The Opt Out Writing Contest: Round 1 Results Announced!

Hey Hackers!

Welcome to the winners' announcement for the first round of the Opt Out Writing Contest!

The Āut Labs and HackerNoon teams have been blown away by the incredible talent, creativity, and sheer audacity showcased in this round. It's been a wild ride exploring autonomy, identity, and self-sovereignty through your eyes, and now it's time to shine the spotlight on the brightest stars among us.

Without further ado, let’s introduce our finalists!

The Opt Writing Contest: Round 1 Finalists 🎉

1. Breaking Rules: Autonomy in Tech, Art and Activism by @normbond

2. Delusional Opt Out: What are you opting into? by @daowl

3. Behold: The Autonomy We Always Sought by @oliveremeka

4. Web3: A New Frontier or a False Dawn? by @jennyzheng

5. The Cryptoanarchist's Cookbook by @gadfly

6. Can Humanity's Systems Serve as Material Enablers for Evasion? by @maybenot

7. Quantients: A Near-Future Story of Autonomous Heroes and Quantum Leaps by @scottermonkey

8. Life is a Collection of Games; We Each Choose Which Ones We Play. Choose Wisely by @palurintano

9. Can You Achieve Self-Sovereignty With Bitcoin?: There are Four Levels to This by @ssaurel

10. A Tale of Ice and Fire by @maken8

11. Web3 : The Decentralization Dilemma: Are We Going to Be Free as Expected? by @verlainedevnet

12. Self-Sovereignty in Virtual Reality: Humans Won’t Know They’re in the Matrix, and They Don’t Need To by @nftbro

13. Declaration of Independence 3.0 by @draftin

14. The Things We Make by @djcampbell

15. Here Comes Web3: Chris Dixon’s Read Write Own by @ralphbenko

16. The Historical, Philosophical & Cultural Dimensions of Biometric Identity Verification by @sshshln

17. Identity in the Digital Era: Balancing Security, Privacy, and Authenticity by @shad0wpuppet

18. The Path to Resonant Autonomy: Navigating Autonomy and Social Freedom in Web3 by @bastin

19. The Future of Work: Embracing Autonomy in Decentralized Organizational Structures by @aahna

20. Luddites, WarGames, and the Lost Battle for Autonomy by @jamesbore

Thank you all for your hard work and for making the first round of this contest a success!

And the Winners Are…

#Autonomy

1ST PLACE 🏆

https://hackernoon.com/luddites-wargames-and-the-lost-battle-for-autonomy?embedable=true

The Luddites are far from the first decentralized movement, and definitely not the last. They were unique, to my knowledge, in being the first to assemble a decentralized movement to oppose centralization and concentration of power in the hands of a few. Those few being the capitalists who purchased the machines with the aim of exploiting their workforce by removing the need for expensive expertise.

2ND PLACE 🎉

https://hackernoon.com/quantients-a-near-future-story-of-autonomous-heroes-and-quantum-leaps?embedable=true

This is a near-future story of unforeseen heroes emerging and rapidly evolving to reverse our loss of autonomy

#Selfsovereignty

1ST PLACE 🏆

https://hackernoon.com/self-sovereignty-in-virtual-reality-humans-wont-know-theyre-in-the-matrix-and-they-dont-need-to?embedable=true

Virtual reality allows us to rebuild a more human society from the ground up - from financial systems to governance and the very concept of “state". "System" says the metaverse is the wrong way for humanity. It resists its development and tries to stop its popularity.

2ND PLACE 🎉

https://hackernoon.com/the-path-to-resonant-autonomy-navigating-autonomy-and-social-freedom-in-web3?embedable=true

Autonomy must not be misunderstood as an end in itself. Instead, we must understand it as the foundation and enabling condition for resonant world relations.I would like to argue that the pure value of autonomy requires a supplement to unfold its utopian potential: social freedom.

#Identity

1ST PLACE 🏆

https://hackernoon.com/life-is-a-collection-of-games-we-each-choose-which-ones-we-play-choose-wisely?embedable=true

If you stop and ask the average person on the street whether they think that politicians, banksters, and CEOs have their best interests at heart, you would be hard-pressed to find someone who says yes. Even the most statist, war-promoting, tax-paying, flag-waving people out there can no longer miss the obvious fact that "society" as we know it is simply a planet-sized human cattle farm, run by a small contingent of socio-/psychopaths.

2ND PLACE 🎉

https://hackernoon.com/delusional-opt-out-what-are-you-opting-into?embedable=true

Humans are the only creatures who believe in autonomy, and oddly, they are the creatures who are the least equipped to be autonomous. They burned down my forest to build a mall, and I just flew somewhere else. I can hunt my own mice, thank you very much. I can be autonomous because I am an owl. What are you going to do?

Congratulations once again to all our winners. Thank you for your hard work!

How to Claim Your HackerNoon Writing Contest Prize

• Contact yes-reply@hackernoon.com and sidra@hackernoon.com and share the email ID/and or wallet address attached to the winning hackernoon account.
• We will validate your claim and share a form requesting your details for reward distribution.
• You will receive your winnings in 2-4 weeks after completing the form.