From Empires to Algorithms: Changing nature of sovereignty
As the society changes, how do we keep up.
A History of Rules and Meaning
Almost every self-help podcast eventually leads to Marcus Aurelius — the Roman emperor who quietly journaled his way through chaos, power, and the burden of leadership. His practice of Stoicism wasn’t about perfection but about staying grounded — an early attempt at designing a life based on principles rather than noise.
This wasn’t unique to Rome. Human history is full of these inflection points — where philosophies become religions and rules become society’s glue. From the Dharmic codes in Hinduism to the rise of the Catholic Church, rule-based societies helped us co-exist. Order over chaos. Ritual over randomness. But new rules are born out of rupture. Moses left Egypt. Siddhartha left his palace. Ashoka conquered before he converted. These were leaders who broke away from the default operating system of their times and created new ones. They went from kings to philosophers. From commanders to teachers.
And in some ways, that same search continues today.
The Age of Opt-In Identity and Hyper-Individualism
In the modern world, we don’t inherit belief systems — we subscribe to them. We opt into ideologies, philosophies, work cultures, and even lifestyles. One can now build a “cult” through newsletters, products, or routines. Take Bryan Johnson: “Don’t Die” is his motto. He’s building his religion of longevity — one biomarker at a time. The boundaries of culture are fluid now. You can work in one time zone, live in another, think like a stoic, eat like a monk, and hustle like a startup founder — all at once. But when everything is a choice, nothing feels stable. Culture is fragmenting. And the unit of society is shrinking.
What happens to societies will also happen to companies. Roles will become more fluid, and AI will only accelerate this. We’re moving towards the world of the “sovereign individual” — where each of us becomes a one-person economy, a solo operating system of belief and action, choosing to be in one or the other, or both.
So, as all rules become a choice, can we still trade value for value?
Trust as a Currency: Trading and Building Value Together
In a world that’s increasingly fluid, noisy, and uncertain, one thing hasn’t changed: real change still needs leadership. And whether you're leading a five-person startup, a global team, or even just your own life, your only real currency is trust.
When there are no external structures to rely on, we find ourselves leaning on the most human of elements: the relationships we build, the trust we cultivate, and the confidence we place in others. Trust becomes the glue that holds us together in a world where we are increasingly responsible for our paths. Without trust, all the freedom and choice would become chaotic and meaningless, as there would be no shared belief in the integrity of our actions or the reliability of our promises.
In an organisation setup, this would be biggest challenge facing Managers. Leaders often get caught up in the mechanics: OKRs, performance reviews, productivity hacks. But those are just wrappers. At the core, your ability to drive change — especially big, uncomfortable change — is directly proportional to how much your people trust you. That’s it. That’s the game.
The best leaders aren’t always the smartest or the loudest. They’re the ones people follow because they believe in them — not just what they say but what they consistently do. In that sense, outstanding leadership is closer to moral authority than technical skill. This goes beyond leadership, this is prevalent in a person-to-person exchange.
Naval Ravikant puts it simply, but profoundly:
“I would rather work with someone with average intelligence who I trust, than someone brilliant I can’t.”
And that’s not a quote, it’s a worldview. In a time where every framework can be copied, every product cloned, and every decision second-guessed by AI, being a trustworthy human is your ultimate edge. It’s how you create clarity in chaos. It’s how you lead without shouting. It’s how you build teams that don’t just function but flourish. So if the old world was built on rules, and the new world is built on choice, then the bridge between the two is trust.
Be the kind of person who keeps their word, who plays long-term games, and who others want to follow even when there’s no map. Because in a society that’s becoming more sovereign by the day, being trusted is the new power.