The Interbeing DAO exists in order to nurture an ecology of open source psychotechnologies that support the maturation of human wisdom & compassion. We’re doing this as a response to the Meta-Crisis of Interbeing.
Written By @VinceFHorn
“Interbeing is the understanding that nothing exists separately from anything else. We are all interconnected.” – Thich Hant Hanh
The Interbeing DAO is a purpose-driven Decentralized Autonomous Organization. All DAOs that wish to link up to the Interbeing DAO must demonstrate that their core purpose overlaps with the Interbeing DAOs, namely that they are also in the business of sharing open source psychotechnologies that support the maturation of human wisdom & compassion.
What is a Psychotechnology?
I first learned the term psychotechnology from professor John Vervaeke, in his series on Awakening from the Meaning Crisis. There he describes the way that humans have crafted psychological “tools” that have completely re-shaped how we process information and make sense of the world. Vervaeke defines a psychotechnology as “a standardized way of doing information processing that improves and enhances your cognition by linking brains together.” Think of the development of human language, or of shamanic rituals (dancing & drumming), or the collective practice of meditation, as examples of human psychotechnologies.
Why Open Source?
“Open Source promotes universal access via an open-source or free license to a product's design or blueprint, and universal redistribution of that design or blueprint.”
We believe that the potential positive impact of a psychotechnology depends on its ability to be suitably adapted to its environment. In other words, to reach others where they are. Most original innovations are quickly privatized. But imagine if Tim Berners-Lee hadn’t shared the original code underlying the World Wide Web, or if the Buddha hadn’t offered his teachings freely… Neither the Web nor Buddhism could exist without an open source attitude, a willingness to generously share what is good for all to have access to.
An open source approach enables the most collaborative potential & rapid spread for new psychotechnologies. It does this by creating a space of permissionless innovation, where no one has to ask for permission before using, remixing, or adapting other innovations within a shared wisdom commons.
Our Crisis of Interbeing
We won’t be able to grok the interlinking crises that humanity faces–from the ecological crisis, to democracy being in crisis, to the crisis of global inequality, to the meaning crisis–without upgrading our collective sense-making. This meta-crisis is our crisis of Interbeing. We’re in crisis because of both our collective & individual lack of capacity to understand the interconnected whole and act appropriately.
“Because this wisdom operates freely, without self-referential obstructions, it responds skillfully to the needs of sentient beings. This is called great compassion.” - Guo Gu
This upgrade to our human sense-making systems cannot afford to be value-free or virtue-neutral! It must be animated by the virtues of wisdom & compassion. These are the frames of mind that allow us to see how things are connected (i.e. wisdom) and how to respond in kind (i.e. compassion).
In the digitally-networked-exponential age we need to boost human wisdom & compassion faster than we do aggression & delusion. If we can do that then we’ll be entering into a regenerative relationship with our selves, each other, and the environment, where we can each thrive within limits. If we don’t rise to the moment, we’ll continue to overshoot our planet’s natural boundaries, further destabilizing the ground on which we all stand. The choice, at this point, is dead simple: Either we inter-are or we inter-aren’t.
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Are you developing an open-source psychotechnology of wisdom & compassion?
Want to be part of a larger ecosystem of contemplatives, makers, & technologists working together to respond to the meta-crisis?