Slide deck from the June 17, 2026 New Nature talk. Covers the Humboldt parallel, the Evil Twins Thesis (AI vs Protocols), the three-circle Venn diagram of AI/Protocols/Planetary, PI's Context Tank positioning, and the Special Interest Group research model.
An edited essay version of a June 2026 talk unpacking the Protocol Institute's core thesis: New Nature = AI and Protocols entangled at planetary scale. Develops the Humboldt analogy, the Evil Twins Thesis (AI as irresistible force, protocols as immovable objects), the three-circle Venn of AI/Protocols/Planetary, and PI's positioning as a Context Tank in the priceless-planetary quadrant.
Venkatesh Rao
In this kickoff session for Protocol School 2025, an unnamed orientation leader uses the bristlemouth fish (the most abundant vertebrate on Earth, yet unknown to most people) as a metaphor for how protocols pervade daily life unnoticed, introducing 'protocol watching' and 'protocol built' as practices for cultivating awareness. Tim then argues protocols are 'engineered arguments' that produce Whitehead advances, using an Ethereum flash-loan transaction and the concept of 'hardness' (atoms, institutions, now cryptography/code) to show how Ethereum functions as a 'mesoprotocolized world.' Timber closes by advocating a meso-level focus for protocol intervention, introducing the 'carrier bag theory of management,' tension-based protocol design, and a capability maturity model for AI adoption, alongside housekeeping for the week's certificate program.
Tim, Timber
Protocolized announces the second annual Protocol Symposium, themed "Accelerating Order," featuring a September 12-14 Protocol Foundations workshop for mathematically oriented researchers and a September 15-19 Protocol School for those seeking foundational grounding in protocol studies from any background. Both events are free and invite-only with applications closing August 22.
Venkatesh Rao