Trying to understand how people work. I focus on "zero to one" research: unanswered questions about the world – often hiding in plain sight – that lack a descriptive framework. My work has been supported by Emergent Ventures, Schmidt Futures, Ford Foundation, Ethereum Foundation, Protocol Labs, and others.
I think theory should derive from practice, so in addition to writing to understand a topic, I like to find ways to test those ideas in the "real world." I've worked at GitHub and Substack in pursuit of those interests, and my work usually has a strong ethnographic approach: trying to understand a place or a thing based on how people actually use it.
I'm currently researching the jhanas, a set of altered mental states that are induced via sustained concentration. I'm interested in how they work, how to make them more accessible, and their therapeutic potential.
If you're curious about this website's meta-ethos, check out this Q&A.
I also published a book: Working in Public: The Making and Maintenance of Open Source Software (Stripe Press).
(Note: I changed my last name; you can also find my work under Nadia Eghbal.)
Jhanas – a series of altered mental states that are accessed via concentration – are often described as an “advanced meditation practice,” a phrase that suggests that one must be a skilled meditator to access them: just as only a skilled outdoorsman would embark upon an expedition to the Arctic Circle. It implies that meditation exists on a spectrum of difficulty, with perhaps mindfulness apps like Calm and Headspace on one end, and jhanas on the other.
The jhanas are a series of eight (or nine) altered mental states, which progress from euphoria, to calm, to dissolution of reality – culminating in cessation, or loss of consciousness. They are induced via sustained concentration, without any external stimuli or substances. This is a practical guide on how to do them yourself.
I participated in the Summer of Protocols research program this summer as a Core Researcher. It was an 18-week program, funded by the Ethereum Foundation, that aimed to catalyze a wider exploration of protocols and their social implications.