What's the difference between human consciousness and corporate consciousness?

Questions such as the following have haunted me for my entire life:

Why are people needlessly starving?
Why are people suffering because of wars that seem unnecessary?
Why are human rights so often a mockery?

I believe I've found one critical piece to the puzzle and according to my understanding, it's undisputed by science:

Hive minds have a different consciousness than the individual consciousnesses that make them up.

The Groupish Gene: Hive psychology and the Origins of Morality and Religion


www.youtube.com...

I believe the Borg analogy is really good. But, I came to understand something recently that made it all more clear for me.


www.youtube.com...

In the following speech, I'm going to highlight the parts that I believe refer to human consciousness in purple and the parts that I believe refer to corporate consciousness in red.

Arthur Jensen: You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, Mr. Beale, and I won't have it! Is that clear? You think you've merely stopped a business deal. That is not the case! The Arabs have taken billions of dollars out of this country, and now they must put it back! It is ebb and flow, tidal gravity! It is ecological balance! You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples. There are no nations. There are no peoples. There are no Russians. There are no Arabs. There are no third worlds. There is no West. There is only one holistic system of systems, one vast and immane, interwoven, interacting, multivariate, multinational dominion of dollars. Petro-dollars, electro-dollars, multi-dollars, reichmarks, rins, rubles, pounds, and shekels. It is the international system of currency which determines the totality of life on this planet. That is the natural order of things today. That is the atomic and subatomic and galactic structure of things today! And YOU have meddled with the primal forces of nature, and YOU... WILL... ATONE! Am I getting through to you, Mr. Beale? You get up on your little twenty-one inch screen and howl about America and democracy. There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM, and ITT, and AT&T, and DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide, and Exxon. Those are the nations of the world today. What do you think the Russians talk about in their councils of state, Karl Marx? They get out their linear programming charts, statistical decision theories, minimax solutions, and compute the price-cost probabilities of their transactions and investments, just like we do. We no longer live in a world of nations and ideologies, Mr. Beale. The world is a college of corporations, inexorably determined by the immutable bylaws of business. The world is a business, Mr. Beale. It has been since man crawled out of the slime. And our children will live, Mr. Beale, to see that... perfect world... in which there's no war or famine, oppression or brutality. One vast and ecumenical holding company, for whom all men will work to serve a common profit, in which all men will hold a share of stock. All necessities provided, all anxieties tranquilized, all boredom amused. And I have chosen you, Mr. Beale, to preach this evangel.
Howard Beale: Why me?
Arthur Jensen: Because you're on television, dummy. Sixty million people watch you every night of the week, Monday through Friday.
Howard Beale: I have seen the face of God.
Arthur Jensen: You just might be right, Mr. Beale.
www.imdb.com...

Note the differences between the red sections and the purple sections in the speech:

Corporations wipe out all human values and replace them with corporate values (mostly whatever will maximize profit). In the speech, Arthur Jensen was attempting to preach a philosophy, he admitted that by calling it "this evangel" at the end. He was attempting to assimilate Howard Beale into his collective. It's a perfect example of a Borg in action. And to make it completely clear, after being furious with Beale, Jensen becomes gentle with Beale after Beale agrees to join Jenson's collective. Note how Jensen calls Beale "dummy" which is a term for PUPPET. That's right, Beale agreed to become a puppet for the Borg and at that moment, Jensen's fury disappeared and he became reassuring and kind. Jensen was furious when he told Beale, "You are an old man" but he was soothing and comforting when called him a "dummy." Why would one old man call another old man an "old man" (using the term as a pejorative)? It's because Jensen couldn't stand the fact that Beale was a MAN, he could only stand him after he became a dummy/puppet/Borg drone.

The speech above is incredibly similar IMHO to the following:

The Borg: Captain Jean-Luc Picard, you lead the strongest ship of the Federation fleet. You speak for your people.
Capt. Picard: I have nothing to say to you; and I will resist you with my last ounce of strength.
The Borg: Strength is irrelevant. Resistance is futile. We wish to improve ourselves. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service ours.
Capt. Picard: Impossible. My culture is based on freedom and self-determination.
The Borg: Freedom is irrelevant. Self-determination is irrelevant. You must comply.
Capt. Picard: We would rather die.
The Borg: Death is irrelevant. Your archaic cultures are authority-driven. To facilitate our introduction into your societies, it has been decided that a human voice will speak for us in all communications. You have been chosen to be that voice.
www.imdb.com...

What does the above mean to me? I don't believe it's possible to use human logic or human values to reason with corporations.

a reply to: Profusion

Good thread. So, do you think there is a difference between corporate mentality and tribal mentality. Are there not existential similarities between them?

originally posted by: TerryMcGuire
a reply to: Profusion

Good thread. So, do you think there is a difference between corporate mentality and tribal mentality. Are there not existential similarities between them?

I believe it's possible to generalize about corporations because they almost always exist to maximize profit. But, even when they don't exist for that purpose, their essential purpose in almost every case is a goal involving constantly trying to seize an increasing amount of power. Because of that kind of sameness, I believe it's totally fair to generalize about "corporate consciousness."

This is probably a non-politically correct answer but my belief is that "tribal mentality" can't be generalized nearly as much because it's clear to me that it depends on the race that you're discussing. Aboriginal Australians are an example to me of a "tribal mentality" that has no resemblance to a corporation. I believe that's a much more complicated topic that isn't related to this thread.

I answered your question, would you please answer mine please? What's the difference between human consciousness and corporate consciousness?

As long as there is money around an no gov/imperial control, there will be corporations.

a reply to: Profusion

This is such an intriguing topic.

The question itself answers questions I ask myself everyday about the world - some of which you used in your OP.

The "Hive mind" and corporate mentality takes over groups of people and resources, allowing this metaphorical "Hive" to become mobile and destructive, swallowing up people and money around it.

But if that same hive mentality could be used in a positive (like living off the grid communities and a different form of bartering/medium of trade were used) perhaps it could also gain momentum and become stronger like corporations do

I think the difference is the same as that between sheep and wolves.

a reply to: ProfusionWhen I think about corporate consciousness I think about it in relationship to my individual consciousness, where is the line drawn, and who draws it. I think in the past that that there might not have been a distinctive line between the individual and the tribe. So I have read.
I am one of those who prefers thinking of consciousness as being the nature of existence rather than as only a product of our synapsis. For me, corporate consciousness is a case of how much of the individual consciousness is molded by the corporate structure. See, I think that consciousness manifests in relationship to the cultural memes within which it manifests.

I think that cultural memes can be very encompassing in that they,for the most part, dictate the formation of an individuals consciousness. That culture being tribal or corporate racial, national, etc. As to your question, I think that corporate consciousness is a form of human consciousness, just as is an individuals consciousness. And here, for me at least, it comes back to who draws that distinctive line. Us or the corporations. But maybe I am getting to far afield her.

The Ned Beatty clip is my favorite move clip in the world. That one scene shook me to my core and cleanly severed my individual consciousness from anything that would remotely resemble corporate consciousness. That scene is when I drew the line.

Really good thread, Profusion.

I'm also a big fan of Star Trek:TNG. The Borg were one of the most terrifying enemies ever conceived- something about their inability to feel compassion or sympathy, combined with their technological makeup- like an unstoppable force sweeping through space, devouring every race and everything it could to improve on itself. And those who were conquered weren't really destroyed, but were assimilated into the whole, trapped in an unthinking, unaware kind of living death. Freaky stuff.

And as for Network, what an incredible and prophetic film! Predicted with surprising accuracy many aspects of modern society (Western society in particular), and the ways technology would change us socially. I mean, you've got the sensationalized entertainment-disguised-as-news channels, accurate representations of reality TV, even the breakneck pace at which new shows are discovered, digested and then forgotten... truly amazing.

As for the comparison of the Borg to Corporations, it's dead on. I've long believed that once a company incorporates and sells its value in Stock, there's no longer any motivation whatsoever except to make profits AT ANY COST. Also, no one feels responsible for bad things that happen as a result of decisions made in the interest of profit; for the lives, families, towns, ecosystems, antiquities, values, or anything else that gets chewed up and spit out by the corporate giant, of which each individual employee is only a tiny part. You've probably heard politicians say, 'Corporations are people!' Corporate personhood- the idea that because a corporation is made up of countless human employees and stockholders, it should have the same rights as a human- is absolutely chilling to me.

And winding over, under, around, and through all of it is the almighty dollar, that simple seductive idea unequaled in its ability to bring masses of humans under control. Generation after generation, born and dying, all tricked into believing that the biggest and most important thing- the only thing that really matters- isn't enjoying their fleeting time here in this reality, it's not love or family, it isn't even ensuring the betterment and survival of the entire human race. It's trading in their TIME- the most precious resource of all- for an imaginary idea called money.

Should the control system that is fiat currency, banking, and usury be destroyed? Should we all stop playing along?? Most definitely. Will it ever happen?

Maybe on the day we each go to the window, open it up, and yell out "I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GONNA TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!"


Sorry for ranting & rambling, got a little carried away.

I don't think you can make the case. While there IS such a thing as a "corporate culture", bits and pieces (people and companies) are free to leave. Five or six people at the top can dictate the culture.

Your brain and consciousness does not (if it's healthy) work like this. The part of your neural network containing information about "dogs" (for example) will not suddenly rebel and refuse to work with the rest of your awareness (unless you've had a stroke and then you're unlikely to recognize most things.)

Individuals are integrated. One part of your brain does not hate (for example) industrial music while another part loves industrial music. But as anyone who's ever worked in a corporation can tell you, they're not a cohesive entity and there's a lot of infighting over who gets what resources and who's responsible for what.

You'd have a much easier time making the case for a religious group, since the more rigid control their participants' lives in ways that corporations can't (including when to have sex, what to eat, and what kind of underwear to wear.) Even then, though, it suffers from the same problems as above.

a reply to: Profusion

A lot of people find it easier to let others do their thinking for them. This has apparently been true for thousands of years. The people who are good at getting their way, have their thoughts implemented.

37 words makes your case pretty well.

Kev