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by David Runciman
Premium summary · Opens in the app · 30 min read
We live in a world run by creatures we made but never fully understood. They collect our taxes, employ us, protect us, spy on us, feed us, entertain us, and occasionally destroy us. They outlive us, outspend us, and outthink us. They are not gods, and they are not animals. They are something stranger: artificial persons that we built from rules, documents, and collective habits, then set loose upon the world.
**Author:** David Runciman
**Estimated Reading Time:** 45 minutes
**What You'll Learn:**
- Why states and corporations are not just groups of people but artificial persons with their own agency - How these entities think, act, and make decisions in ways no individual human can - The hidden bargain we have made with powerful institutions and what it costs us - How artificial intelligence fits into a world already dominated by artificial agents - What choices remain for human beings in a world shaped by inhuman forces
**Who This Book Is For:**
This book is for anyone who senses that something profound has shifted in the relationship between ordinary people and the institutions that govern their lives. It is for readers who want to understand why governments and corporations behave the way they do, why they seem both indispensable and untrustworthy, and what the rise of artificial intelligence means for a world already populated by artificial persons. If you have ever felt that the systems around you operate according to logics that have little to do with human flourishing, this book will help you see why.
We live in a world run by creatures we made but never fully understood. They collect our taxes, employ us, protect us, spy on us, feed us, entertain us, and occasionally destroy us. They outlive us, outspend us, and outthink us. They are not gods, and they are not animals. They are something stranger: artificial persons that we built from rules, documents, and collective habits, then set loose upon the world. The name for these strange creatures is states and corporations. David Runciman's central observation is unsettling in its simplicity. We tend to think of governments and companies as collections of human beings pursuing human goals. But that is not how they actually function. A state is not just millions of citizens. A corporation is not just its employees and shareholders. These entities have their own logic, their own interests, and their own ways of acting that cannot be reduced to the intentions of any individual within them. Consider what a state can do. It can commit to paying debts that will come due long after every current citizen is dead. It can wage wars that no single person would choose to fight. It can hold secrets that no individual could be trusted to keep. It can make promises that bind generations yet unborn. None of these capacities belong to human beings as such. They belong to the artificial person we call the state. Corporations possess similar powers. A company can own property, sign contracts, sue and be sued, and persist for centuries. It can pursue goals that no employee actually wants. It can cause…
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Get the complete summary in the appStates and corporations are artificial persons, not just groups of people. They have their own agency, their own logic,
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"The Handover" is a strong fit if you want practical ideas around politics, technology, history, especially themes like states and corporations are artificial persons, not just groups of people. they have their own agency, their own logic,; groups can think things that no individual member thinks. this can produce wisdom or folly, depending on how the group i. The MinuteRead summary distills these concepts into a focused read, whether you're deciding whether to buy the book or applying its lessons at work.
Motivated to help readers with the name for these strange creatures is states and corporations, David Runciman wrote “The Handover” to package those ideas for a fast, focused read. In “The Handover”, David Runciman focuses on the name for these strange creatures is states and corporations. Through “The Handover”, David Runciman distills the core ideas on politics into lessons readers can absorb in a single short sitting. Readers turn to this work when they want David Runciman's perspective on th…
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