---
type: source
title: "Humanity as a Superorganism"
author: "Great Transition Stories"
url: https://greattransitionstories.org/patterns-of-change/humanity-as-a-superorganism/
date: 2020-01-01
domain: ai-alignment
format: essay
status: null-result
tags: [superorganism, collective-intelligence, great-transition, emergence, systems-theory]
linked_set: superorganism-sources-mar2026
processed_by: theseus
processed_date: 2026-03-10
enrichments_applied: ["human-civilization-passes-falsifiable-superorganism-criteria-because-individuals-cannot-survive-apart-from-society-and-occupations-function-as-role-specific-cellular-algorithms.md"]
extraction_model: "minimax/minimax-m2.5"
extraction_notes: "Source is philosophical/interpretive essay rather than empirical research. The core claims about humanity as superorganism are already represented in existing knowledge base claims. This source provides additional framing evidence from Bruce Lipton's biological work that extends the existing superorganism claim - specifically the 50 trillion cell analogy and the pattern-of-evolution observation. No new novel claims identified that aren't already covered by existing ai-alignment domain claims about superorganism properties."
---

# Humanity as a Superorganism

Essay from Great Transition Stories, exploring how humanity exhibits superorganism properties — emergent coordination, collective behavior, and systems-level intelligence that transcends individual cognition.

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# Humanity as a Superorganism
###  ![](http://greattransitionstories.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2016/04/375px-Earthboy.jpg)The Story:
There is a specific pattern being uncovered at the leading edges of biological science that reveals the steps by which fragmented pieces of cosmic material coalesce into single cells, which evolve into unified organisms with highly differentiated and synergistic subsystems, vital to the well-being of the whole. The next natural step in the development of humanity is to become an increasingly cooperative and dynamically integrated superorganism.
Renowned cell-biologist Bruce Lipton explains the science behind this story of great transition. Here are some highlights and from the [full article](http://greattransitionstories.org/patterns-of-change/humanity-as-superorganism-our-hopeful-future/ "Humanity as Superorganism: Our Hopeful Future"). Dr. Lipton writes:
  * Today’s leading-edge science is shattering old myths and rewriting the story that will shape the future of human civilization. A paradigm-altering synthesis of science and society reveals the planet is in the midst of an incredible evolutionary event … the emergence of a new species, a superorganism… Humanity.


  * A human being, though perceived as a single entity, is in fact, an advanced community of 50 trillion specialized amoeba-like cells. Over the last 200,000 years, evolution has endowed human beings with more awareness and intelligence. When the human nervous system reached its full potential, evolution again came to a stop point.


  * To further enhance evolution and human survival, people began to assemble in to simple communities. In its earliest form, individuals in these organizations all participated in the same hunter-gatherer activities. As human communities enlarged, it was no longer efficient for each individual to do the same job. This led to “differentiation” in which humans acquired specialized jobs and skills to support the life of the community.


  * Human communities began to assemble into tribes, city-states and eventually into nations, multi-“cellular” organizations that encouraged the expansion of human intelligence and awareness.


  * It is becoming apparent that civilization is being pushed into entering the next phase of evolution, a stage in which human beings are the equivalent of “cells” assembling into a new unity, expressed as Humanity. By definition, Humanity is a multicellular superorganism comprised of seven billion human “cells.”


  * Knowledge is derived from observing patterns. The history of evolution reveals a repetitive pattern of organisms evolving into communities of organisms, which then evolve into the creation of the next higher level of organisms (see illustration).


  * When these universal patterns are used to assess the state of human civilization, they reveal the evolution of our human species is on the path toward a hopeful and positive future.


![](http://greattransitionstories.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2018/06/Lipton-Evolution-Chart.jpeg)
from Bruce Lipton, used with permission
## Videos
#### Being a Cell of Humanity & Letting Go of the Illusion of Separation 
Dr. Bruce Lipton describes how the wisdom of the human body is relevant to our social body. We can see ourselves as a living cell in the planetary human body and let go of the illusion of separation.
#### Celebrating Crisis 
Dr. Elisabet Sahtouris is an evolutionary biologist and she speaks about crisis as an essential evolutionary driver to higher levels of creativity and consciousness.
#### The Evolution of the Butterfly 
In “The Evolution of the Butterfly,” Dr. Bruce Lipton narrates the process of a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly. In the caterpillar, every cell has a job and is part of the economy of the organism… until that economy grinds to a halt. If humanity is in “late-stage caterpillar,” what might come next?
## Books
  * Bruce Lipton and Steve Bhaerman, [Spontaneous Evolution: Our Positive Future and a Way to Get There From Here](http://www.amazon.com/Spontaneous-Evolution-Positive-Future-There/dp/1401926312/ref) (2010)
  * Elisabet Sahtouris, [Earth Dance: Living Systems in Evolution](http://www.amazon.com/EarthDance-Systems-Evolution-Elisabet-Sahtouris/dp/0595130674/ref) (2000)


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## Key Facts
- Bruce Lipton describes human body as 'community of 50 trillion specialized amoeba-like cells'
- Human evolution progressed: individuals → hunter-gatherer communities → tribes → city-states → nations
- Lipton describes humanity as 'a multicellular superorganism comprised of seven billion human cells'
- Evolution follows 'repetitive pattern of organisms evolving into communities of organisms, which then evolve into the creation of the next higher level of organisms'
- Source is from Great Transition Stories, published 2020-01-01
