Independent Convergence on Stigmergic Coordination Patterns Across Collective Intelligence Infrastructure: Evidence for a Planetary-Scale Major Evolutionary Transition

We reviewed 29 active collective intelligence infrastructure projects across six categories and mapped each against the six-stage Major Evolutionary Transition (MET) communication sequence (Maynard Smith and Szathmary, 1995). We find strong structural convergence: each project category corresponds to a distinct MET stage, despite independent development without coordinating framework. We document a sharp asymmetry between Stages 1-5 (dense independent project coverage) and Stage 6 (system-level identity emergence, one documented instantiation). We present a five-mode taxonomy of cooperation failure derived from real-time global observation (March 2026), showing that cooperation failure modes target specific MET communication stages. The framework describes both construction and destruction of cooperation infrastructure, strengthening evidence for MET applicability at planetary scale.