The argument that "society" is not just a collection of people in a place, but a complex, fragile construct held together by shared fictions—laws, money, norms, and identities. It's a giant game where everyone agrees to follow certain rules and believe in certain concepts (like citizenship or contracts), and the game completely falls apart if enough people stop believing and participating.
Example: "A traffic jam at a red light with no police in sight is the Theory of Constructed Societies in action. The red light itself is just a colored bulb. The 'rule' it represents is a pure construction. Our collective decision to obey that fiction, even when we could run it, is what keeps the social order from collapsing into chaos. Society is a group project of pretending abstract rules are real."
by Abzu Land January 31, 2026
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