Zurich Institute

The Zurich Institute envisions a high-agency society with the knowledge and technology to pursue prosperity, meaning, and abundance.

PredictProjectProvoke

In building mode. First essays, a gathering in Zurich, and a few provocations are on the way.

Colour photochrom of Zurich's Bahnhofplatz in the 1890s: the railway station on the left, a fountain and pedestrians in the square, and the long Polytechnikum building on the hill behind.
Zurich, Bahnhofplatz and the Polytechnikum (now ETH Zurich), 1890s. Photochrom, a colour process developed in Zurich. Library of Congress.

What we hold (draft)

  1. 01

    Agency is the measure

    We judge technologies, policies, and institutions by whether they leave people more able to choose and act.

  2. 02

    Knowledge is the source

    More knowledge is better than less. We work to create it, keep it, and make it usable.

  3. 03

    Build where trust forms

    Neighborhoods, towns, and small teams are where accountability is real.

  4. 04

    Capability over centralization

    Small teams should have the leverage once reserved for the largest firms.

  5. 05

    Preserve to progress

    Institutions carry knowledge across generations. We renew them before we replace them.

  6. 06

    Proof, not posture

    We earn credibility through work that can be checked, and we publish every version.

Writing

  1. theory

    When Scarcity Inverts

    Intellectual Property, Agency, and the Post-Abundance Economy

    Intellectual property was a response to incentivize useful ideas. What happens to intellectual property and to human agency when the scarcity of useful ideas is removed?

    Brandon S. Byers, D.Sc. · 21 October 2026 · Version 5 · Working draft · 21 min read

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