[jpab]

Why is cancer pathological?

Because cancerous cells prioritize their own growth over the health of the wider system in which they exist.

Companies with this mindset do not reach a point at which they say "ok, we're big enough now". There is no target size they're trying to reach, there is only a target year-over-year multiplicative growth rate. They prioritize growth over providing value to the users they have. They grow without regard for the effect it has on social dynamics within the system (changing what the product is good for and what it's bad for), or the effect it has on social dynamics beyond the system.

It's the Paperclip Maximizer approach to business. And, of course, it's the stock market approach to business too.

[nine_k]

There is, of course, the target size: it's the entire Earth's population with Internet access.

Several companies / communities came rather close to that goal, say Google or Facebook or Wikipedia.

[csunbird]

I think, at this point, the target size is, entire Earth's population with Internet access and their future children.