Your humble narrator is once again reminded that Math is Hard. The syssitia/triad math was more complex than I thought. Due to my visuospatial retardation, I didn’t see the first problem, much less the following five.
You can check the spreadsheet if you care to see the failed iterations. Here’s the one that works.
We balance these five needs:
1. Individual transparent accountability
2. Scalability to modern population size
3. Tribal size limit
4. Attrition resistance (old age, combat)
5. Prevent governance deadlock
The basic organizational unit is the triad. Two betas, one alpha. Total info transparency.
Three triads makes a triplet. One alpha^2, who’s also an alpha^1. Two guys whose max rank is alpha^1. Six betas. 9 guys.
Election of the alpha^2 is between the three alpha^1’s. The odd number prevents deadlock. The alpha^2 shares info with four people: his two betas and his two alpha^1’s.
Next level is the full syssitia. We add two triads – juniors and spares. The juniors are boys. The spares are combat-ready replacements. 15 guys. The extra triads are not part of the main command chain.
Thus a full syssitia can sustain 20-40% casualties before its 3/5 majority governing pyramid breaks down. Since the tribe is small, reorganization on the fly shouldn’t be problematic. When a syssitia grows to 18, it can easily split into two triplets and start over.
Now we just repeat this pattern, scaling up. The alpha^2 of the syssitia becomes the new triad. Three alpha^2’s make a 3sys led by an alpha^3. Add two spare alpha^2’s, you get a sys^2. And so on.
What about bylaws and such? Robert’s rules of order? Fuck that noise. 15 men can come to an agreement, or secede. Power will be backed by threat of war and contained by face-to-face intimacy and top-to-bottom accountability. The Spartans had no written constitution for a reason, and they lasted twice as long as the US will. If the syssitia method propagates, it will be due to its competitive superiority, not some piece of paper.
Now, on to the math. How does it scale?
13 nested syssitias would regiment the global male population. Our theoretical alpha^14 dictator will be transparent with 26 alphas of various ranks and 2 betas. He will host 13 assemblies, most of them in absentia. A small price to pay for world domination.
Imagine it – King Neolidas astride the continents of Earth. Defying the alien hordes, perishing at Kuiper’s narrow belt! Gorgeous tearfully, dutifully remarries. Who knows, we might force a second Babel.
Spreadsheet (xls): syssitia scaling