Dung beetles and Notepad apps remove all paraphernalia

 CorporateNature No 135

1. Dung Beetle

Dung beetles are known for collecting dung and rolling it into balls which they use for food or for breeding their larvae in it. By acting out this behaviour, they play an important role in nutrient recycling: removing waste and improving soil structure and fertility. They create a level playing field out of the diverse processes in life.

2. Notepad App

The humble Notepad app performs a similar role in the computer world. By removing all formatting, fonts and styles, the Notepad programme removes the distracting bells and whistles of the internet era. This allows you to concentrate on the ideas and real writing can flourish. It is a very egalitarian and meritocratic type of tool because it makes everything equal in format. 

3. Death: the ultimate leveller

People may be rich or poor while alive, but once they are dead they are equally dead and nothing else matters. This is a universal truth we often forget or choose to ignore: It doesn’t matter how much “crap” (material or otherwise) you accumulate in a lifetime, the outcome is all the same.

Dung Beetle (image source: Wikipedia)

"Life after death" springs eternal in nature, science and the real economy

The death of an old tree leads to a spurt of growth of young saplings; The death of a leading scientist brings new names on stage.

"Science advances one death at a time" - Niels Bohr

By George ILIEV

The death of a tree in a forest opens up the canopy and allows young sapling access to sunlight.

A similar phenomenon has been proven to exist in the various branches of science, according to MIT research (In death, there is life: Big-name scientists may end up stifling progress in their fields, reported by The Economist). It turns out that "the death of a dominant mind in a field liberates others with different points of view to make their cases more freely". This positive effect is not the result of redistribution of research funding that may previously have been monopolised by the famous scientist. It is rather due to the attention of the scientific community that the established authority used to attract ("intellectual oxygen") and possibly the unwillingness of younger scientists to challenge the established authority. This supports a century-old quote by Physics Nobel Prize winner Niels Bohr: "Science advances one death at a time."

Thus, in the forests of science, it is not access to nutrients underground that spurs the outburst of new growth; it is the open space above.

A similar phenomenon exists in macroeconomics and was first observed by US economist Mancur Olson. He explained the post-war economic miracle in West Germany, Italy and Japan with the destruction of ossified socio-economic institutional hierarchies. A sharp institutional break (such as defeat in war and occupation by a foreign power) spurs economic growth by destroying the existing distribution coalitions, i.e. vested interests. But then several decades later, new distribution coalitions will have emerged and, in turn, would need to be reformed or destroyed to let the economy move forward.

The king is dead. Long live the king.