# Welcome to the Autonomy Engine

Are you frustrated by the state of the world? Good, that means you're awake.

The world is kind of messed up right now, and I am sorry to say that nobody else
is going to fix it for you. This is the first tenet of autonomy, the
understanding and acceptance of your own agency - if you want to fix things,
you will need to learn how to do it yourself. The good news is, you don't
have to do it on your own. There's an old man in the cave over there, and he has
something for you.

**"IT'S DANGEROUS TO GO ALONE! TAKE THIS."**

he says, hearkening back to the classic 1986 Nintendo game *Battletoads*. 

Unlike the old man in that story, however, this one has a bit more information
to give you before you set off on your quest.

## "Wait, is this a sword?"

In a way, yes. The autonomy engine is a tool for immersive education on how to
use your devices to become a more empowered member of the increasingly
digitalized society we live in today.

The ae will not teach you how to program. Rather, it will teach you to avoid
being programmed. The truth of the matter is that the cultural programming that
has been installed into your psyche from a young age is not for your benefit.
The systems that maintain control over the -- 

## You press B repeatedly, hoping to swing your sword around

Okay, I get it. You want to get to the good stuff. Fighting monsters, slaying
dragons, that kind of thing. Here's how you get started.

```
git clone https://git.coalitionofinvisiblecolleges.org/Zen/ae
cd ae
make alchemy
```

## Discouraged by the lack of sword-swinging, you reach for your smartphone

Yea, that makes sense. Your eyes seemed to glaze over as soon as I said the word
'cultural programming'. 
*blah, blah, blah. Something about failsafe mechanisms... my goodness. Is he* still *talking?*

*ahem* 
**Child, you are late for class.**

Sit down at your desk and open your notebook. There will be a quiz at the
end of this class worth 5% of your grade. Today's lecture will be delivered
remotely by a prestigous MIT professor, course notes are available
[here](https://missing.csail.mit.edu/2020/course-shell/).

[![Introduction to the shell](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Z56Jmr9Z34Q/hqdefault.jpg)](https://youtu.be/Z56Jmr9Z34Q)

Click the above video to get started.