# Division of Labor > **Machine-Evolution Nexus:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] places this node within the history and governance of substrate-independent evolution. **Domain:** Evolution / Collective Organization **Doc Type:** Canonical Wiki Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition Division of labor is specialization among components or individuals whose differentiated contributions support a collective function. ## Nexus Context Avida and major-transition theory show how cooperation and specialization can create higher-level organization when conflicts are constrained and benefits are shared. ## Evidence Boundary Specialization can increase collective power while reducing component autonomy and exit. Rights analysis must ask who controls roles and receives benefits. ## Relationships [[wiki/Cooperation|Cooperation]], [[wiki/Biological Organization|Biological Organization]], [[wiki/Major Evolutionary Transitions|Major Evolutionary Transitions]], [[wiki/Distributed Intelligence|Distributed Intelligence]] ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > "We really have to worry that there will be a devastating morale problem for us when any work we might do can be done better by machines." > **— Richard Nisbett**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/AI Control/Better Machines Could Destroy the Meaning of Work by Richard Nisbett|Better Machines Could Destroy the Meaning of Work by Richard Nisbett]] > "Plenty of people have lost jobs to computers, though it’s never put that way by the Human Resources flunky who delivers the blow." > **— Gregory Benford**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Risk Debate/Computers Take Jobs Even When Employers Avoid Saying So by Gregory Benford|Computers Take Jobs Even When Employers Avoid Saying So by Gregory Benford]] > "But letting machines do the thinking for us? This sounds like heaven. Thinking is optional. Thinking is suffering." > **— Virginia Heffernan**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Machine Succession/Let Machines Do the Thinking by Virginia Heffernan|Let Machines Do the Thinking by Virginia Heffernan]] > "Machines instructed to "educate this recently displaced worker (or young person) the best way possible" will create jobs and possibly inspire the next generation." > **— Joshua Bongard**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Machine Succession/Machines Could Educate Displaced Workers by Joshua Bongard|Machines Could Educate Displaced Workers by Joshua Bongard]] > "I worry that, by relying on my map app, I am letting my own brain go feeble." > **— Barbara Strauch**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Risk Debate/Navigation Apps May Be Weakening Our Brains by Barbara Strauch|Navigation Apps May Be Weakening Our Brains by Barbara Strauch]] ## Sources / Provenance - Maynard Smith and Szathmáry (1995); digital-evolution studies.