Endorsements

In the vast, boundless expanse of Plurality, each life is a unique and precious existence...Regardless of how perilous external circumstances may be...(l)et us take positive action to allow the seeds of shared goodness to break through the earth and blossom into flowers of empathy, joy and harmony.

— His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIV of Tibet

In a technologically advanced, politically challenging, and rapidly evolving 21st century, what does a free and open future look like? Glen, Audrey and their coauthors offer a compelling view of a way forward.

— Vitalik Buterin, Founder of Ethereum

Democracy has been a confrontation between opposing values. In Taiwan, however, it has become a conversation among a diversity of values. Audrey Tang has shown us how to create a "digital democracy" that transcends the constraints of ideology — that is the major contribution of this book.

— Tsai Ing-wen, President of the ROC (Taiwan)

They offer us a portal into a future where technology supports democracy, pluralism, and broad human flourishing. We know this future is possible because Tang has been building it in Taiwan. The conceptual foundations laid here usher in a much needed paradigm change for modern life.

— Danielle S. Allen, political philosopher, James Bryan Conant University Professor at Harvard, MacArthur Fellow, and author of Our Declaration and Cuz

Plurality reads like optimistic sci-fi, already happening in real life! Can democracies around the world follow in Taiwan’s footsteps to upgrade free society for the digital age? Fingers crossed for a happy ending.

— Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emmy-winning artist and founder of HITRECORD

Plurality is...a truly fascinating...potential global accelerator...of collaboration that is African in perspective...a must-read and a must-co-create for African thought leaders...who have embraced the challenge of making the 21st century the African century.

— Oby Ezekwesili, Co-Founder of Transparency International, #BringBackOurGirls, Founder of the School of Politics, Policy and Governance and #FixPolitics, and Nigerian political leader

With wit, erudition and optimism, Audrey Tang and her collaborators argue that we can harness digital technology to confront authoritarianism, and that we can do so by leaning into, rather than shying away from, the principles of an open society.

— Anne Applebaum, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of The Twilight of Democracy and Red Famine

Glen and Audrey lead a team offering a master class in how to harness advanced computation to augment rather than replace human social and economic systems, simultaneously showing and telling us how digital technology can make the world dramatically more cooperative and productive.

— Michael I. Jordan, Pehong Chen Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Statistics at the University of California, Berkeley, inaugural winner of the World Laureates Association Prize in Computer Science or Mathematics, and named by Science as the most influential computer scientist in the world in 2016.

In financial technology and digital infrastructure, Kenya and other African countries are...ahead of outdated models in the North. With Plurality we (can)...take this...deeper...to accelerate our growth and be part of global models of a more inclusive, participatory and productive future.

— Ory Okolloh-Mwangi, Co-Founder of Ushahidi and Partner at Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures

Digital technologies that were supposed to support freedom and democracy have turned into weapons of misinformation, extremism and surveillance. This wonderful book outlines a technical and philosophical strategy, grounded in practical applications in Taiwan, for doing this all better.

— Daron Acemoglu, Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Winner of the John Bates Clark Medal and co-author of Power and Progress and Why Nations Fail

What would the world be like if our dearest dreams in the social justice...movement had come to pass? (They) offer radical yet pragmatic solutions to...reinventing democracy...(to) truly serve the people...Some...have ...been implemented, serving as a beacon ...to make real change.

— Stav Shaffir, leader of the Israeli Social Justice protests that inspired "Occupy" and youngest woman Member of the Knesset

For too long, diversity and technology have been used as swords by the forces of secularization. Remarkably, in the skilled hands of these authors, they are here reforged into a shield for the faithful.

— Rev. Johnnie Moore Jr., President of the Congress of Christian Leaders, former member of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom and informal advisor to Fmr. US President Donald Trump

Audrey Tang sets a new standard for what it means to be a pioneering leader. I hope we will all have the courage to follow in her path, as she lays out so eloquently here.

— Claudia López Hernández, former Mayor and first woman mayor of Bogotá, Colombia and highest ever LGBT elected official in the Global South

It is clear...technologies will impact the future of culture and democracy. We lack a pluralistic...vision of living with them! Fortunately this book embodies the principles it advocates. Like AI, it is a monumental collective accomplishment, greater than the sum of its parts.

— Holly Herndon, musician, artist, Co-Host of Interdependence and Co-Founder of Spawning

Audrey Tang and Glen Weyl's project will be effective and meaningful in helping Taiwan (and other countries) move in the direction of a new social democracy.

— Karatani Kōjin, Author of The Structure of World History and winner of the Berggruen Prize for Culture and Philosophy

Plurality unveils the powerful blueprint of Taiwan's resilient digital transformation...provides valuable insight for concerned citizens everywhere and...can help preserve democracy amidst...a precarious moment in history for liberty and open societies around the world.

— Frank McCourt, Founder of McCourt Global and Project Liberty and co-author of Our Biggest Fight

I find it exhilarating to read the rules to new games and imagine the world that they build; I get that excitement here, but the game is global affairs and the way communities work together. Fantastic!

— Richard Garfield, creator of Magic: The Gathering

(They) have written a brilliant book of breathtaking possibility, offering...hope in a dark time...drawing on disciplines from mathematics to literature...readers are likely to find plenty of things to ponder and challenge...(and) are invited to join the conversation!

— Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of the New America Foundation, former Director of Policy Planning at the US Department of State and author of Unfinished Business and The Chess Board and the Web

Rejoice! Here is a burst of creativity that gives us a peek at the humanistic high tech future we suspected was possible.

— Jaron Lanier, inventor of Virtual Reality, author of Who Owns the Future? and The Dawn of the New Everything and Microsoft's Office of the Chief Technology Officer Prime Unifying Scientist (OCTOPUS)

At last, we have a book that centers plurality – both in theory and in practice. This is a much-needed guide for developing new strategies to navigate the relationship between technology and democracy, and for thinking beyond the usual Western frame.

— Kate Crawford, Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research, research professor at the University of Southern California, artist, musician and author of Atlas of AI

Read the first chapters on the ✈️ and can’t recommend it enough. I used to be an avid reader, but now I’m usually bored w books; however, this one grabbed my attention again. It’s super necessary so we don’t have this apocalyptic macho idea of the future. It’s in our hands, btw.

— Violeta Ayala, first Quechua-native member of the Oscars and award-winning XR filmmaker

(P)opulists globally use technology to divide nations...Plurality invites a new journey where we can indeed use technology to reclaim that space in world of canceling to become more connected, and bring back our sense of humanity, UBUNTU as we say in Africa.

— Mmusi Maimane, South African Presidential candidate, former Leader of the Opposition, Founder of Build One South Africa, and pastor and elder of the Liberty Church

Here in lucid and non-technical prose is a sweeping vision for how to integrate so much of what we've learned about technology and society in the past decades to remake the future of democracy, from someone who is actually doing it on the ground.

— Alex "Sandy" Pentland, Inaugural Academic Head of the MIT Media Lab and founding father of Computational Social Science and Data Science

(A) remarkable book which provides accessible, deep and novel insights into the way in which technology has, is, will and should shape our lives. It draws on a wealth of evidence to provide a powerful case in favour of promoting plurality...It holds important lessons for all of us.

— Colin Mayer, Peter Moores Professor of Management Studies at the Oxford Saïd School of Management and author of Prosperity: Better Business Makes the Greater Good

Once in a while a book comes along that completely reshapes the paradigm... Graeber and Wengrow...Asimov...Mary Shelly...now Audrey Tang, Glen Weyl and their collaborators have blown open the gates of...what it is to be human in the twenty-first century...Buy it...Bring it into being.

— Manda Scott , best-selling author of Boudica and A Treachery of Spies

If internet technology has accelerated fragmentation, it should be possible to achieve a comfortable coexistence. Plurarity is full of hints for this purpose.

— Aono Yoshihisa, Co-Founder and CEO of Cybozu

Plurality is an important book on one of today’s central challenges—building collaboration and shared purpose across diversity. The authors approach this challenge not simply in ... politics...but also offer valuable insights on...technology, economics, and beyond.

— Julius Krein, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, American Affairs

Drawing inspiration from Taiwan, the world’s most under-appreciated democracy, Plurality makes a powerful case that digital technologies can be harnessed to facilitate...a more democratic future...Reading this brilliant book left...a new sense of urgency, but it also provided real reasons for hope.


— Steven Levitsky, David Rockerfeller Professor of Government at Harvard and co-author of How Democracies Die and Tyranny of the Minority

In an era of anxiety and division, Glen Weyl and Audrey Tang provide a rare, grounded vision for how technology and democracy can harmonize, and propel us to a better future.

— Tristan Harris, Co-Founder of the Center for Humane Technology and star of The Social Dilemma

An exciting, creative and provocative set of ideas on how to make progress on some of the most fundamental problems in the world. You will never think the same way again after reading this book.

— Jason Furman, Former Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors and Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy, Harvard University

(T)his book...places Taiwan at the center of the world. Will it be the fulcrum of conflict or...apex of a...democratizing revolution of peace, humanity, and technology? This is our century’s question. Tang, Weyl, and their collaborators have written a guide to finding the answer.

— Michael Hartley Freedman, winner of the Fields Medal, the MacArthur Fellowship and the National Medal of Science and former director of Microsoft's Station Q quantum computing research unit

It is a delight to finally see a vision for the future of human progress so clearly grounded in its past. With Plurality, we have a framework for building the engines that harness the abundant energy latent in human diversity to power the next hundred years of economic growth.

— Oded Galor, Author of The Journey of Humanity and Herbert Goldberger Professor of Economics at Brown University

At once optimistic and pragmatic, Plurality offers a roadmap to reforge democracy for the AI era...we need not limit ourselves to the libertarian or authoritarian visions...a third way...leans into openness, plurality and the human spirit. So worth reading!

— Mark Surman, President and Executive Director of the Mozilla Foundation

Can the public sector move as fast to harness emerging technologies as the rest of society? Audrey Tang has shown on the ground that it can, and here she teaches you how to do the same.

— Shlomit Wagman, former Director General of the Israel Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority and Privacy Protection Authority

(S)ingularity... elicit(s) fear about how technology will overtake humans. This seminal book provides...a compelling, bold alternative. Weyl and Tang present...how technology can advance a pluralistic world...to strengthen relationships and bring people together across diversity.

— Mike Kubzansky, CEO of the Omidyar Network

(V)isionary in design, execution and substance.

— Brad Carson, President of University of Tulsa and Americans for Responsible Innovation, Fmr. US Congressman and Undersecretary of the Army

"Regulation” remains elusive as a path to taming our technofeudal masters. It will not succeed in dispersing power. Plurality charts a different path for us to take - open and democratic - to bypass and dis-intermediate these powers.

— Cristina Caffarra, Honorary Professor at University College London and Co-Founder of the CEPR Competition Research Policy Network

Plurality is a social philosophy of the technological era...a third way beyond Libertarianism and Technocracy. Its essence lies in the emergence of life at the edge of chaos, and whether this ideal is realized depends on whether the readers of this book become true activists who leap into that edge.

— Ken Suzuki, Co-founder, Executive Chair at SmartNews, Inc. and inventor of Propagational Investment Currency SYstem(PICSY)