Protocol Town Hall with Venkatesh Rao | Formulating a Protocol Pill

TalkVenkatesh RaoJanuary 18, 2024

Venkatesh Rao, program lead for Summer of Protocols, synthesizes the 2023 research cohort's output and proposes 'formulating a protocol pill' — a deliberate, effectuation-driven strategy (starting from available assets rather than goals) to spread 'protocol literacy' as a cognitive shift from 'I am my protocols' to 'I have protocols,' using Robert Kegan's developmental-stages framework. He outlines the components of a 'kit' (attitude elixir, modes of agency, aesthetic sensibility, collective memory orientation, escapist comfort, local conditions) needed to grow a 'protocol scene' akin to the maker movement, referencing Josh Stark's concept of 'hardness,' Nadia Asparouhova's work on protocols as dual-use technologies, and plans to pivot 2024 research toward applications and oblique attacks on problems like AI safety and climate change.

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effectuation-mindset guest-talks hardness-josh-stark i-am-vs-i-have-kegan-developmental-levels organizations protocol-kit-and-scene-building protocol-pill-nerd-sniping protocols research

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