The Sapien Solution

A Humans First Solution

What is the challenge that Sapien has set for itself?

The challenge is to build social networks that

1. protect human rights and digital sovereignty,
2. nurture genuine human flourishing, and
3. support a sustainable and scalable business model that does not profit from the commodification of attention and engagement.

The solution that Sapien has chosen to pursue is one that focuses on optimizing for human agency—the capacity for human beings to pursue their own well-being, individually and collectively within groups.

The implementation of this solution has three pillars:

1. A Tokenized Value Economy
2. A Network of Sovereign Tribes
3. A Founding Tribe

Note: At Sapien we use the word "tribe" to refer to social groups that are organized around a shared set of interests, goals or ideals. Within the Sapien Network, tribes also have a digital representation.

1. A Tokenized Value Economy

A tokenized value economy uses a cryptocurrency utility token to fuel the exchange and growth of value within and between tribes. In the Sapien Network this cryptocurrency token is SPN.

Within this token economy, tribe members can reward one another for their valuable contributions; earn markers of achievement, status or reputation; provide access rights to goods and entitlements; and create and share digital assets that be sold in marketplaces inside and outside the Sapien Network.

The tokenized value economy is the engine that drives alternative business models within distributed and decentralized networks, and across networks (e.g. with centralized entities and organizations).

2. A Network of Sovereign Tribes

The term "sovereignty" implies a right to self-determination and autonomy, but it has multiple meanings, all of which are relevant to our usage.

• In Web3 circles the term is associated with "digital sovereignty," the idea that parties should have control over their own digital data and assets.
• It is also associated with notion of "The Sovereign Individual," as expressed in the 1999 book of the same by Davidson and Rees-Mogg, where it refers to technological changes that will liberate individuals from the power of the state.
• It also has conventional meanings in law, politics and economics, where sovereignty entails an ability to establish laws and systems of governance, mint currency, and regulate the economy of a state.

As we use the term, a "sovereign tribe" is a group that has rights and capabilities across all three domains.

• Individual members of sovereign tribes have individual rights (e.g. a right to exit any tribe) and can participate in the exercise of group rights (e.g. a right to share in the value created by the tribe).
• Individuals and tribes have a right to control their personal data and the use of their assets (digital ownership).
• Individuals can exit tribes, create tribes, and join tribes (if permitted by the admission rules of the destination tribe).
• Tribes can create their own token currency, and implement their own token economies.
• Tribal can interact economically with other tribes, and within entities outside the Sapien Network.

A network of connected sovereign tribes can form a vibrant new socio-economic ecosystem. The rules of tribe formation are designed to allow for diversity, growth and organic evolution of the network at multiple scales, and to promote increasing value within the network.

Most importantly, such a network will provide enormous opportunity for human beings to express their agency, pursue shared interests, and cooperate toward shared goals.

3. A Founding Tribe

The Sapien Tribe is the first sovereign digital nation within the Sapien Network of sovereign tribes. It plays a special role by empowering other tribes within the network to thrive and fully realize their value, and by protecting and promoting the sovereignty of those tribes.

Think of the Sapien Tribe like the government of a new nation that is dedicated to classical liberal ideals. Such a government will not use its powers to advocate for any particular conception of “the good life.” Rather, it provides the freedom and enables the conditions for its citizens to pursue their own conceptions of the good life—the freedom to exercise their agency, individually and in groups.

In such a system, the government is responsible for defining and protecting the rights and freedoms of citizenship. It is responsible for regulating who can enter and exit a tribe (immigration and emigration). And it has the power to mint and issue currency, to use that currency to structure economic relations within the nation, and to interact economically with external agents. But the government does not regulate the speech or content produced by its citizens.

This is the role of the Sapien Tribe within the Sapien Network.

Now imagine each tribe within the Sapien Network as having similar powers of self-governance and sovereignty. As noted above, individual tribes will be able to define their own rules for membership, align around shared values, and even mint their own token currency, allowing them to interact autonomously with other tribes, and with agents outside the Sapien Network.

An Ambitious Vision of a Free Metaverse

It’s an ambitious vision. A vision of the metaverse where human beings are free to define themselves, tell their stories, interact economically, and collaborate on shared visions of the future.

And, importantly, it is a metaverse that is free of corporate control and the toxic business model that will continue to poison our socio-digital environments unless we act now to create real alternatives.

You Can Become a Founding Member of the Sapien Tribe!

Sapien is excited to announce the launching of the Sapien Tribe with a collection of Sapien NFT Tribe Passports!

Learn more about the NFT launch here, and more about the Sapien Tribe Passport here.

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