FWIW, it is not just a metaphor. Humans are, in fact, cells in the larger social organisms that we call corporations, institutions, and governments.

Those organisms have self-preservation instincts, spawn offspring, adapt and evolve, and have patterns of intelligence distinct from the individual humans (cells) which comprise them. Just like in our body, cells turn over / die / get replaced, and the pattern of the organism continues.

If we set aside our arrogant prejudice that we are at the top of the ladder of evolution, we have the ability to see the collective organisms we’re building together that we are merely a part of.

Most of the big problems we are confronting, come from the cancerous patterns we’ve built into these organisms such that they’re eating the planet. It’s time we get much better at building these things, and there’s a lot we can learn from our cells, as they’ve solved a bunch of these issues already.