CognitiveAristocracy
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Overview / Scenarios

Scenario Explorer

Eight different futures for China out to 2040 — each a 'what if things go this way' line. They're possibilities, not predictions.Eight scenarios for China's Cognitive Coefficient to 2040 — each the median (P50) path under different assumptions about diffusion, governance, and concentration.Eight scenario trajectories for China's CC to 2040 — each the P50 of a Monte-Carlo bounded-growth model under distinct assumptions about diffusion rate, governance, and concentration. Scenarios, not probabilistic forecasts.

Every line is a scenario, not a forecast. CC trajectories use a saturating bounded-growth curve with Monte-Carlo uncertainty bands (occupation projections use Bass diffusion). We never claim a single future will occur.

CC trajectories — all scenarios (P50)

ConservativeBaselineAccelerationElite DivergenceDemocratizationOpen-Source DominanceRegulatory ConstrictionAGI Emergence

Conservative

79.8

Slow diffusion, constrained compute, cautious adoption.

2040: P10 77.4 · P50 79.8 · P90 81.8

Baseline

92.4

Current trajectories continue at observed rates.

2040: P10 87.3 · P50 92.4 · P90 97.7

Acceleration

118.7

Capability and adoption compound faster than today.

2040: P10 107.3 · P50 118.7 · P90 131.5

Elite Divergence

120.6

Frontier pulls away; laggards stall. Inequality widens.

2040: P10 104.7 · P50 120.6 · P90 134.3

Democratization

100.0

Access broadens; catch-up dominates. Inequality narrows.

2040: P10 91.7 · P50 100.0 · P90 107.4

Open-Source Dominance

106.5

Open models + cheap compute broaden the base rapidly.

2040: P10 96.6 · P50 106.5 · P90 115.9

Regulatory Constriction

75.9

Tight governance slows diffusion across the board.

2040: P10 74.1 · P50 75.9 · P90 77.5

AGI Emergence

194.3

Highly capable autonomous systems; large, uncertain divergence.

2040: P10 141.1 · P50 194.3 · P90 246.2

Methodology: scenario construction →