Will meaning survive the rise of virtual and synthetic realities? This bridge essay explores SE’s protocols for flourishing, identity, and wisdom, arguing that only contestable, plural, and repairable forms of meaning can thrive in programmable worlds. In the synthetic future, meaning is co-created through public challenge, narrative diversity, and radical openness.

In the age of full automation, do humans still have real agency? This bridge essay explores SE’s principle of “forkability” as a foundational right—ensuring people can always challenge, remix, or reinvent their automated systems. Resilience, meaning, and true autonomy depend on a world that remains perpetually forkable, even as machines do more for us.