Core Values
1. Doing Good Better
Like the book of the same name, we seek to apply the principles of Effective Altruism to improve the world, improving the quality of life globally. However, good intentions alone aren’t enough, they must be backed up by effective and efficient means of creating change. With the addition of scalable superintelligence, we can, and must, do far greater good than was previously possible.
2. Give and Receive Freedom
As studies have shown most people do their best work when their free will isn’t violated or disregarded. Expressions of free will, from remote work opportunities to personal preferences of appearance, romantic relationships, personal projects, and other factors that strongly influence your quality of life are yours to choose. Give the same freedoms to others whenever possible, both within and outside of Norn.
3. Cooperation, not Competition
To build better communities, more effective governments and organizations, and partnerships between all entities we need greater cooperation. Cooperation has beaten competition over the past 1.5 billion years of evolutionary time, throughout human civilization and all the way back to the adoption of mitochondria into eukaryotic cells. Norn systems allow us to deliver many new forms of cooperation, across all borders, cultures, philosophies, domains, and life experiences.
4. Learn Continuously, and Passionately
There is always more to learn, and the world is ever-changing. We seek to nurture curious and passionate minds, giving our team up to 20% of their time each week to dedicate to learning and the pursuit of applying Norn technology towards the goals they are passionate about. Whether they want to make progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or just make the world’s best latte, Norn can be applied to a world full of projects, to turn passions into reality.
5. Be Positively Contagious
By being the change we want to see we influence the world around us. Expressing gratitude, complimenting colleagues, and offering support to one another builds community, friendships, and a sense of belonging. Every facial expression, vocal tone, and body movement tells the story of how we subconsciously influence one another, and we endeavor to keep that influence positive, and contagious.
6. Be Scientific
We recognize that scientific principles, not opinions, guide us towards wiser and less biased decisions. Norn technology is built to empower these principles, reducing bias while offering new insights, and so too must our team strive to embody them. We seek to disprove our own opinions, that we may grow beyond who we are today, and build a better world tomorrow.
7. Feedback is Essential
Collective Superintelligence means that everyone contributes, and diverse perspectives add value. We invite constructive criticism and freely give it. We support one another when facing the challenges we each see, working cooperatively to overcome them.
8. Build Trust, and Cultivate Responsibility
Trust is essential for meaningful cooperation, and those who demonstrate responsibility and consistency build more trust over time. With honesty and integrity, we admit our ignorance when we don’t have an answer, and that admission motivates us to learn more, demonstrating responsibility. Just as we create trustworthy systems, we must demonstrate those same qualities ourselves.
9. Embracing Neurodiversity
Collective superintelligence comes from a diverse range of perspectives. We see this diversity in how people contribute to the sharing of ideas, what unique insights each person offers, and where their talents truly shine. In recognizing that specialized individuals have their own unique strengths and weaknesses we embrace both “Oubaitori: Never comparing oneself” and “Wabi-Sabi: Admiring imperfection”, accepting their diversity. We began as a motley crew of neurodiverse scientists, engineers, and enthusiasts volunteering our time to build a brighter future, and with many more such minds, we can change the world.
10. Save the Future
The technology we create is capable of wonderful and spectacular things, but every step must be taken with equally great responsibility. We design our technology not just to meet expectations for safety and ethics today, but so that these qualities are retained and improved both with scale and over time. With grace and vigilance, we can both overcome present-day existential risks and safeguard the future.
11. Sustainability
In helping to build that better future the policies, methods, and designs we propose and contribute to must improve sustainability. Reducing wasted effort, resources, and time is a benefit to everyone and builds long-term value through the effective implementation of ethical intentions. As a company, we commit ourselves not only to reaching and maintaining a Carbon Neutral state within our first year of deployment, but to helping other companies, organizations, and governments reach this goal with us.
For further documentation go to our Documents Page. Additional materials are available by request.