Scenius, or Communal Genius

Just as the Renaissance had le botteghe , scenius more broadly requires a home. As it turns out, a surprising amount of innovation happens in bars.

To understand how historical ingredients apply to today’s communities and micro-scenia, I sought out potential emergent scenia from the present day.  

I found them in theInterIntellectandWrite of Passage. Both Anna Gát’s InterIntellect and David Perell’s Write of Passage are transitioning from communities to micro-scenia, and each has the

1. Mutual respect and appreciation.  The first and possibly most important condition of collaboration. When departments even appear to be in opposition, the conditions for scenius collapse quickly.


2. Rapid exchange of tools and techniques.  At the heart of the open-source software movement is Github, where cod

Before there is a subculture, there is a scene. A  scene  is a small group of  creators  who invent an exciting New Thing

For the first time in human history, scenius is moving beyond physical geography. It’s happening on the Internet now. And it’s alive in obscure Discord forums, private group chats, and online schools.