Softwar Chapter 3 Summary: Lessons in Power from the Natural World
Welcome back. Below is a structured summary of Chapter 3, Power Projection Tactics in Nature, from Softwar: A Novel Theory on Power Projection and the National Strategic Significance of Bitcoin. The chapter lays out how physical power competitions have existed long before humans, and how natural phenomena inform the basic principles of what the author later calls “Power Projection Theory.” This summary references the key sections (3.1–3.12) that appear in the text and highlights the central arguments and examples.
Chapter 3: Power Projection Tactics in Nature
3.1 Introducing Power Projection Theory
Lowery begins by defining “Power Projection Theory” within the context of nature. He proposes that every organism on Earth, from the simplest single-celled life forms to complex mammals, must secure resources in a hostile environment—what he calls a “primordial arms race.” He draws parallels between these fundamental biological struggles and the broader notion of projecting power to control and defend territory or resources.
He calls this the “core concept” of the thesis: in nature, any organism that projects sufficient physical force to impose prohibitive costs on an attacker has a clear survival advantage.
Recommended reading: Intro paragraphs that outline how Darwinian competition overlaps with the concept of militaristic power.
3.2 Physical Power & Resource Ownership
Here, Lowery emphasizes that ownership of resources in nature ultimately depends on an organism’s ability to defend those resources using raw, physical power.
He notes that animals cannot rely on abstract property laws—only on the capacity to fight or deter attackers. Hence, “survival of the fittest” can be reinterpreted as “survival of whoever can effectively project power in defense of resources.”
He likens the way animals show off “proof-of-power” (for instance, baring teeth or antlers) to how humans display military might, pointing out that these signals are often enough to deter potential attackers without requiring actual violence.
Recommended reading: The discussion about “proof-of-power protocol,” an analogy to proof-of-work.
3.3 Life’s War against Entropy
Lowery shifts to a more general, biological viewpoint—explaining that all organisms constantly fight the effects of entropy (i.e., disorder, death).
In nature, physical confrontations aren’t just between predators and prey but also between organisms and the environmental hazards that can sap their energy.
He frames this universal struggle as a “war against entropy,” clarifying that only those creatures adept at harnessing enough power (e.g., metabolizing food, evading predators, withstanding harsh climates) survive long enough to reproduce.
Recommended reading: Explanations of how organisms that fail to gather sufficient energy or adapt effectively lose the evolutionary arms race.
3.4 Primordial Economics
This section introduces Lowery’s concept of primordial economics: at its core, the “benefit-to-cost ratio of attack (BCRA)” determines whether one organism tries to seize another’s resources. If the benefits outweigh the costs, an attack occurs. If the costs (in energy or risk) are too high, organisms are deterred.
He illustrates this with diagrams to show how BCRA can be modified by defensive adaptations—horns, claws, or collective group strategies—that raise the attacker’s cost.
Recommended reading: The “bowtie notation” diagrams that illustrate benefit vs. cost of attack and how these shape evolutionary outcomes.
3.5 Innovate or Die
Lowery argues that evolution is inherently a process of innovation: animals develop new ways (physically or behaviorally) to secure food, avoid danger, or dominate.
These innovative methods shift the cost-benefit calculation for both predators and prey, causing an ever-escalating arms race.
He references how warm-blooded animals, for example, gained a metabolic advantage that let them be active in a wider range of climates—and how that advantage forced colder-blooded creatures to innovate new survival tactics.
Recommended reading: His examples of “ecological arms races,” such as warmer-blooded creatures displacing or out-competing others.
3.6 The Survivor’s Dilemma
In this section, Lowery characterizes the “survivor’s dilemma” as a fundamental choice organisms face: (1) continue investing in power to deter or outcompete adversaries, or (2) risk defeat from an organism that invests more.
He notes this dilemma underpins the cyclical nature of arms races: once a new advantage arises, others must adapt and escalate their own defenses or risk extinction. The “dilemma” is that remaining stagnant and hoping not to be attacked carries a high risk if any competitor chooses otherwise.
Recommended reading: The “dilemma” diagrams that show how one side’s escalation compels the other side’s arms race.
3.7 Chasing Infinite Prosperity
Lowery reframes the typical evolution narrative as a continual chase for “infinite prosperity,” whereby organisms try to secure more resources, expand their territory, and replicate. Because resources can be scarce or contested, an organism’s impetus to accumulate power never really ends.
He further connects this to group-level phenomena, arguing that collectives (e.g., wolf packs) often do better at securing resources and pursuing prosperity than solitary organisms. This idea sets up Chapter 4, where he moves on to human societies.
Recommended reading: The portion linking group formation to “infinite prosperity” pursuits; it foreshadows how humans leverage collaboration for similar reasons.
3.8 Sticking Together
Expanding on the group concept, Lowery explores how “sticking together” (e.g., forming herds, colonies, or packs) alters the BCRA. Attacking one member of a unified group is riskier because the group can collectively defend or retaliate.
This tactic increases the cost side of BCRA for predators, thus providing a deterrent.
Recommended reading: The multiple references to “wolves banding together,” an analogy the author uses for human militaries, states, or alliances.
3.9 Pack Animals
Here, Lowery highlights social animals—wolves, lions, etc.—that have highly coordinated pack or pride structures. He points out that group coherence extends beyond brute force: it leverages signals like barking, scent-marking, or ritualized aggression to reinforce territory claims.
By having shared norms or signals, these animals effectively create an embedded “ruleset” that aligns with physical power. This “proto-legal” structure ensures group members cooperate to defend territory.
Recommended reading: Parallels drawn to early human tribal organization and how “pack thinking” laid a foundation for later complex laws.
3.10 Domestication is Dangerous
Lowery cautions that, within nature, “domestication” or docility can be an adaptation that helps some animals coexist with humans, but it can also reduce an organism’s ability to defend itself independently.
He argues that “domestication” is functionally an extension of power dynamics—where one group compels another to adopt traits that are more easily managed or exploited.
He further suggests that the risk is that a domesticated species becomes fully dependent on its master. If the master changes its priorities (e.g., stops feeding them), the domesticated species has effectively lost its own survival capability.
Recommended reading: The analogy comparing domesticated wolves (dogs) to modern societies that forget the importance of self-defense.
3.11 Physical Power-Based Resource Control
This section restates a recurring theme: in nature, the ultimate measure of “who owns what” is the capacity to defend territory physically. The author introduces a step-by-step resource control “protocol” that occurs among animals in the wild:
Show initial deterrence signals.
If deterred, no physical fight is needed.
If not deterred, escalate to a fight.
If you lose, you forfeit resource control.
He ties this logic to the concept of a “proof-of-power protocol,” hinting at parallels with proof-of-work (physically verifiable cost to secure something).
Recommended reading: The bullet points describing the resource control protocol in detail, as it foreshadows how Lowery sees proof-of-work fulfilling a similar function in cyberspace.
3.12 The Beauty of Antlers
Lowery concludes the chapter by praising antlers as a wonderful metaphor for natural power projection. Antlers are physically costly to grow and maintain but serve as visually striking deterrents. Two stags often clash without necessarily inflicting lethal harm; it’s the credible threat that matters.
He suggests antlers exemplify how nature often solves conflicts with minimal bloodshed if both sides trust that these displays of power are real.
In other words, investing in antlers (or any “proof-of-power” display) can prevent costlier physical conflict. This parallels how a robust proof-of-work system imposes a real cost (in energy) that deters malicious behavior in a network.
Recommended reading: The final reflections in 3.12, where Lowery connects the concept of “beauty” and “cumbersome design” to purposeful, peace-preserving power projection.
Chapter 3 Summary
Overall, Chapter 3 explores how physical conflict, territorial disputes, and arms races run throughout the animal kingdom, shaping life’s trajectory. Lowery underscores that raw physical force—measured in energy, or “watts”—drives resource ownership.
Nature’s “proto-protocols” use displays of power (teeth, antlers, group formation) to deter attacks. This is the backdrop against which Lowery wants readers to see Bitcoin’s proof-of-work: not as a purely monetary system, but as a technology that literally projects power in cyberspace and thus secures resources.
Suggested Sections to Revisit for Depth
3.4 Primordial Economics – If you want the mathematical or diagrammatic foundation of how Lowery measures the cost-benefit ratio of attack.
3.7 & 3.8 (Chasing Infinite Prosperity / Sticking Together) – For deeper analysis on why collaboration is a core survival strategy that changes the power dynamic.
3.10 Domestication is Dangerous – Draws out the theme that an overly “docile” or domesticated group risks losing its autonomy and self-defense capacity.
3.12 The Beauty of Antlers – Crucial if you want a concise metaphor of “power projection as deterrence.”
That covers the major highlights of Chapter 3 and points you to the sections where the author’s argument gets more detailed. In chapter 4, Lowery shifts from power struggles that naturally occur in nature, to the dynamics of competition for dominion between humans.