Technogen Metabolism: Navigating Human-Technology Co-Evolution

My Overview...

Our modern era is quietly shaped by artificial entities known as Synthetic Sovereigns—invisible authorities governing through legal, technological, and economic frameworks. These entities profoundly impact human behaviors, societies, and planetary health, creating conditions known as Technogenic Dysmetabolism (TGD), a systemic imbalance affecting our physical health, cognitive well-being, and ecological integrity.

This document introduces Technogen Metabolism (TGM) as a clear, dynamic framework for understanding how humans and technology interact, continuously transforming each other across three deeply connected dimensions: Corporate, Personal, and Mental. Recognizing these interactions helps us grasp the unseen impacts of technology, enabling informed reflection rather than unthinking consumption.

...Campbell Auer, August 3, 2025

What is Technogen Metabolism?

Technogen Metabolism describes how human entities—organizations, individuals, and minds—continuously absorb, process, and respond to digital stimuli (technogens), much like a biological organism metabolizes nutrients. This dynamic interplay results in either healthy adaptation or harmful dysfunction.

Three Key Dimensions

1. Corporate Metabolism – How organizations integrate and evolve with technology, shaping economies and societies.

2. Personal Metabolism – How individuals interact daily with technology, influencing health and lifestyles.

3. Mental Metabolism – How technology impacts cognitive processes, mental health, attention, and memory.

These dimensions are tightly interconnected, each influencing and feeding into the others, creating continuous feedback loops that shape our collective experience.

Synthetic Sovereigns: Originators of Dysmetabolism

Technogenic Dysmetabolism (TGD) is not random; it is systematically generated by Synthetic Sovereigns, powerful artificial entities governing invisibly through optimization and control:

• Corporate Citizen – The legal entity prioritizing profit above all else, shaping economic and social landscapes.

• Algorithmic Governor – AI platforms making critical decisions without human oversight.

• Surveillance Oracle – Data-driven entities monitoring, predicting, and influencing behavior.

• Autonomous Executor – Robotic and automated systems executing decisions in physical environments.

Understanding these sovereigns helps illuminate why our technological ecosystem produces both extraordinary innovation and profound systemic imbalance.

Technogen Metabolism Explained

Phase 1: Corporate Technogen Metabolism

Corporations continuously absorb digital innovations, reshaping their structures, operations, and interactions. While driving efficiency, innovation, and new market opportunities, this corporate metabolism creates unintended impacts like information overload, compromised privacy, and significant ethical challenges.

Positive Outcomes:

• Increased operational efficiency and innovation.

• New revenue streams and flexible workplaces.

• Data-driven decision-making.

Negative Outcomes:

• Ethical dilemmas and privacy concerns.

• Excessive power shaping public policy and health.

• Unmanaged environmental impacts and resource strain.

Phase 2: Personal Technogen Metabolism

Individuals continuously interact with digital tools, shaping their daily lives and health. Constant connectivity brings convenience but also disruptions in sleep, increased sedentary behavior, unhealthy dietary habits influenced by digital marketing, and significant mental health issues.

Positive Outcomes:

• Enhanced connectivity and personalized services.

• Convenient access to information and creative outlets.

Negative Outcomes:

• Sleep disturbances and physical inactivity.

• Increased anxiety, depression, and social isolation.

• Impulsive consumption and unhealthy lifestyle patterns.

Phase 3: Mental Technogen Metabolism

Digital technologies deeply affect cognitive functions, impacting attention span, memory retention, decision-making quality, and mental health. Persistent digital overload and addiction physically alter brain structures and functions, reducing critical thinking and attention stability.

Positive Outcomes:

• Immediate access to vast information.

• Potential for digital mental health interventions.

Negative Outcomes:

• Reduced attention span and cognitive overload.

• Digital-induced amnesia and memory impairment.

• Increased anxiety, depression, and decreased mental resilience.

Addressing Technogenic Dysmetabolism

Recognizing these challenges, addressing TGD requires collective consciousness, intentional strategies, and new forms of digital wisdom:

• Individual Level: Mindful digital consumption, periodic digital detox, and active prioritization of real-world connections.

• Organizational Level: Ethical technology integration, robust corporate responsibility, and inclusive product design.

• Societal Level: Strong governance frameworks, ethical guidelines, public education initiatives, and strategic policies that balance innovation and human well-being.

Manifestinction and the Path Forward

The mythology of Manifestinction frames our current moment as a significant evolutionary phase change, highlighting how Technogen Metabolism, driven by Synthetic Sovereigns, reveals the need for a conscious shift in how we engage with technology. Through this lens, the crises of digital overload and systemic imbalance become invitations to cultivate digital wisdom—a profound recalibration towards meaningful interaction rather than passive consumption.

The challenges outlined here are not insurmountable. Instead, they offer clarity about our condition, inviting us to reclaim conscious agency and harmonize technological advancement with authentic human flourishing. Technogen Metabolism serves as a powerful metaphor and practical guide, illuminating the hidden dimensions of our technological reality, making visible what must be understood, named, and consciously navigated.

In embracing this awareness, we empower ourselves to shape our collective future intentionally, transforming potential dysfunction into opportunities for growth, wisdom, and balance.