Default to Wrong
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool.” — Richard Feynman
The industry default in Web3 is: “That sounds right.” It usually isn’t.
Welcome to Default to Wrong—a weekly dose of strategic clarity for people building the future of the internet, commerce, and culture.
If you’ve ever read a dubious crypto adoption statistic, skimmed the latest buzzword-packed “state of Web3” report, or sat through yet another panel of hype merchants recycling the same five talking points and thought, is this real? Or just really good at sounding real?—this blog is for you.
You're not jaded. You're early. Early to the realization that the loudest ideas in Web3 and emerging tech are often the most under-examined. That conviction without scrutiny is just dogma in a hoodie. And that most industry “thought leadership” is just recycled noise packaged in a glossy PDF.
Default to Wrong is my attempt to cut through that noise.
I’m Jonathan Inglis, founder and CEO of Protocol Theory. I work with teams in Web3 and emerging tech who want to stop playing strategy theatre and start making real decisions, grounded in actual user behavior. This blog is where I say what I can’t fit into a client strategy deck or a polite panel discussion.
Here’s what you’ll get: one sharp, evidence-backed essay each week*. Each post will take a widely-held yet under-examined industry assumption—“users need incentives,” “regulation will drive adoption,” “community equals loyalty”—and replaces it with something clearer, sharper, and built to last. Sometimes I’ll debunk it. Sometimes I’ll reframe it. But always with one goal: to help you think more clearly about what we’re building and why it matters, with lessons you can actually apply to product, brand, UX, and growth.
The title of this blog says it all. To default to wrong is to accept that our first instinct is often flawed or incomplete, that absolute statements warrant scrutiny, and that real progress comes from seeking what is actually true rather than what feels comfortable or convenient. It’s humility as a starting point, and rigor as the path forward.
The call to action is simple: stop mistaking confidence for truth. Stop hiding behind buzzwords that sound smart but explain nothing. Start doing the harder work of testing ideas against evidence and building products that matter.
If it sounds smart but explains nothing, I’m coming for it.
Welcome to Default to Wrong.
*While the weekly cadence will focus on evidence-based critiques, I’ll occasionally publish other pieces as well, including explorations of ideas that connect dots across science, strategy, and consumer behavior, and personal reflections on broader industry dynamics that have implications for how we think, build, and make decisions.