http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ghost_in_the_Shell:_Stand_Alone_Complex_episodes

Stand Alone Complex, often abbreviated as S.A.C., is a phenomenon where unrelated, yet very similar actions of individuals creates a seemingly concerted effort. This idea can be applied on philosophy, social theory, and even teamwork. The neologism comes from the Japanese anime series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex by director, Kenji Kamiyama. However, there is also the possibility that Kamiyama's idea is also influenced by his mentor, Mamoru Oshii, director of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.

Basic idea
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

In the anime series, "Stand Alone Complex" is demonstrated as the phenomenon of emergent behavior catalyzed by parallelization of the human psyche through the cyberbrain networks in the societal level. For the Laughing Man crime case, there is no original, and there is also no leader. To put in simple terms, it is the cohesion of consciousness and self-interest of each individual that advocates his or her own behavior to be part of the whole Laughing Man phenomenon.

This can be seen in the last episode (ep 26) of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, in the conversation between Aoi and Motoko Kusanagi. The following is the English fansub translation of that conversation:

* Aoi: However, upon sharing and synchronization, all information loses its singularity and insinuates itself into the subconscious of those who do not have an ulterior motive or is internalized by the consciousness of those who do not have an ulterior motive.
* Motoko: Are those your own words, based on experience?
* Aoi: Yes. After all, even you were acting as the Laughing Man in the end.

In the same conversation, the second profound yet confusing part hints the significance of the Stand Alone Complex concept phenomenon throughout the entire series, pushing the philosophical meaning into a social theory level.

* Aoi: "I imagined that my mission was to confirm and transmit the 'information' that I chanced upon, and exerted myself alone."
* Motoko: "And you suffered a spectacular defeat. The innocent mediator became dejected at the sheer odiousness of the societal system and became mute."
* Aoi: "Yes. And I became a mediator fated to disappear, as if I was a writer whose existence was made all the more conspicuous because he did not publish new works. In other words, 'It is the medium that determines the societal system's dynamics via self-extermination; when the medium disappears; it leaves it's trace neither within nor without the system.'"
* Motoko: "Frederic Jameson."
* Aoi: "Yes, and no. The latter portion is Oosawa Masachi. Although I understood his writings, I did not believe them until I saw it with my own eyes. To think that the absence of an original could spawn copies without an original... If it were up to you, what would you call that phenomenon?"
* Motoko: "Stand Alone Complex."

This is the origin of the definition of Stand Alone Complex. Both Frederic Jameson and Oosawa Masachi are prominent political and social theorists. However, many fans believe that the interpretation of this key phrase goes much beyond than what is discussed in the short conversation above.


Interpretations

As discussed earlier, different fans choose to interpret the Stand Alone Complex idea differently. Many believed that Kamiyama names the entire anime series after this key phrase in order to reflect on multiple items in the anime that coincide with the same fundamental idea.


Philosophy

The Stand Alone Complex can also be interpreted as a theoretical mental complex that arises when groups or individuals engage in seemingly organized or coordinated behavior when, in reality, each is acting on unique personal motivations. In the series's story, this is attributed to the adoption of cyberware by the mass public, and arises by way of copycat crimes with no original criminal. In this fashion, the complex arises as a second-order simulacrum. In essence, an idea taken to represent reality is simulated or modeled, causing the simulation or model to no longer describe reality directly. Similarly, in a Stand Alone Complex, there is no direct real-world instigator of the observed behavior.

As each individual becomes a stand-alone, the action is nothing more than a soliloquy. The lack of external interaction with other players is often accompanied by strong psychological stress, resulting in unpredictable human behaviors. Together with other individuals that share the same phenomenon, these unpredictable behaviors augment exponentially to produce a chain-reaction, resulting in an extremely complex observed whole.


Social theory

As shown in the conversation between Motoko and Aoi, the Stand Alone Complex is in a way originated from social theory. Sadly, unlike Fredric Jameson, most work from Oosawa Masachi is not published in the West. As such, many English-speaking fans who watched the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex may not be familiar with the concepts presented.

In the second anime season, Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG, the social theory aspect is treated with a much greater emphasis. In episode 9, Motoko has another private conversation with Gouda's external memory bank. Below is the English fansub translation of that conversation:

* Gouda: I discovered long ago that this society suffers from a fatal structural defect... The mutation of information that should not mutate in principle, and the illusory originality called individuality, can easily trigger synchronization in the current societal system. I have named this "An Act of Creation in the Name of Consumption."
* Motoko: Sounds like a conclusion an individual who withdrew into the net would reach.
* Gouda: The Stand Alone Complex? Fortunately, I had an extremely strong tolerance for solitude. However, it took me a very long time to realize the very attributes I was born with were making the system withhold proper recognition for the impact I made on society.
* ...
* Motoko: By making [refugees] imagined enemies, you manipulate the citizen's thoughts. Isn't that it?
* Gouda: Thought manipulation is necessary. At times, the law must be bent. The end justifies the means. That is a philosophy that applies to both terrorists and democratic states.

The first part of the above conversation shows that Gouda has already observed the occurrence of the Stand Alone Complex in human society, as each unique individual can synchronize with others by consuming information. This is very true in the sense that humans nowadays have a tendency to believe blindly in news and knowledge that they are told. The more unanticipated the information, the more excitement and commotion it is bound to produce, and the faster it will travel around, synchronizing every individual until they all share the same information. Motoko then counters with a sarcastic remark that this phenomenon applies to Gouda as well. However, Gouda does not seem to feel so.

In the second part of the conversation above, Gouda reveals his ambition to form a synthetic Stand Alone Complex phenomenon. This is later revealed in episode 22 through Batou's words, when he has a conversation with Gouda using Motoko's external memory bank:

* Batou: Creating a medium who will give rise to mimics... It's your old field of research. This society already contains factors that make it easy for situations like that to develop. After all, human history has been shaped by those with power, who have "programmed" myths and legends. In a world such as this, a megalomaniac, whose desire to show off became bloated without anyone noticing, wanted to produce a hero bigger than himself. Weren't the Individual Eleven a fake Stand Alone Complex created by a criminal like that?

All in all, Gouda's thought manipulation has proven to be a great success. Though often negatively voiced by the audience, one cannot deny the fact that thought manipulation through stand-alone third parties can indeed prove to be a very effective means for public control.


Stand Alone Complex and Memetics

Stand Alone Complex is very much related to the idea of memetics. In a way, Stand Alone Complex could be interpreted as the end result the competitions, mutations and transmissions of different memes resulting in the manifestation of a complex "organism" of information and ideas. This is analogous to how simple genetic information, through the process of biological evolution, results in the manifestation of complex life forms. The idea of life as information is also explored greatly in the manga version of Ghost in the Shell in the conversation between Major Motoko Kusanagi and the Puppet Master.


Teamwork

The idea of teamwork in Public Security Section 9 is also speculated to be based on the idea of Stand Alone Complex. As Daisuke Aramaki says to the Major in the episode 5, "We never had the idea of teamplay to begin with". Nonetheless, Section 9 is seen by many as the most efficient and effective team ever. Even though each team member never had the idea of team play, they are still able to cooperate due to cohesive self-interest. This can be seen as a result of trust among its team members, allowing independent actions to take place.

For example, when Aramaki gives a team member a new case to investigate, he never specifies the method that the investigation should be carried out in. The investigating members are giving the luxury of indulging themselves in solving the case in their preferred methods. Some examples include Motoko Kusanagi in the Laughing Man initial case investigation, ep 5; Togusa in the Social Welfare Facility, ep 11; and Batou with Prefecture Police's Public Safety, ep 16.

Sometimes, the investigated case may go out of control so much that the investigator on-site will not only need to make immediate action or judgment depending on the situation, but also request help from other team members. Nonetheless, the inherited trust among all the team members (not just from the leader) allows each of them to make critical decisions whenever required, while at the same time rest assured that under other team mates will come for rescue under the worst case scenario. This happens very often with Togusa's investigations, since he has a strong sense of justice and would like to right all wrongs. In this sense, every team member can be seen as a team leader in the respect that everyone has the power and the ability to lead the team investigation when the situation calls for it.

This is very similar to the Stand Alone Complex phenomenon discussed in the very beginning. There is no teamplay, and there is no leader. Every team member is able to perform to his or her fullest potential since they are given the ability to lead him or herself. In the end, the common interest among all team members result in a cohesive whole like individual pieces in the Laughing Man case, producing the most complex and the most complete teamwork ever observed.

Other highly-efficient Stand Alone Complex based teamwork observed in the series include the very first Particularist Eleven in episode 1 of Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG. In the same series, Gouda behaved the same, as he said in the very end of episode 26:

* Gouda: The Secretary Director-General and I were always acting as standalones.



Further Thoughts

However, for the Stand Alone Complex phenomenon to occur in a team, many requirements need to be met. Two of the most important driving forces of this phenomenon are trust and self-interest.

As everyone is allowed to lead, everyone is allowed to be the team leader at any given time. In general, there may exist a fixed team leader (in this case the Major), but when the situation calls for it, any team member has the ability to command others. Trust is required to allow other team members to back the current leader. This is crucial as all supporting members must trust the current leader enough to follow the directions given.

Secondly, the self-interest of each individual needs to be cohesive as a whole. Section 9 would not be able to operate so smoothly unless all team members share the same common interest, which is to stop all crimes. If the team members were not to share the same amount of interest and enthusiasm, the work load would not be equally shared. The more interested members will end up working harder than the not-so interested ones.

See also

taken from wikipedia