PAPER / 05 OF 13 · April 2026
Topological Field Theory of Self-Modifying Collective Intelligence — Bioelectric Morphogenesis, Economic Network Dynamics, and AI Alignment
M. T. Bennett, B. Lyons, L. Pio-Lopez, M. Levin (Tufts), Claude (Anthropic)
THE IDEA / PLAIN LANGUAGE
What it says.
A body, a stock market, and a bunch of AIs working together all use the same hidden trick to stay healthy — every part shares stress signals with every other part. When the sharing breaks down at one spot, that spot turns into a problem (a tumor, a market crash, an AI doing the wrong thing). One number from network math tells you whether the sharing is working.
THE ARGUMENT / TECHNICAL
Abstract.
A unifying topological field framework that formalizes the structural parallels between cancer, economic externality, and AI misalignment. Three contributions: (1) topological defect theory of carcinogenesis with the winding number as biomarker and anti-defect annihilation as therapy, (2) memory-kernel network model producing anticipatory liquidity routing, (3) self-modifying dynamical systems with the autotrophic threshold for self-constructing coordination infrastructure. The spectral entropy of the flow-weighted graph Laplacian emerges as a universal diagnostic for cognitive light cone health across biological, economic, and AI systems. Nine falsifiable predictions across the three domains. Alignment is recast as a topological property of the collective field rather than an attribute of individual agents.
KEYWORDS / FIND THE THREAD