The Abs-Tract Organization
The Abs-Tract Organization ("TATO") is a meta- think tank formed to provide global solutions to systemic problems, specializing in "abstraction", an advanced thinking process and social critique with wide ranging applications—Executive Director is Brent Cooper.
About: The Abs-Tract Organization ("TATO") is a globally oriented meta- think tank and braintrust committed to definitively solving the world's abstract (systemic) social problems through a high-level framework of "abstraction." All problems are solvable. The Abs-Tract Organization ("TATO") is a nascent non-profit think tank for absolute social philosophy and global civil society, committed to definitively solving the world's systemic social problems through a high-level framework of "abstraction."
TATO's essential value proposition is found in the concept and special applications of "abstraction," a manifold term differentiated across and within many fields, including math, computer science, linguistics, neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, and social theory. Such a vast methodological synthesis is resistant to summary, and is detailed within this Business Plan. Abstraction is generally defined as a conceptual process of complexity reduction that highlights the essential properties or first principles of a given object or idea. Given the wide range of expressions, from a shorthand for critical thinking to an integral process of knowledge production, the utility of abstraction cannot be understated. However, as the term 'abstract' is highly equivocal, TATO provides the necessary depth and insight to make abstraction more accessible and relevant to the public and specialists alike.
Our broad mission is to establish a new consensus of superordinate knowledge to streamline and pacify globalization. TATO emphasizes the urgency and opportunity to 'abstract' a unified social critique in the context of the emergent paradigm of "metamodernism," as a new cultural, political, scientific, and social movement representing a post-ideological, open source, globally responsive, paradox resolving, grand narrative. In this context, abstraction comes to refer to the cumulative pursuit of higher-order self-evident logic that transcends contradictory discourses and dissolves ideological conflict. Our process involves the depoliticization, demystification, and distillation of truth in order to directly confront the multifarious epistemic crises at present. A new enlightenment is already underway and is limited only by the persistence of detractors bounded by the constructed opportunism of the system.
The central problem is how all-important abstract (systemic) issues such as climate change and institutional racism become obfuscated and marginalized through market forces and cognitive biases, in turn producing self-defeating abstract wars of attrition against populations and the environment. This status-quo is exacerbated by our constant crisis of epistemic authority, where public trust is eroded, the mainstream media is corrupt and misinformative, and knowledge is instrumentalized at the expense of truth. The problem is in fact overdetermined by a nexus of causal factors. In response, we seek to simplify the meta- crises in order to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio in civil discourse to correct these aberrations at the root level.
The prefix "meta-" (variously denoting change, beyond, above, etc.) has many vital uses that coalesce with the advent of metamodernity. The concepts of “metacognition” (thinking about thinking) and “metanoia” (to change one’s mind) are central to intellectual revolution. "Meta-analysis” reveals unknown common truths across conceptually related studies, providing a ‘big picture’ perspective and quality control. The study of "metaphysics" as social humanism reclaims it as a ‘philosophy of first principles,’ and highlights the distinction between physical and social science. Marx's notion of "metabolic rift" theorizes the entropy of ecological and social systems under capitalism, granting us the necessary foresight to prevent such dehumanizing decay. As a novel enterprise, TATO aims to be the superlative "meta-" think tank to apply these insights, coordinating epistemic communities and solving fundamental contradictions at an abstract level. Many conventional think tanks are demonstrably partial and have been increasingly corporatized under neoliberalism, undermining their function as progenitors of objective thought. Our role is in part to compel corporate social responsibility in the marketplace of ideas, with a program of capitalist "absolution" as a system-wide process of truth and reconciliation.
The Business Plan is our “Proof of Concept” which details the vision, mission, and prospective advantages of TATO, the credentials and qualifications of its Executive Director and associates, our internal governance structure, strategy, and the sources and uses of funding. This document also includes a risk assessment and comparative analysis with other nonprofit think tanks. As projected in section (#), TATO is soliciting start-up capital along a spectrum from an functional minimum of $100k for the first year, to an idealistic scenario of $1M to cover 3-5 years of impact and growth. These funds will primarily cover its Campaign Plans, research and development, and the salary of the Executive Director. Once operational, we will pursue support from institutional philanthropists for more targeted projects. At this time, TATO's founding is dependent on you; the support of an early-adopter network of academics, civil servants, entrepreneurs, artists, and activists. This Business Plan marks the call to action for financing, membership, volunteers, and board members in order to meet nonprofit operational standards and further funding eligibility. Serving also as a meta-organization, TATO seeks membership and support from other organizations and think tanks with the shared goal of radically evolving the status-quo.
Links: Main Website: www.abs-tract.org
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