Cognitarism
Description
The accelerating capabilities of artificial intelligence challenge the enduring premise that economic value derives from human labour. This article introduces cognitarism, a theoretical socio-economic system in which synthetic cognition constitutes the principal productive force. Situating cognitarism within a chronology of feudalism, mercantilism, capitalism, socialism, technocracy and platform capitalism, the analysis draws on cybernetics, bounded rationality, smart contracts, the knowledge problem, labour-value critiques and the economics of intangible assets. Core principles: autonomous cognitive production, data and energy inputs, protocol-based governance, cognitive tokens, flexible ownership regimes, humanmachine symbiosis and ethical accountability, are articulated and contrasted with earlier systems. The article examines implications for labour, trade, capital formation, policy, inequality, ecology, culture, education and geopolitics, while acknowledging limitations involving bias, concentration of power, legal personhood, human meaning and systemic resilience. Cognitarism is advanced not as a blueprint but as a conceptual framework inviting rigorous debate and interdisciplinary research. Future research will employ agent-based and computational economics