So yes, the economy must be compatible with the ecological systems (of all scales from organism to ecosystem) in which we participate, because the network of reputation/credit and trust that supports the economy is just part of the networks of interdependence and mutual support that form the wealth of these ecological systems.

Another of my favorite memes that’s going around lately (thanks to Sheri) is the particle/wave duality. Sometimes we think identity refers to the id-entity (particle), so that wealth appears attached to the particles as “property.” However, I find it useful to see identity as the sets of relationships (waves) through which we are known within various systems, so that wealth is embodied in the relationships. Collectively, our merged, overlapping waves become networks of reputation, trust, mutual support, etc. Within various communities and ecosystems we are known in different ways (according to the various value-systems of the communities/ecosystems), so we find that we have identities relative to each of our communities. For the physicists among us, this splitting of identity is analogous to gauge theory.

I have built Regenerosity as a tool to make visible all of these various networks of relationships, so that we can re-imagine our economy to become compatible with all of the systems in which it is embedded. As new ideas connecting identity, reputation and currency come up here, I would like to implement them in Regenerosity, so that we can play with them and see how they might work together.