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 kind of glazed over as soon as I said the word 'cultural programming'. blah, blah, blah. Something about failsafe mechanisms

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.