Twelfth Sense — FAQ
What is Twelfth Sense?
Twelfth Sense is a Minnesota Specific Public Benefit Corporation founded to design, build, and maintain technology that protects the sacredness of psychotherapy and human relationships. It’s both a business and a living work of art — an experiment in aligning technology, governance, and care for the human spirit.
What does “Specific Public Benefit Corporation” mean?
It means Twelfth Sense is legally obligated to consider the well-being of people and planet — not just shareholders. Minnesota’s Specific Public Benefit Corporation statute (§304A) requires that our mission be embedded in our charter and that we publicly report on our progress toward it.
What is the “specific public benefit”?
Our specific public benefit is to design, build, and maintain technology that protects the sacredness of psychotherapy and human relationships — both for mental health professionals and the people they serve.
Why call it “Twelfth Sense”?
Humans have more than five senses. Beyond sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell are others like proprioception, balance, interoception, time, pain, and emotion. The Twelfth Sense symbolizes the integration of all of them — the emergent sense of empathy and interconnectedness that arises when we’re fully attuned to life and one another.
Why structure a company as a work of art?
Because the structure of a company is part of its message. Twelfth Sense is designed as an evolving artwork — a “living sculpture” that encodes empathy, accountability, and shared stewardship into its governance. Its very operations are part of the creative act.
What’s wrong with the traditional corporate model?
C-corporations are designed to maximize shareholder value, often at the expense of human well-being. They’re machines for extraction — efficient, but indifferent. Twelfth Sense exists to mutate that model: to show that technology companies can operate as moral and psychological organisms, not mechanical hierarchies.
Who’s behind Twelfth Sense?
Twelfth Sense is being founded by psychotherapists, technologists, and artists who share a commitment to ethical technology and psychological depth. Each co-founder brings their whole self — blending science, art, and business realism.
What kind of technology will Twelfth Sense build?
We’re developing human-centered software and systems that support psychological growth and relational integrity — tools that align with the ethics of psychotherapy and the psychology of human flourishing.
Is a Specific Public Benefit Corporation the same as a nonprofit?
No. A Specific Public Benefit Corporation (SPC) is still a for-profit company — but with a legal duty to serve a public good alongside generating revenue. Unlike nonprofits, PBCs can take investment, distribute profits to shareholders, and operate commercially.
The key difference is that a SPC’s purpose and accountability are legally expanded: it must pursue its specific public benefit (in our case, protecting the sacredness of psychotherapy and human relationships) and report on its impact each year.
In short:
- Nonprofit: cannot distribute profits; mission is the sole purpose.
- Specific Public Benefit Corporation: can earn profits but must balance them with public purpose.
Twelfth Sense exists in that balance — proving that business can be both profitable and principled.
How is Twelfth Sense governed?
Through federated stewardship rather than rigid hierarchy. Decision-making is distributed among councils and stewards who are accountable to the company’s public benefit. Over time, these structures evolve through feedback and reflection — the company learns as a living system.
How can I get involved?
We’ll soon open calls for co-founders, contributors, and early collaborators who align with our mission. Follow updates at twelfthsense.org and on LinkedIn.
Ready to reach out now? Email us at hello@twelfthsense.org.