Note from the Author
For years, I thought I was lost.
I bounced between disciplines (cybersecurity, communications, systems thinking, policy, and many others) always searching, always pivoting, always feeling like I was chasing shadows. I told myself I was unfocused. That I lacked direction. That maybe I was wasting potential.
But the truth is, I was building something.
Not a brand. Not a resume line.
A framework.
A worldview.
A language I didn’t yet have the words for.
Looking back, I see it clearly—the reading, the research, the writing, the obsession with emerging tech, decentralization, and complexity—it was all pointing toward the same thing. Node Theory wasn’t a sudden insight. It was an accumulation. A quiet architecture forming beneath the surface.
This page is one reflection of that journey.
A way to honor the before, now that the after has taken shape.
If you’ve ever felt scattered, misaligned, or like your curiosity is “too much,” let this be proof.
You might not be lost.
You might be early.
~ S. Mancinho
Before I Had the Words...
How and Interview on Blockchain Sparked My Thinking on Nodes
Originally inspired by an interview published in 2017 on Thinkstr.com
Back in 2017, I was interviewed by Thinkstr.com about blockchain. At the time, I was working in cybersecurity and had just been named one of LinkedIn’s Top 10 Voices in Technology.
The conversation was wide-ranging, covering everything from financial systems to healthcare to government, and centered around blockchain’s potential to transform how we transact, trust, and build.
I didn’t know it then, but I was already circling around the core of what would become Node Theory.
I just didn’t have the language yet.
The Missing Term: Node
When I look back at that interview now, I can see it clearly—the idea that individuals and institutions should function as interconnected, autonomous agents in a trustless, decentralized environment was already there. I was talking about reducing reliance on middlemen. About self-sovereign identity. About transparency through shared ledgers. About decentralized infrastructure as a form of resilience.
These are all node concepts.
But in 2017, I was still speaking in the language of blockchain. I was talking about miners, smart contracts, and distributed ledgers. What I didn’t yet realize was that these technologies weren’t just technical; they were philosophical templates.
They were blueprints for new kinds of systems. Systems that are distributed, permissionless, and emergent.
Blockchain as the First Node Architecture
In the interview, I said:
“There is a huge opportunity for blockchain to revolutionize institutions and the way we process transactions.”
What I was really pointing to was the breakdown of hierarchical trust structures. I saw a future where individuals could interact peer-to-peer, managing their own data, identities, and resources without relying on centralized gatekeepers.
Today, I’d call that: humans acting as sovereign nodes within a decentralized network.
And blockchain? Blockchain was simply the first at-scale attempt to build this kind of infrastructure.
A Quote That Still Resonates
In 2017, I also said this:
“We don’t fully know what problems or processes blockchain is capable of addressing yet. We are still trying to understand what the limitations and uses of this technology are.”
That line has aged surprisingly well—because it wasn’t just about blockchain. It was about all emergent systems. Whether it’s decentralized governance, peer-to-peer finance, open-source research, or new models of identity, we’re still uncovering what these node-based structures can do.
Node Theory wasn’t born out of one sudden insight. It was an accumulation. A slow dawning that began with technical systems like blockchain, and evolved into a broader framework for thinking about human coordination, creativity, and connection in the digital age.
Then vs. Now
What’s wild is:
In 2017, I was talking about real-time financial access, distributed medical records, and election transparency via blockchain.
In 2025, I’m talking about post-institutional systems, decentralized intelligence, and mutual aid as a node-based alternative to collapsing infrastructures.
Same impulse.
Same mental model.
Just more refined, more human, and more expansive.
Looking Back, Looking Forward
I didn’t know in 2017 that I was laying the intellectual groundwork for a theory that would reshape how I see everything, from governance and media to education and community design.
But sometimes, you’re building the path before you even realize you’re walking it.
And that’s exactly how Node Theory was born.