RESOURCE EXTRACTION

DEFINITION:

The process of acquiring, harvesting, collecting, or converting natural, human, informational, or economic resources into usable value.

FUNCTION:

Transfers resources from their source into systems of production, consumption, accumulation, and exchange.

EXAMPLES:

  • Mining minerals
  • Oil drilling
  • Logging forests
  • Labor exploitation
  • Data collection
  • Agricultural harvesting
  • Attention monetization

RELATED SYMBOLS:

RELATED SYSTEMS:

NOTES:

Resource extraction extends beyond physical materials. Modern systems extract value from labor, information, behavior, attention, and social participation. The form of extraction changes, but the movement of value from source to system remains consistent.

CONTROL TEXT OBSERVATION:

Every system depends on inputs. Resource extraction determines what enters the system, who benefits from it, and how value is distributed after extraction.