# Whitehead Watch

*Politics & Protocol Meetups*

By [Protocolized](https://paragraph.com/@protocolized) · 2024-07-24

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Everyone is talking about politics, so it's a good time to check out our _Governance & Society_ lecture series on YouTube. Topics include legitimacy, decentralization, ownership, and healthcare.

[![](https://paragraph.xyz/editor/youtube/play.png)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJNEJdRKRJ4)

Anthro-Inspired Reading List
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Technical protocols like Ethereum are only a subset in the broader field of protocol science. Anthropological angles are just as important, and the SoP community produces a lot of work on how humans organize – internally, with each other, and with technology – and how that molds behavior over time. One quote that regularly resurfaces is by Alfred North Whitehead.

> _Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking of them._

Whitehead strikes at the core of what makes protocols important, even if he doesn't directly define them. This quote unites both technical and social protocol entrepreneurs. Their goal is to shift default modes of behavior.

Check out the following readings to build up your protocol literacy:

*   [Artificial Memory and Orienting Infinity](https://summerofprotocols.com/research/artificial-memory-and-orienting-infinity) by Kei Kreutler.
    
*   [Dangerous Protocols](https://summerofprotocols.com/research/dangerous-protocols) by Nadia Asparouhova.
    
*   [The Swarm and The Formation](https://summerofprotocols.com/research/the-swarm-and-the-formation) by Rafael Fernández.
    
*   [Unprotocolized Knowledge](https://summerofprotocols.com/research/module-four/unprotocolized-knowledge) by Kara Kittel & Toby Shorin.
    
*   [Dangerous Dating Protocols](https://summerofprotocols.com/research/dangerous-dating-protocols) by Shreeda Segan.
    
*   [Control and Consciousness of Time](https://summerofprotocols.com/research/control-and-consciousness-of-time) by Saffron Huang.
    

There are also ongoing projects being built in public on the forum that are worth exploring.

[Explore](https://forum.summerofprotocols.com/c/sop24-research/11)

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Protocol Watching Goes Global
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet is organizing a protocol watching meetup in the U.K., most likely in London, and you should go. You can easily RSVP on the forum, [here](https://forum.summerofprotocols.com/t/protocol-pilled-in-the-uk/1514/3).

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/75a301d527f56e6a4a5e9fa80baf6758.png)

On the main SoP Website, there's a handy [field guide](https://summerofprotocols.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/SCHROFF-Protocol-Watching-HANDOUT.pdf) for protocol watching and [blank templates](https://summerofprotocols.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/SCHROFF-Protocol-Watching-HANDOUT-BLANK.pdf) so you can document what you find.

[![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/fc931f826dcb2997ad7f489bc07e7f7a.png)](https://summerofprotocols.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/SCHROFF-Protocol-Watching-HANDOUT.pdf)

Protocol Watching Guide

[![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/b8a9e7770ccdc66aadf65a77d728fb3a.png)](https://summerofprotocols.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/SCHROFF-Protocol-Watching-HANDOUT-BLANK.pdf)

Template for Documentation

If you're organizing a meetup or would like to, make a post on [the forum](https://forum.summerofprotocols.com/c/general/4)!

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*Originally published on [Protocolized](https://paragraph.com/@protocolized/whitehead-watch)*