ABSTRACT
A software-based system can be neatly compared with a biological entity called a superorganism. Comprising software, hardware, peopleware and their interconnectivity (such as the Internet), and requiring all to survive, the silicon superorganism is itself a part of a larger superorganism-for example, a medical system including patients, drugs, drug companies, doctors, hospitals, and health care centers; a space mission including the spacecraft, the laws of the universe, mission control, and the astronauts; a system for researching genes including funding organizations, funds, researchers, research subjects, and genes; a financial system including investors, money, politics, financial institutions, stock markets, and the health of the world economy; or it could be just the business itself.
