Foreword: You are here.

This document could not have been written without the inspiration and memetic contributions of:

Terence McKenna Richard Dawkins Naval Ravikant Alastair Reynolds Neal Stephenson David Smith Satoshi Nakamoto

Seven of the ten largest companies in the world are locked in a heated battle to control the foundational layer of the future of the internet. With a combined market cap of 12.5 trillion dollars, and hundreds of thousands of software and hardware engineers, these companies are racing each other to develop a key capability: spatial computing.

The goal is to help digital devices understand and navigate the physical world. It’s a prerequisite for the future of the metaverse, artificial intelligence, robotics, and smart cities.

No expense is spared. The barriers between the digital and physical realm are being torn down. Instead of humans disappearing into digital worlds, we are summoning the digital into our own.

Spatial computing will allow artificial intelligence to operate together with humanity in the real world.

But there is a dark underbelly to this arms race, one that puts our very cognitive liberty at stake. Enormous amounts of sensor data are needed to build the spatial bridge, captured from a growing amount of cameras in our public spaces, places of business, our homes - and our faces.

The spatial computing industry is creating a massive surveillance apparatus that will be able to see the world through our eyes. Whoever wins the arms race will be in a position of almost unimaginable power to monitor and modify our very thoughts.

But there is hope. The nascent decentralization movement and the invention of cryptographic currency has created a small window for the people, and the power of the free market, to compete with tech oligarchy.

Civilization is at a crossroads, where our collective action will determine what future humanity will inherit. This is the decade. This is the arena. You are here.