“CAPTCHAs are microcosms of an internet infrastructure that has been designed for the express purpose of capturing, pooling, and valorizing surplus attention of users It’s not difficult, therefore, to imagine a near future internet in which CAPTCHAs are deployed not to prevent automated agents from corrupting systems but instead to validate users on ideological or political grounds. Paywalls and other content barriers could be augmented with CAPTCHAs that don’t ask you to contribute time or money but instead demand that you verify your worldview.” What can the history of CAPTCHA tell us about the future of The Discourse?