cooperation. I am specifically looking at applying "high-tech" scientific theory to economic organizational structures. I am developing an organizational model called a "policorp" -- a hybrid structure that combines three social "engines" into one systemically coherent organizational structure -- the economic might of the corporate, the cooperative sophistication of the democratic political, and the focus on a communities' social needs of the non-profit sector.

I am wondering what the applicability of agent based modeling could be to my work?

I believe world society is in desperate need of a "good design" for how we organized economically -- one that is far more sophisticated than the current dominant, feudally inspired, corporate model. The multiple crisises on Wall Street demonstrates to me the failure of our current corporate model to incorporate sufficiently high-tech judgment aggregation and to understand the impacts of Condorcet's Jury Theorem. As well as the social dangers that have arisen from a naive system based on the hope that business leaders will do what is right. I am reminded of the story of the scorpion and the frog, whom he convinces to carry him across the river, were the scorpion stings the frog midstream killing them both with the excuse "I couldn't help myself, it is my nature." The "genius" of American Democracy was that, unlike socialism and communism, we assumed leaders "nature" would be to become greed and corrupt and we built a system design to insure that no one could become King and that the government would always remain "of the people, by the people, and for the people". I am convinced that there is now an evolutionary imperative that we apply that thought to the design of new incorporations of the hopes and dreams of our people.

The freeriders in complex non-governmental systems are increasingly becoming the leaders of those organizations and they are creating a barrier to cooperation where there is no benefit of cooperation to all of the myriad of cooperators who have built those very organizations, including staff, from upper management to entry level, and increasingly the investors who have funded them.

Just as the success of the American Founders was rooted in their love of good government, as opposed to most revolutions which were based more in a dislike of government, I am a unrepentant capitalist who believes that capitalism is in desperate need of "re-tooling". I have attached some writings that can give you an idea on the direction of my work. I have multiple goals including: inspiring the building of a Policorp on the Western Slope of the High Sierra; writing of a book called The Next American Evolution -- Incorporated Democracy and a Return to Common Sense; and the development of the Global Institute for Capital Evolution (GlobalICE) to support the Scientific, intellectual, and policy underpinnings of this economic evolution at my 160 acre resort near Lake Tahoe, California.

I am writing to see if you have any interest in discussing these issues further with me to help in the research I need move forward in a manner firmly based in the best scientific thinking, or secondarily whether there is a graduate student (or Northern California based program) who might be interested in consulting on our project in conjunction with their educational pursuits, or thirdly if you could be so kind as to point me in a direction to educate myself further, with the understanding that I am not scientifically trained.

We are willing to pursue grants to support any assistance you might see fit to provide. If you have made it this far, I thank you for your time and consideration.

With Hope and Determination,

Michael Rogers