Atoms, Institutes, Blockchains

Stark argues that atoms, institutions, and blockchains share a common property of 'hardness'—fixed, immutable points across time that enable coordination and make the future more predictable at scale. The paper traces how this concept of hardness has evolved from physical matter through social institutions to cryptographic protocols, positioning blockchain technology as a new substrate for creating the durable coordination points necessary for civilization.

Related resources

Article

A Government Guide to Open Protocols

Public sector institutions can escape the false choice between proprietary vendor dependency and expensive in-house development by adopting open protocols, which distribute control across multiple actors and allow governments to understand, participate in, and adapt their digital infrastructure. European governments are increasingly implementing open protocols for messaging, digital ID, and cross-border services as a way to achieve digital sovereignty while reducing both software costs and geopolitical exposure.

article governance protocols

Mar 2026

Kelly Roegies

Paper

Addressing

This paper examines addressing schemes in computing systems, from physical memory addresses to hierarchical file organization and internet URLs, establishing how different protocols and structures require distinct addressing mechanisms to navigate data storage and retrieval. The authors argue that computers must support multiple addressing paradigms that work seamlessly together, drawing analogies between digital addressing and physical-world location systems.

blockchain infrastructure protocols

Dec 2023

Tim Beiko, Mario Havel

Talk

AI as Normal Technology

A speaker presents a paper proposing 'AI as Normal Technology'—an alternative framework to the superintelligence narrative that emphasizes social and institutional bottlenecks over technological progress alone, arguing that AI's transformative effects will unfold over decades similar to electricity and the internet rather than causing overnight disruption. The speaker challenges the conceptual coherence of 'superintelligence' as a framework, reframing the discussion around incremental technological integration and labor transformation.

cognitive-automation governance normal-technology

Jul 2025

Benet (mentioned as prior influence)