Local Digital Social Networks

The metric for success isn’t a top-performing story — it’s whether the system is more connected and aware of itself than it was before, and whether unlikely collaborations or new alliances are leading to novel insights and useful interventions.

It is worth recalling that the foundations of liberal political thought were laid in part by Hobbes, whose central concern was neither liberty for its own sake nor power for its own sake — it was liberty born from state-enforced peace.

Hobbes argued that without the firm and consistent application of law, society would descend into chaos, violence,... See more

Strategic philanthropy has more difficulty funding bona fide organizers who are embedded in and responsive to the communities they serve. In contrast to their support for outspoken moral activists, philanthropic funders cannot meaningfully predict in advance what particular issue(s) grassroots organizers and their communities will prioritize. That... See more

In the 1970s and 1980s, the philosopher of technology Langdon Winner dismantled the idea that technology is a “neutral” tool (Winner, 1978). Winner’s work emphasized how those developing technology benefit the most while already disadvantaged individuals and groups pay the highest price, laying the philosophical foundation for subsequent work in... See more

In a model, agents are interchangeable. Consumer A and Consumer B have different preference curves, yes, but they respond to the same incentive structures in predictable ways. Community is what you get when agents stop being interchangeable to each other. When Alice doesn't need "a neighbour" but needs that neighbour, the one who watched her kids... See more