It took me a while to get what you're at, but I think you're up the wrong tree. Because when Brin used the word "institution", what I understood was something l

It took me a while to get what you're at, but I think you're up the wrong tree. Because when Brin used the word "institution", what I understood was something like "layers of abstraction" that you're referring to. Because that's what institution means in economics (or at that's least one it's senses, since it's an incredibly wide concept). That is, rational organized collective behavior. And not some arbitrary top-down bureaucratic structure.