Last-minute gifting help: a Cognitive Republic membership ⏰

Hello Cognitive Republic subscriber

The holidays are here, and if you’re scrambling for a thoughtful gift, I’ve got the perfect solution.

Give the gift of a Cognitive Republic (Opens in a new window) membership! It’s quick, impactful, and doesn’t require a trip to the store.

How do gift memberships work?

• ✨ Purchase a gift membership directly on our page here: Gift a Cognitive Republic membership (Opens in a new window).

• ✨ The gift membership will begin immediately, on the day of purchase.

• ✨ An email will be sent to the recipient informing them about their new gift from you, and how to access it (no price tag listed, don’t worry).

• ✨ The gift membership does not auto-renew.

🎁 Gift a Cognitive Republic membership (Opens in a new window)
Need more info? Check out this FAQ (Opens in a new window).

Happy holidays,

Shane.

The Cognitive Republic is: (Opens in a new window)

a book-length project written online, in public, building to a full length text:

Cognitive Republic: Building Societies That Experiment, Learn, and Evolve. (Opens in a new window)

Animating the Cognitive Republic is the idea that nothing is inevitable – nothing – no outcome is predetermined regarding our political futures. We can choose the world we want to live in.

Here’s a quick reminder regarding the last few posts:

I discussed the malaise afflicting our democracies (Opens in a new window) in ‘The Unfinished Contract — Our Democracies Must Learn or Die (Opens in a new window)’ (1771 words, published on 26/11/2025, and I also described the chapters to come)

Next I discussed ‘The conventional response to our democratic malaise (interlude):- tl,dr: “let’s do some incremental tinkering”’ (Opens in a new window) (3183 words, 8 Dec 25).

Currently, there are about >6100 subscribers to the Cognitive Republic (Opens in a new window). The open rates for each piece, delivered approximately every two weeks, are hovering close to 50% (way above average).

Cognitive Republic - 2026

I will detail what a cognitive republic (Opens in a new window) is, and how it might function, developing the theme that liberal democracies must reinvent themselves as learning systems (deepening ‘the unfinished contract’, above.

Posts will average typically between 1000 and 3000 words, delivered approximately fortnightly, with a pause in August (because, well, you know…).

My rough plan for the coming year is that about half of the posts will be outside the paywall. The other posts will be paywalled; the paywall also goes up on older posts as well.

Alternative Presents - Books!

If you’re interested in gifting a book, why not gift (in all formats - HB, PB, Kindle, Audio):

Talking Heads: The New Science of How Conversation Shapes Our Worlds (Opens in a new window) by Shane O'Mara (Opens in a new window)

In Praise of Walking: The new science of how we walk and why it’s good for us (Opens in a new window) by Shane O'Mara (Opens in a new window)

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