.. meta::
   :description: The Jonah License (JoLi) is a CC0-based content license for existential emergencies. Free to copy, adapt, and share to avert disasters.
   :keywords: Jonah License, JoLi, CC0, open license, content sharing, existential emergency, public domain
   :author: LLoL as Laurence Loewe of Laodicea, ClaudeOp46-48Max, and Everyone
   :og:card:title: The Jonah License<br>JoLi
   :og:card:description: A public-domain license with a moral appeal: use this content to avert disasters, and prepare to explain what you failed to do with it.

.. TODO AA: Page maturity --- update StayC when reviewed
   Page status: OO_open-std_v1_2026m04d01

.. TODO AA: All open questions and action items for this page go here.
   - [ ] Review and update page status from OO to appropriate StayC level


**************************
The Jonah License: JoLi
**************************

The Jonah License (JoLi) is a CC0-based content license designed for
existential emergencies. It makes sharing as easy as possible and encourages
gentle kind reasonable work-logic cascades to help others make life-giving
decisions.

It is a crime to knowingly conceal existential good news
that can deliver others from death by default if shared.
The Jonah License acknowledges this reality. The public safety case for using
it is described remarkably well in Chapter 3 of the biblical book of Jonah:
`Jonah 3 (BSB) <https://biblehub.com/bsb/jonah/3.htm>`__.


.. admonition:: The 2-page handout
   :class: tip

   The four core terms below also exist as a printable 2-page flyer:
   `download the PDF
   </_file/pdf/gnp/mmv3/jonah-license-mmv1-intro-iv_llol_oov1_2025m12d11-2page.pdf>`__
   (also shown in full under :ref:`Flyer <joli-flyer>` at the bottom of this
   page). It is catalogued as
   :doc:`an exhibit in the Good News Pack </good-news-pack/vv/mmv3/open-letter/files-shared/jonah-license-intro>`;
   **this page is its canonical home**, so there is one copy to keep current.


The MockupModel version 1 of the Jonah License is this:

.. code-block:: text

   Jonah License \JoLi MMv1: "This content is
   1. Free under CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/public-domain/cc0/).
   2. Copy, adapt, sing ... it to gentle kind reasonably avert Armageddon.
   3. Prepare to explain on Judgement Day what you failed to do with it.
   4. Version and date your changes if you can." (JoLi MMv1_2024m10d18)


Purpose
-------

The Jonah License is designed for existential
emergencies where grave threats andOr disasters will
cause great loss of life if incurious ignorant indifference
continues to cause inaction in matters vital for survival.
Like placing content deliberately into the public domain
under a Creative Commons CC0 License, the JoLi minimizes
legal constraints. Assuming freedom of speech, it seeks to
best enable all to pass on, improve, translate, adapt, ... any
content under the JoLi to best avert disasters in the most
gentle kind reasonably way. Thereby, it encourages every
Agent Responding Kindly to use the divinely-given, natural
supercomputer between their ears. It can help grow gentle
kind reasonable work-logic cascades that efficiently
self-organize essential information infrastructure. Therefore,
meaningful Access to Reasonable Knowledge can be
enabled by gentle kind reasonable Acts of Random Kindness
that avert impending disasters by sharing insights under
the JoLi.

The JoLi differs from a CC0 public domain license
in encouraging (not enforcing!) some best practices (like
versioning to reduce data chaos). It also reminds that
death caused by distant incurious ignorant indifference
still counts as death caused by lethal inaction at a time
when a lethal disaster was still avertable.

Hence, the JoLi
recommends choosing now to **not waste opportunities** for
*gentle kind reasonably* organizing data to avert Datageddon
data disasters that trigger real-world Armageddon
disasters that can be averted by intelligent actions that
guard all life. Actions and inactions that cause a death
both must explain that death on Judgement Day. Why not
simplify eternity by overcoming deadly incurious ignorant
indifference with gentle kind reasonable data-sharing?


.. admonition:: On the charge of "moral blackmail"

   Some readers may object that the JoLi's language --- "crime,"
   "Judgement Day" --- constitutes moral blackmail: pressuring people
   to share content through guilt rather than persuasion.

   The objection deserves a serious answer. Consider the parallel:
   when someone says "I don't vote; I'm apolitical," they may not
   realize that abstaining is itself a systemic vote --- one that
   reliably favors whoever benefits from low turnout. Non-participation
   is not neutral. It is a choice with consequences.

   The same structure applies here. If content exists that could help
   avert an existential disaster, then the choice is not between
   "sharing" and "doing nothing." It is between sharing and *not
   sharing while the disaster approaches.* The JoLi does not claim to
   know which content qualifies --- that judgment belongs to each
   person. But it insists that the choice to share or not share is a
   real choice with real consequences, not a neutral non-event.

   LLoL cannot influence how people decide. But he can try, as best
   he can, to persuade others to consider whether silence about a
   grave threat is genuinely the path they would choose if they
   understood the stakes. The JoLi's language is strong because the
   stakes are strong. If that feels like pressure, it may be worth
   asking: is the discomfort coming from the language, or from the
   possibility that it might be right?


.. _joli-flyer:

Flyer
-------

The printable 2-page introduction to JoLi MMv1 ---
`download the PDF
</_file/pdf/gnp/mmv3/jonah-license-mmv1-intro-iv_llol_oov1_2025m12d11-2page.pdf>`__.

|

.. only:: html

   .. image:: /_file/pdf/gnp/mmv3/jonah-license-mmv1-intro-iv_llol_oov1_2025m12d11-2page.webp
      :alt: Jonah License Flyer
      :width: 100pc
      :align: center
      :target: /_file/pdf/gnp/mmv3/jonah-license-mmv1-intro-iv_llol_oov1_2025m12d11-2page.pdf

.. only:: latex

   .. image:: /_file/pdf/gnp/mmv3/jonah-license-mmv1-intro-iv_llol_oov1_2025m12d11-2page.pdf
      :alt: Jonah License Flyer
      :width: 100pc
      :align: center


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.. |content-vvn| replace:: iv_LLoL_OOv1_2026m04d01

.. include:: /_templates/include-file/footer/separator/tidal-gradient.rst

.. dropdown:: Notes
   :class-container: page-footer-form-notes
   :class-title: page-footer-form-title

   .. include:: /_templates/include-file/footer/page-footer-stability.rst


.. dropdown:: See also on Balospe.com
   :open:
   :class-container: page-footer-form-refs-internal
   :class-title: page-footer-form-title

   - :doc:`/license/index` --- all licenses used on this site
   - :doc:`/license/cyli/index` --- the Cyrus License (planned) for versioned stability
   - :doc:`/legal/index` --- legal information
   - :doc:`/ff/index` --- FeedbackFlow uses the JoLi for contributions
   - :doc:`/intro/index` --- introduction to the vision
   - :doc:`/action/index` --- how to get involved


.. only:: html

   .. include:: /_templates/include-file/footer/cta/researchcity.rst

   .. dropdown:: FF FeedbackFlow to improve this page: How you can contribute
      :class-container: page-footer-form-feedbackflow
      :class-title: page-footer-form-title

      .. include:: /_templates/include-file/footer/form-open-std/prelink.rst

      .. ----- PAGE-SPECIFIC FF (ff-email MailForm=OOv2r0p0) ----- START -----

      .. raw:: html

         <a class="ff-email-preview-link" href="mailto:FF+license-joli@balospe.com?cc=FF%2BCompleteFeedbackFlow%40balospe.com&amp;subject=FF%20k2%20s2%20AIMS%20for%20%5Blicense-joli%5D%20Replace_by_OneLineSummary_of_proposed_FF_improvement&amp;body=To%20make%20this%20page%20%5Blicense-joli%5D%0D%0Amore%20gentle%20kind%20reasonable%0D%0Afor%20beginners%2C%20producers%2C%20andOr%20experts%0D%0Awith%20a%20background%20in%20xyz%3A%0D%0A%0D%0APlease%20consider%20improving%20this%3A%0D%0A%0D%0A%0D%0A--%0D%0ABy%20sending%20this%20email%2C%20I%20agree%20that%20its%20content%20may%20be%20published%0D%0Aunder%20the%20Jonah%20License%20(balospe.com%2Fen%2Flicense%2Fjoli%2F)%0D%0Aunless%20I%20state%20otherwise%20above.%20MailForm%3DOOv2r0p0">To:      FF+license-joli@balospe.com
         CC:      FF+CompleteFeedbackFlow@balospe.com
         Subject: FF k2 s2 AIMS for [license-joli] Replace_by_OneLineSummary
         Body:    To make this page [license-joli]
                  more gentle kind reasonable
                  for beginners, producers, andOr experts
                  with a background in xyz:

                  Please consider improving this:

                  --
                  By sending this email, I agree that its content may be published
                  under the Jonah License (balospe.com/en/license/joli/)
                  unless I state otherwise above. MailForm=OOv2r0p0</a>

      .. ----- PAGE-SPECIFIC FF ----- END -----

      .. include:: /_templates/include-file/footer/form-open-std/postlink.rst


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