Model Context Protocol
An investment and design lens for navigating heterogeneous knowledge ecosystems across the ātangible continuum, boosting information exchange, and aligning system behavior with human-centered goals.
An agent-based framework for knowledge ecosystems
Ātangible systems exist on a continuum where value transcends the traditional tangible-intangible dichotomy. The prefix "ā" (as in Sanskrit "ātman") indicates something that cannot be fully defined or contained in a concept. Even seemingly physical systems like steel manufacturing benefit from community knowledge bases and logistic efficiency, placing them on this ātangible continuum.
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is proposed as an investment and design lens to navigate these complex systems. It functions as an agent-based framework for heterogeneous knowledge ecosystems, aiming to boost information exchange and align system behavior with human-centered goals across the full spectrum of ātangibility.
MCP treats each participant as an agent with its own knowledge and goals, and introduces meta-agents or shared protocols that help these agents exchange information more effectively.
By facilitating context exchange, MCP enables higher information gain – each interaction yields new insights or reduces uncertainty – which is crucial in environments where knowledge is the primary currency.
MCP aligns system goals with human values and objectives (such as well-being, creativity, problem-solving) rather than just financial metrics, helping avoid purely self-interested behaviors.
An MCP-guided system resembles a well-orchestrated knowledge economy where heterogeneous participants interact through a common protocol, fostering meta-learning and adaptation.
Understanding ātangible systems across micro, mezzo, and macro domains
At the micro level, we examine individual agents within the atangible system - the people, organizations, AI systems, and other entities that create and exchange knowledge. This is where intangible assets originate and where the fundamental building blocks of the ecosystem exist.
The primary actors in an atangible system, including people, organizations, AI systems, and projects. Each possesses unique context that shapes interactions.
Knowledge, creativity, data, relationships, and intellectual property that lack physical form yet carry immense value.
The diversity of knowledge across agents, including complementary expertise, perspective diversity, and domain knowledge.
The ability of agents to incorporate feedback, experiment, absorb knowledge, and adapt strategies.
The mezzo level represents the communities, markets, and networks that connect individual agents within an atangible system. This is where exchange structures emerge, where meta-agents orchestrate interactions, and where protocols for knowledge sharing take shape.
The collectives that form the social infrastructure through which knowledge flows, including communities of practice, innovation networks, and digital platforms.
Entities that facilitate connections and establish rules, including platform providers, industry associations, conveners, and intermediaries.
Structures for exchanging intangible assets, from formal marketplaces to open collaboration and commons-based systems.
Mechanisms that build confidence in exchanges, including reputation systems, governance frameworks, and quality assurance.
The macro level encompasses the broader system and policy environment in which atangible ecosystems operate. This includes regulations, economic conditions, cultural norms, and cross-sector linkages that shape how knowledge is created, shared, and utilized across society.
Formal rules governing atangible systems, including intellectual property laws, data regulations, competition policy, and financial regulations.
Broader factors influencing atangible systems, including investment climate, market structures, fiscal policies, and global trade.
Societal values and practices that shape atangible systems, including collaboration culture, risk tolerance, time horizons, and knowledge valuation.
Connections between different domains, including industry-academia partnerships, public-private cooperation, and international collaboration.
Information, trust, and transparency in ātangible systems
Severe information asymmetry exists between parties. Critical knowledge is hoarded or hidden. Exchanges yield little useful information.
Low trust between participants. High costs for searching, negotiating, and enforcing deals. Expensive verification mechanisms required.
Chronic mismatches between supply and demand. Valuable resources remain underutilized. The market fails to self-correct.
Pricing is opaque and inconsistent. Comparison shopping is difficult or impossible. Arbitrary price discrimination is common.
Information is symmetrically distributed among participants. Knowledge is readily available to all players. Each transaction conveys useful knowledge.
High trust between participants. Low costs for searching, negotiating, and enforcing deals. Reputation systems function effectively.
Supply and demand find equilibrium smoothly. Resources flow to where they're most valued. The market self-corrects over time.
Prices are transparent or discoverable. Participants can compare options effectively. Pricing reflects genuine supply/demand dynamics.
The Model Context Protocol offers strategies for transforming unhappy ātangible markets into happy ones by enhancing information flow, building trust infrastructure, improving market-clearing, and increasing pricing transparency across the full spectrum of ātangibility.
Learn More About Market Transformation Explore Real-World ExamplesConnect with others interested in atangible systems
I'm working on quantitative metrics for information flow in research collaborations. Has anyone developed frameworks for measuring the "happiness" of academic knowledge markets?
While NFTs introduced some interesting concepts for creative markets, they've fallen short in many ways. I'd like to discuss what a more comprehensive MCP approach to creative markets might look like.
Support ventures that improve information flow, build trust, and create more coherent ātangible systems across unhappy markets
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Learn how to evaluate and engage with MCP-aligned initiatives using our comprehensive multi-level framework.
Read Investment GuideThe origins and vision behind the Model Context Protocol
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) playbook encourages us to look beyond immediate tangibles and consider the contextual fabric that connects agents in a system. By framing markets in terms of information flow, trust, transparency, and alignment of purpose, we gain a powerful lens to diagnose why certain tech or knowledge-based markets underperform and how we might transform them.
Happy atangible markets don't arise by accident – they require thoughtful design and investment across micro, mezzo, and macro scales to put the right protocols and incentives in place. An investor or leader using MCP thinking will seek out opportunities where diverse knowledge is synergized rather than isolated, where meta-agents (be it platforms or standards) are in place to orchestrate exchanges, and where the system's goals are ultimately aligned with human well-being and development.
MCP is both an analytical tool and a call to action: a reminder that in the modern economy, context is an asset just as much as content. Those who can create and govern the protocols for context – enabling knowledge to find its users and vice versa – will unlock outsized value, turning inefficient markets into engines of innovation and impact.
The MCP framework is being developed by a diverse team of researchers, practitioners, and investors committed to improving how knowledge flows in our economy.