Corporate Brain Power

[David Randolph]

Here is a comment on the DarkReading web site:

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Comment by DeoneHoonoz Aug 19, 2010, 11:12 AM EDT

It happens all the time. The bigger an organization gets, the smaller its brains become: The dinosaur syndrome: a gigantic creature, with a brain the size of a pea.

GM, Microsoft, AT&T, US Air Force…
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Personally, I think that the problem is how the larger the organization, the more places things "leak". There are more people who will subvert their jobs; more people who will be criminal; more people who will follow directions without thinking and thus open security holes; etc. In short, human beings are an imperfect tool for getting stuff done - the larger the corporation, the more they have to work around the defects in the tool.

[The Gorn]

How does military security even work in an age of outlets like Wikileaks?

The Islamofascists can keep secrets much better than we can. So can most tyrant based governments.

Obviously, the days of the US being an effective empire are numbered. Or, we will have to completely rethink and discard the concepts of personal freedom and liberty and every soldier, maybe even every citizen, will have to submit to polygraph style testing regularly.

[The Original Henry]

Or, we will have to completely rethink and discard the concepts of personal freedom and liberty and every soldier, maybe even every citizen, will have to submit to polygraph style testing regularly.

I think those are the things that made us an empire to begin with. A population of fiercely independent people who could rally around those ideals when threatened. Now we're just a bunch of lazy slobs sucking at the government teat.

Come to think of it, the country is a perfect parallel to the corporation on this topic.

[John Masterson]

When humans have it too easy, they get soft.

But I have hope we can get toughened up again once we get our butt kicked a time or two.

[The Gorn]

When humans have it too easy, they get soft.

But I have hope we can get toughened up again once we get our butt kicked a time or two.

The problem being - modern society and the economy reward extreme role, task and job specialization. You're paid and rewarded for doing your job and paying attention to little else.

I don't see any way we will "get tougher". Being tough implies being independent-minded, and that's usually enough to get you kicked out of "respectable society" or at least to heavily marginalize you.