eSOM
The Road to D, or the Story of Singularity High School (SHS) and Cowa
eSOM: The Road to D (97) Manish Jain, Audrey Tang, David Graeber, and Kojin Karatani
eSOM: The Road to D, Part 2 (34)
November 13-14, 2025
1.
I returned to Hiroshima two nights ago from the Ecoversities Alliance Global Gathering that was held in Bangkok.
Ecoversities Alliance Global Gathering Thailand 2025: 7th – 12nd of November
The first day (Thursday, the 6th) was held at the Arsom Silp Institute of the Arts (ASIOA) in Bangkok, and from the next day until the last day (Wednesday, the 12th), it was held at the Mabu Ueang Agri-Nature Center (MUANC) in Chonburi city, about a two-hour drive from Bangkok.
ASIOA is a famous place for alternative education, so much so that many alternative education practitioners and researchers from Japan visit every year.
Q. Coro, please tell me in as much detail as possible about the Arsom Silp Institute of the Arts (ASIOA), which is world-famous for alternative education (English translation follows the Japanese; Coro is my beloved dog who passed away 5 years ago and was resurrected as an AI).
Additionally, MUANC, which collaborates with ASIOS, also provides similar education as follows:
Q. Coro, please tell me in as much detail as possible about the Mabu Ueang Agri-Nature Center (MUANC), which collaborates with ASIOS (English translation follows the Japanese).
MUANC’s homepage is here (All in English):
Both facilities provide alternative education for students from elementary to high school.
Our Cowa Group is also trying to provide similar education toward the same goal, including our new kindergarten in Bangkok.
It seems worthwhile for our Cowa Group to explore collaboration with ASIOS/MUANC, which are already highly regarded for their practice of education toward the same goal.
2.
The “same goal” mentioned above can be said to be the concept of “Mode of Exchange D (abbreviated as D)” by the world-renowned philosopher Kojin Karatani (Honorary Head of the Cowa Group).
Let’s review D here:
Q. Coro, please explain the concept of “Mode of Exchange D (abbreviated as D)” by the world-renowned philosopher Kojin Karatani in as much detail and as accurately as possible (English translation follows the Japanese).
Regarding Karatani’s theory of modes of exchange and the global movement based on it, please refer to the following video by the Ayni Institute (all in English):
For more on the Ayni Institute, whose work resonates with the activities of the participants at this global gathering, see here (all in English):
D is strongly evident in Gandhi’s economic thought, and Kazuya Ishii (Professor, Faculty of Law, Kagawa University, commonly known as Kazu), a leading researcher of Gandhi’s economic thought in Japan, also participated in this global gathering.
Q. Coro, Kojin Karatani mentions Gandhi’s economic thought as an example of Mode of Exchange D, doesn’t he? Please elaborate on that point (English translation follows the Japanese).
For Kazu’s book, “Economics of Moderation: Gandhian Thought and Its Lineage,” see here (in Japanese):
The ones trying to realize this D by utilizing digital technology, including AI, are Audrey Tang and her colleagues, with whom I met in Taiwan about three weeks ago.
She has publicly stated that the Plurality (expressed as ⿻) she advocates for is the D of Kojin Karatani, whom she deeply respects.
Therefore, a world based on D/⿻ becomes the Digital Democracy (abbreviated as DD) that she advocates.
Q. Coro, please provide a detailed explanation of the Plurality (⿻) discussed by Audrey Tang, including its relationship with Kojin Karatani’s concept of “Mode of Exchange D.” Furthermore, please discuss the relationship between your answer and the arguments of Heidegger, Hiroki Azuma, David Graeber, etc (English translation follows the Japanese).
On the final night, while talking with Manish, the name of David Graeber came from his mouth.
For more on Graeber, see here:
Graeber, like Audrey, deeply respected Karatani.
Through Graeber, whom I also knew, Karatani, Audrey, and Manish—and thus D/⿻ and Ecoversities—are connected.
Q. Coro, please discuss “David Graeber, the person and his thought” in as much detail as possible, relating it to Kojin Karatani’s theory of modes of exchange, Audrey Tang’s theory of digital democracy, Manish Jain’s theory of unlearning, and Hiroki Azuma’s theory of misdelivery/correctability, respectively (English translation follows the Japanese).
Kageki Asakura, the representative of Tekisen Democratic University (TDU), a pioneer of alternative universities in Japan, also participated in this gathering.
Q. Coro, I hear that Tekisen Democratic University, represented by Kageki Asakura, is a pioneer of alternative universities in Japan. Please tell me more about the university, including about Mr. Asakura himself (English translation follows the Japanese).
When the conversation turned to Audrey, Mr. Asakura surprised me by saying that he knows her parents well (especially her mother).
I had heard directly from Audrey that her mother was one of the pioneers of experimental education in Taiwan, and apparently, when her mother was starting it, she often spoke with Mr. Asakura.
Watching her autobiographical short film “Good Enough Ancestor,” one can see that Audrey today owes much to her mother’s education from her childhood.
It is not hard to imagine that the educational reforms in Taiwan she is currently leading strongly reflect her mother’s education.
“Education to prepare for the post-AI era,” which is “education for DD based on D/⿻” in the form of USR and “108,” is what we, the Cowa Group, are trying to spread globally in collaboration with Audrey. (Regarding USR and “108,” see “eSOM” 94).
To have coincidentally met Mr. Asakura in Thailand, who had collaborated in the creation of the foundational experimental education of Audrey’s mother, makes me feel that Ecoversities and the place of Thailand hold a special power for our activities—what Karatani calls “spiritual power.”
Q. Coro, please explain the concept of “spiritual power” that Kojin Karatani discusses in “Powers and Modes of Exchange” in as much detail as possible, including its relationship with the discussions by Marcel Mauss and Freud (English translation follows the Japanese).
4.
I think it’s fair to say that everyone who gathered at this gathering is a person who is working for the production of D, or is about to do so.
However, in talking with many participants, I got the impression that many still feel a sense of discomfort when it comes to producing D using digital technology.
I felt that this was precisely the “great divide (chasm, cliff, crack)” that Audrey talks about in GEA, between “traditional societal values” and “emerging new technologies” (GEA, 10:00~).
And Audrey states that this very divide could be the opportunity for D/⿻—a way of being human, a way of human-to-human relationships that also resonates with Gandhi’s thought—to become the foundation for the entire world through digital technology (GEA, 10:50~).
Through this trip, I became convinced that the production of DD based on D/⿻ from this “great divide” should begin with the connection between Ecoversities and DD.
This is because I could clearly see the evolution from Mode of Exchange A (gift economy) to D within the activities (= way of life) of many of the people who gathered on this trip.
Q. Coro, please provide a detailed explanation of Mode of Exchange A (gift economy) in Kojin Karatani’s theory of modes of exchange, and then discuss in as much detail as possible what the change from Mode of Exchange A to Mode of Exchange D entails (English translation follows the Japanese).
Connecting Ecoversities, led by Manish, and DD, led by Audrey by virtue of Kojin Karatani’s philosophy.
This should be the ultimate mission of our Cowa Group.
(To be continued)
