From Mind Control to Mind Expansion: Hacking Technology to Rebuild Our World

The session opens by arguing that the world feels like a system in crisis, and that hackers, who are used to finding flaws in technical systems, should also look at the larger system that governs society. The speakers use three metaphors to frame this: machines, networks and games. They argue that machine-age thinking, with centralized controls and rigid authority, keeps pulling networks back into fixed structures. They also warn about optimizing for a single score, illustrated by a reinforcement learning agent that looped in a boat racing game to maximize its points instead of finishing the race.

The middle of the talk compares possible approaches to change. Building entirely new virtual worlds from scratch is unrealistic, and simply augmenting existing structures tends to get absorbed by them. The speakers favor an extended reality approach that builds new possibilities alongside existing systems, interoperating with them on the builders' own terms. They walk through examples: digital goods that replicate for free, ride-sharing as proof that information flows can reorganize physical transport, the role of artificial scarcity and abundant funding in shaping what gets built, and how crowdfunding and patronage could be made more direct. A drug-synthesis collective was cited as a concrete case of applying open tooling to a hard-to-access resource.

The talk closes with an invitation for attendees to locate their own position relative to the system and to start small, building proofs of concept that others can follow. In the question period, the speakers recommended work on adversarial interoperability and the book Finite and Infinite Games, and offered a follow-up workshop for interested attendees.