Mapmakers: The Secret Architecture of Money, Power, and Reality

Every time you tap your phone, vote, invest money, or even define success, you're following a protocol—an invisible set of rules and categories that someone else designed. From TCP/IP to GDP, from credit scores to carbon credits, these "reality protocols" shape what's possible, what's valuable, and what's visible. Mapmakers reveals that true power in the 21st century doesn't come from controlling territory or resources—it comes from controlling the maps everyone else has to navigate by. In Mapmakers: The Secret Architecture of Money, Power, and Reality, Josh Luberisse pulls back the curtain on these invisible architectures of control. Drawing on a groundbreaking new framework called Reality-Protocol Theory, he reveals that the most significant form of power today is cartographic power: the ability to design the maps that everyone else is forced to navigate. The winners of the 21st century—from tech giants and political movements to influential nations—are not just those with the most resources, but those who successfully install their map as the default reality for everyone else. Mapmakers opens with a puzzle: Why did the clunky QWERTY keyboard defeat superior alternatives? Why does Facebook's definition of "engagement" shape global discourse? Why do some military interventions fail spectacularly despite overwhelming force? The answer lies in understanding protocols—the hidden infrastructure of social reality. Drawing on examples from Silicon Valley boardrooms to failed nation-building efforts, from cryptocurrency battles to ESG standards wars, the book shows how protocols work: they compress messy reality into manageable maps, but whoever draws the map decides what matters. We meet the "protocol entrepreneurs"—the standards-setters, platform-builders, and framework-designers who shape how billions of people see and navigate the world. The book reveals the recurring patterns: why thin, flexible protocols (like internet standards) spread globally while thick, prescriptive ones (like imposed governmental systems) face resistance. Why metrics inevitably corrupt the systems they measure (Goodhart's Law). How dominant protocols become invisible, feeling like "just how things are" rather than choices someone made. The stakes crescendo as we explore contemporary protocol wars: Who will define AI alignment—and thus humanity's future? Whose sustainability metrics will direct trillions in investment? Which digital identity standards will determine privacy and freedom for billions? These aren't technical debates—they're contests for control of the operating system of civilization. The book concludes with a practical framework: how to recognize when you're living inside someone else's map, how to evaluate competing protocols, and how to participate in—or resist—the protocol wars shaping our future. In an age where reality itself seems up for grabs, understanding protocols isn't just intellectual—it's survival. Why Now: In an era of "alternative facts," platform power, AI governance debates, and competing metaverses, people sense that reality itself has become contested terrain. This book names what they're feeling: we're living through a massive renegotiation of the protocols that organize civilization. From social media algorithms to ESG standards, from cryptocurrency to AI alignment, the protocol wars will determine the next century. After reading this book, you'll never see a metric, standard, platform, or framework the same way. You'll understand why some changes feel impossible (protocol lock-in) and others happen overnight (protocol collapse). Most importantly, you'll recognize when someone is trying to install their map in your head—and you'll know what to do about it.