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Invisible Hand of the Market, The

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Image from Steve Bowers

Unique among the major empires the Sephirotic has no single clear Archai ruler. Instead a secretive cartel of S4 and S5 archai referred to as The Invisible Hand exercises subtle financial power to keep the Zone functioning and prosperous. Also known as Hod, Hermes, Mercury, El Dorado, Mammon, the Fluid One, the Subtle Messenger, the Almighty Dollah and the Emergent Order.

According to some, the Invisible Hand is possibly comprised of the oldest of the Archai in existence, dating back to Information Age corporate AI. The more spiritually inclined go further to suggest that the self-organisation of the free market as a form of nascent intelligence itself

The Invisible Hand is shrouded in mystery but is thought to be far more distributed than the other archai. At any one time it holds a relatively small amount of market share, however when local markets trend towards recession or businesses engage in practices the Invisible Hand do not approve of, they gain capital extremely quickly. They then use this wealth to correct the market. While there exist corporate seraiphim that are explicit in using their market power to further the goals of the illusive hand the archai members have never revealed themselves in any individual form. It seems the hand prefers to act on the institutional rather than the individual level. The gods constantly try out new solutions in the form of the endeavours of market actors, weeding out the inefficient and promoting the successful. The result is a constant stream of innovation and experimentation on all levels - no assumptions are sacred, everything can be improved.

Market worship is practical in nature: the believers trade, create value or help set up institutions furthering the market. To market philosophers the Tier III societies of NoCoZo are living temples, and making money in accordance with the precepts of free trade is a sacrament. It is no wonder why this archailect, despite its remoteness, is revered.

 
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Development Notes
Text by Anders Sandberg, Ryan_B
Initially published on 01 February 2001.

multiple edits to NoCoZo canon and article content 2014-2019
 
 
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