Energy: entropy → chemistry → agriculture → fossil fuels → electricity
Information: DNA → neurons → language → writing → printing → computing → AI

A 3-month experiment in reverse-engineering civilization

The Creator's Stack

An engineer's 3-month journey through 9 layers of civilization — from atoms to AI — each layer built into an interactive experience.

3 months
9 layers
85 interactive works
1 Creator's Sandbox
The Stack
7| Modern Complexity --- Networks, Fragility, Collapse
6| Knowledge & Institutions --- Emergent Order vs Designed Order
5| Agriculture & Cities --- Chain Reaction of Energy Surplus
4| Language --- The Phase Transition of Civilization
3| Cognition --- From Neurons to Cooperation
2| Life --- From Chemistry to Evolution
1| Physics --- Energy, Entropy, Time

The full Stack awaits.

Phase 0 is free. Phases 1-8 unlock with one purchase — 77 interactive works, your Stack Portrait, Creator Finale.

Unlock Full Access — $89

Not ready? Get notified when we launch something new.

The Layers

Apr – Jun 2026
0
COMPLETED

Complexity

Apr 2026

Why do simple rules produce complex behavior?

0-0 Complicated vs. Complex 0-1 Emergence Lab 0-2 Self-Organization 0-3 Computational Irreducibility 0-4 Edge of Chaos 0-5 Phase Transition 0-6 Sandpile Model 0-7 Scaling Laws
1
COMPLETED 🔒 Full Access

Physics

Apr–May 2026

How does complexity arise in a universe of increasing entropy?

1-0 Entropy Arrow 1-1 Boltzmann's Dice 1-2 Maxwell's Demon 1-3 Energy Ledger 1-4 Carnot Ceiling 1-5 Dissipative Order 1-6 Bifurcation & Tipping 1-7 Time Illusion
2
COMPLETED 🔒 Full Access

Life

May 2026

How do dead molecules become living systems?

2-0 Life Ledger 2-1 Hydrothermal Cradle 2-2 Brownian Ratchet 2-3 ATP Spinner 2-4 Mitochondria Merger 2-5 Replicator Race 2-6 The Giraffe Riddle 2-7 Hawk-Dove Game 2-8 Kin Altruism 2-9 Why Can Strangers Cooperate?
3
COMPLETED 🔒 Full Access

Cognition

Jun 2026

What does the brain actually do?

3-0 Hebbian Playground 3-1 Body Map 3-2 Bouba-Kiki Effect 3-3 Octopus Mind 3-4 Unconscious Pilot 3-5 System One Trap 3-6 Loss Aversion 3-7 Ant Trail 3-8 Firefly Sync 3-9 Cultural Ratchet 3-10 Moral Elephant
4
COMPLETED 🔒 Full Access

Language

Jun–Jul 2026

Why is language the single biggest unlock?

4-0 Naming Game Arena 4-1 Creole Lab 4-2 Language-Thought Lab 4-3 Metaphor Engine 4-4 Language Archaeology 4-5 Drum Talk 4-6 Entropy Calculator 4-7 Code Evolution 4-8 Writing Brain 4-9 Gödel Machine 4-10 AI Is Us
5
COMPLETED 🔒 Full Access

Agriculture & Cities

Jul 2026

Why did agriculture trigger civilization?

5-0 Settlement Tradeoff 5-1 Grain vs Tuber 5-2 Escape Map 5-3 Social Form Explorer 5-4 Agglomeration Engine 5-5 City DNA 5-6 Bronze Age Network 5-7 Collapse Lab 5-8 Grain → State → Land 5-9 Domus Energy
6
COMPLETED 🔒 Full Access

Knowledge & Institutions

Aug 2026

Is order emergent from below, or designed from above?

6-0 Commons Arena 6-1 Money Origins 6-2 Crowd Wisdom Lab 6-3 Cascade Simulator 6-4 Institution Scorecard 6-5 Critical Juncture Map 6-6 Legibility Simulator 6-7 Paradigm Network 6-8 Innovation Engine 6-9 Governance Portrait
7
COMPLETED 🔒 Full Access

Modern Complexity

Aug–Sep 2026

Why is our hyper-connected world so fragile? Is collapse fate, or can we design antifragility?

7-0 Network Architect 7-1 Hub Attack 7-2 Tight Coupling 7-3 Financial Contagion 7-4 Fat Tails 7-5 Antifragility Lab 7-6 Complexity Collapse 7-7 Feedback Studio 7-8 Platform Power 7-9 Climate Commons 7-10 Designer Portrait
∞
COMPLETED 🔒 Full Access

Synthesis

Sep 2026

To build a civilization from scratch: what conditions, what sequence, what mechanisms?

8-0 Sandbox Engine 8-1 Civilization Dashboard 8-2 9-Layer Stack Portrait 8-3 Pace Layers Studio 8-4 X-Risk vs Hope 8-5 Creator's Finale

Follow the Journey

New layers unlock as the experiment progresses. Subscribe to get notified.

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FINAL DESTINATION

The Creator's Sandbox

The final destination. Unlocks at the end of the journey. Play as the creator — build a civilization from a blank universe, one layer at a time.