Unprotocolized Knowledge

This paper by Kara Kittel and Toby Shorin examines how knowledge production occurs outside formal institutional frameworks, contrasting the democratization of scientific discourse through digital platforms with traditional academic gatekeeping. The authors explore how amateur scientific dialogues and unstructured knowledge creation can generate comparable influence and attention to institutionally-organized research in the context of evolving scientific epistemology.

Related resources

Handout

Protocol Selection Pressures

Stinson-Schroff identifies six distinct selection pressures that determine which protocols propagate through populations: efficiency-safety trade-offs, power asymmetries, differential agency constraints, bandwidth limitations, and network topology factors. These pressures create a Darwinian landscape where protocols succeed not through optimality but through alignment with actor capabilities, incentive structures, and the cognitive and physical constraints of the systems in which they operate.

foundations protocols research

Dec 2023

Timber Stinson-Schroff

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The Fundamentals of Protocol Systems

Angela Walch argues that protocol systems exhibit bistable perception—they can be understood either as cohesive wholes with defined boundaries or as temporary assemblages of component parts—and proposes a humanized framework for studying protocols by examining the experiences of individuals embedded within them.

foundations protocols research

Dec 2023

Angela Walch

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The Unreasonable Sufficiency of Protocols

This foundational paper argues that protocols—codified sets of behaviors adopted by sufficient participants—offer a surprisingly effective mechanism for solving complex coordination problems across human and artificial systems. The authors establish that protocols can reliably produce good-enough outcomes for all participants, positioning them as a practical solution to problems traditionally viewed as intractable.

foundations protocols research

Dec 2023

Venkatesh Rao, Tim Beiko, Josh Stark, Trent Van Epps, Bastian Aue, Danny Ryan