Essay Grants — Program Overview & Submission Guidelines

"We need the most powerful telescope, that of polished utopian consciousness, in order to penetrate precisely the nearest nearness." — Ernst Bloch, The Principle of Hope

Who We Are

Parity is a research institution that invests as an act of conviction. We believe the future is always emerging somewhere, but it isn't yet evenly distributed. The future won't arrive on its own; it requires people with an irrational dedication to point the way and generate enough momentum to escape the deep potential well.

Breakthroughs often begin as heresy. Novel insight comes from uncovering non-obvious truths about the world. We support frontier writing in the most exciting fields of our generation, including Blockchain, dWeb, AI, Robotics, Space Tech, Nuclear Energy, and Quantum Computing, as well as their extended topics like Digital Privacy, Autonomous Worlds, Space Exploration, and Internet Governance.

What We Offer

• Grant: USD $1,600 per essay.
• Editing & Bilingual Publication: We provide a full editorial partnership and professional design. Your work will be published in both English and Traditional Chinese (we handle the translation).
• Platform & Distribution: We feature each essay on a dedicated page and promote it through our social channels and with press assets.
• Author-First Rights:
  • Copyright remains with you, the author. Parity receives first-publication and curation rights for our website, social media, and annual editions.
  • Our license is CC BY-SA 4.0 by default, requiring attribution and that any derivative works use the same license.
  • Non-exclusive by design. We believe walling off ideas slows collective progress, so you are free to cross-post your essay on your blog or any other platform.
  • Pseudonymous or anonymous publication is welcome as well if needed.

What We're Looking For

• Topics: Blockchain, dWeb, AI, Robotics, Nuclear Energy, Space Tech, Quantum Computing, and the related fields listed above.
• Language: English or Chinese.
• Format: To facilitate our collaborative editing process, we ask that final drafts be submitted as a Google Docs. For essays that contain numerous mathematical formulas requiring LaTeX syntax, we also support submission via HackMD.
• Length: We suggest a range of 2,000–4,000 words, but this is a flexible guideline. We evaluate essays on creativity and impact, not word count. Recognizing that every idea has an information-theoretic lower bound on its expression, the goal is precision. History reminds us that many of the concepts that propelled civilization forward were initially brief and unpolished. For example, Gordon Moore's four-page paper became the North Star for the semiconductor industry, and Satoshi Nakamoto's nine-page whitepaper launched the era of crypto.
• Originality: Submissions should be original and unpublished. We acquire first-publication rights and therefore cannot accept essays that have been previously published elsewhere.
• Style: We look for writing that blends the technical rigor of engineering with a deep humanistic perspective. Your work should situate its topic within a broader historical, social, or philosophical context. We value independent, critical thinking that offers original insights or poses thoughtful questions, while avoiding vague, sentimental, or sensationalist language. Above all, your essay should be logically structured and powerfully argued.
• Style References: Other Internet / Autonomous Worlds / 0xPARC / Ink & Switch / The Dark Forest Collective.

Logistics

• Process: Submit your application through our application form with the following:
  • An abstract and key claim (150–300 words).
  • An outline with 3–5 bullet points.
  • A brief bio and 1–2 representative writing samples.
  • A note on anonymity/pseudonymity, if needed.
  • Your language preference (English/Traditional Chinese).
• Evaluation Criteria: Clarity｜Novelty｜Potential Impact｜Craft
• Timeline: Rolling Review → Decision & Agreement → Editing & Translation → Design & Layout → Publication
• Payment: Payment is sent promptly upon final acceptance of the work. We keep it simple.

Closing

We believe deep, original thinking is born from genuine curiosity and a drive to explore.

Think of this program as a grant to amplify your existing work. Keep doing what you're already doing; we're here to add funding, editorial support, bilingual reach, and curation to accelerate your impact. True thinkers and builders create regardless of reward or recognition. We simply want to provide the extra fuel for your fire.