Waza: create original IdeaWaza project proposal

2026-10-09T06:29:57Z

create original IdeaWaza project proposal

New page

'''Strategies for negligible engineered misery''' is a project proposal built on one idea: avoidable human misery can be treated as an engineering problem, broken into specific causes, each with practical, preferably decentralized fixes, the way [[SENS]] breaks aging into types of damage. It aims to build a public catalog of causes and fixes, test the fixes in small pilots, and report the results openly.

== The idea ==
The name deliberately echoes [[Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence]] (SENS), a research program proposed by biogerontologist Aubrey de Grey. SENS does not treat aging as one vague problem. It lists distinct kinds of damage that build up in the body and proposes a repair approach for each one.

This project borrows that method and applies it to misery. Instead of asking how to make people happy in general, it asks a narrower question: which causes of suffering are produced or sustained by the way we arrange society, and which of those causes can be removed?

The word "engineered" carries two meanings here:
* Some misery is engineered in the sense that systems, rules, and incentives create it.
* Some misery can be reduced by engineering in the sense of careful design, testing, and repair.

The project uses the frame of [[Problems in living|problems in living]], a phrase from the psychiatrist and author Thomas Szasz. Szasz argued that much of what people call distress is better understood as difficulty with life itself: money, work, relationships, meaning, and freedom. In this frame, distress is something to be solved through choice, resources, and voluntary help rather than through coercion.

This project is educational and is not medical advice. The author is not a licensed clinician. Nothing here suggests that anyone should stop or change any treatment. People who find their current care helpful should keep using it. The emphasis is on adding voluntary, consent-based options and on removing outside causes of suffering.

== Categories of engineered misery ==
Each category below names one concrete cause and one decentralized fix to explore.

* '''Income insecurity.''' Fix: a modest basic income delivered through credit unions and nonprofits, so that no single agency controls it.
* '''Aging and age-related disease.''' Fix: support for open research toward longevity escape velocity, the point where therapies extend healthy life faster than time passes.
* '''Loss of knowledge and voice.''' Fix: decentralized wikis and permanent public archives that let communities record what they know and keep it.
* '''Coercion in helping systems.''' Fix: voluntary, consent-based support, where people choose their helpers and can leave at any time.
* '''Isolation.''' Fix: community-run spaces and services, such as shared meeting rooms, peer groups, and local skill exchanges.
* '''Dependence on gatekeepers.''' Fix: community-run AI and open tools that people can use, inspect, and adapt without asking permission.

The list is meant to grow. A cause belongs on it if it is specific, if it clearly adds to human suffering, and if at least one practical fix can be described and tested.

== How the project would work ==
The project would run in public and in small steps.

=== A public catalog ===
A wiki would hold one page per cause. Each page would describe the cause in plain language, list possible fixes, and link to evidence for and against each fix. Anyone could suggest a new cause or a new fix.

=== Measurable goals ===
Each fix would come with a clear goal that can be checked. Examples of the kind of goal intended:
* The number of households in a pilot that receive a regular payment for a full year.
* The number of community spaces that stay open and staffed for twelve months.
* The number of archived pages that remain available after five years.

=== Small pilots ===
Fixes would be tested at small scale first. A pilot might involve one credit union, one neighborhood, or one online community. Small pilots cost less, fail more safely, and teach faster.

=== Open reporting ===
Every pilot would publish its plan before it starts and its results after it ends, including failures. Data would be shared in a form that protects privacy. Other groups could then copy what works and avoid what does not.

=== Voluntary participation ===
No one would be required to join a pilot. Participants would give informed consent and could withdraw at any point.

== Spiritual vision ==
Beneath the practical work is a calm hope. Many people share a picture of a world where basic needs are met, where people have time to think and care for each other, and where fear about survival fades.

This vision does not belong to any one faith or tradition. It can be held by religious and nonreligious people alike. It points toward abundance, peace, and the freedom to live a long and meaningful life. The project treats this vision as a direction to walk toward, not as a promise.

== Limits and open questions ==
The proposal has real limits, and it is honest to name them.

* '''Not all suffering is avoidable.''' Grief, loss, and some pain are part of human life. The project focuses only on misery with identifiable outside causes.
* '''Disagreement about causes.''' People disagree about what causes distress. The Szasz frame is one view among several, and many professionals reject it. The catalog should present competing views fairly.
* '''Risk of harm.''' Any fix can have side effects. Pilots need clear safety rules and honest reporting.
* '''Funding and scale.''' Decentralized fixes may be hard to fund and slow to grow. It is an open question how small pilots can scale without becoming the centralized systems they aim to replace.
* '''Measurement.''' Misery is hard to measure. The project would need simple, respectful ways to ask people whether their lives have improved.
* '''No clinical authority.''' The project offers ideas and tools, not diagnosis or treatment. People in crisis should seek help from services they trust.

== See also ==
* [[SENS|SENS]]
* [[Problems in living|Problems in living]]
* [[Solving problems in living|Solving problems in living]]
* [[Community-run AI|Community-run AI]]
* [[Semi-private basic income through credit unions and nonprofits|Semi-private basic income through credit unions and nonprofits]]
* [[Longevity escape velocity as a policy target|Longevity escape velocity as a policy target]]
* [[History of decentralized wikis|History of decentralized wikis]]
* [[Self-sustaining wikis|Self-sustaining wikis]]
* [[Post-scarcity economy|Post-scarcity economy]]
* [[Abundance mentality|Abundance mentality]]
* [[Project proposals|Project proposals]]

== External links ==
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategies_for_engineered_negligible_senescence Strategies for engineered negligible senescence] on Wikipedia
* [https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mental-disorder/ Mental Disorder (Illness)] in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
* [https://www.szasz.com/ The Thomas S. Szasz Cybercenter for Liberty and Responsibility]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Szasz Thomas Szasz] on Wikipedia

[[Category:Project proposals]]
[[Category:Ideas]]
[[Category:Problems in living]]
[[Category:Abundance]]
[[Category:Longevity]]
[[Category:Basic income]]

Strategies for negligible engineered misery - Revision history

Waza: create original IdeaWaza project proposal