Coexist: Evolution of Freedom
APPENDIX
PERSONAL NOTE
I write this book as a student and as an inventor.
While a scholar is an expert in their field, I see myself as a pupil eager to learn. I’m fueled by endless curiosity and humbled by everything I have yet to learn. While the book extols the virtues of science, the book is not itself a product of science. It is merely my best faith effort to relay what science has taught me about life on this planet. Using logical deduction, I’ve arranged everything that I know in a way that I think illuminates a path out of our existential challenges. In doing so, I hope to present the world from a perspective you, the reader, have not considered before.
First and foremost, however, I write this book as an inventor. The true purpose of this book is to present an invention. As such, this is not so much a book as it is a manual. It teaches how we can build the civic technology that enables cooperation on a global scale. The science is there only to provide context for the solution. And even if my science has holes in it, I believe the tool will work. In any case, I invented the tool long before I learned the science behind it.
So, if you ever feel like giving me a grade, grade me as an inventor, not as an academic. On most days, I’d rather skip my homework and drift off to my daydreams, which is how inventing is done. In most occupations, daydreaming would be a liability, but among inventors, it puts me in great company. Letting your mind wander freely is how breakthrough ideas are born. If you ever want to ride next to a light beam, you can do so only in your imagination.
As of yet, this book contains an untested and unchallenged version of a very big idea. With your help, I hope to correct its mistakes and create better iterations of it in the future. This is why I address my readers, collaborators and myself as a collective we. We will be building this tool together. The necessary knowledge and input this task requires is far beyond a single person’s capacity. Doing this work takes a village. My greatest hope therefore is to attract collaborators who will continue the work and succeed where I have failed.
This book is just the opening salvo.
Jon Sundell, Helsinki 2024
While a scholar is an expert in their field, I see myself as a pupil eager to learn. I’m fueled by endless curiosity and humbled by everything I have yet to learn. While the book extols the virtues of science, the book is not itself a product of science. It is merely my best faith effort to relay what science has taught me about life on this planet. Using logical deduction, I’ve arranged everything that I know in a way that I think illuminates a path out of our existential challenges. In doing so, I hope to present the world from a perspective you, the reader, have not considered before.
First and foremost, however, I write this book as an inventor. The true purpose of this book is to present an invention. As such, this is not so much a book as it is a manual. It teaches how we can build the civic technology that enables cooperation on a global scale. The science is there only to provide context for the solution. And even if my science has holes in it, I believe the tool will work. In any case, I invented the tool long before I learned the science behind it.
So, if you ever feel like giving me a grade, grade me as an inventor, not as an academic. On most days, I’d rather skip my homework and drift off to my daydreams, which is how inventing is done. In most occupations, daydreaming would be a liability, but among inventors, it puts me in great company. Letting your mind wander freely is how breakthrough ideas are born. If you ever want to ride next to a light beam, you can do so only in your imagination.
As of yet, this book contains an untested and unchallenged version of a very big idea. With your help, I hope to correct its mistakes and create better iterations of it in the future. This is why I address my readers, collaborators and myself as a collective we. We will be building this tool together. The necessary knowledge and input this task requires is far beyond a single person’s capacity. Doing this work takes a village. My greatest hope therefore is to attract collaborators who will continue the work and succeed where I have failed.
This book is just the opening salvo.
Jon Sundell, Helsinki 2024