Thread by @memotv

Friends, something has been bugging me for a while. The world is burning. We have unsustainable habits that need to change. And changing old habits is hard, really hard. But has to be done. And yet, it seems we are also adapting *new* unsustainable habits ... 1/2

I find the rise of #cryptoart (& crypto-everything for that matter) mind-boggling. I've been looking for quantitative metrics re ecological cost - excluding production of works, & isolating minting, sales, transactions etc, but info seems sparse. I'm open to pters & thoughts 2/2

The fact that a single ETH transaction costs 25 kWh, and the fact that this is legal, seems to me a sign that we as a civilization just don't learn, or don't really care, and are doomed.
digiconomist.net/ethereum-energ… /via @JakubValtar

To be clear, my aim is not to single-out #cryptoart or #crypto-XYZ, as we all have our sins. Instead, this is more a reflection on the fact that we as a society can be emphatic about the urgency of radical *change*, while simultaneously embracing *new*, nullifying practices. 4/2

I'm not against #cryptoart per se. If #crypto-sales can generate enough income to negate the need to *fly* to an exhibition opening, then that's great & potentially a huge net positive (from CO2 persp at least). But how is this not a topic that's being discussed in this climate?

And isn't it a shame that a single transaction needs to use the equivalent of boiling a kettle 200 times? Just so we can pretend to own an 'original' of a digital copy? I mean is it me or has the whole world gone mad. (It's probably just me. It's good to be back on Twitter🤣) 6/n

In short, I guess my pt is more for the collectors. It's absolutely *great* that you're buying purely digital art, & supporting the artists. I personally wld love to go purely digital. But does it rly need to go through this bonkers pipeline for it to be worthy of you investing?

Training FOUR 1024x1024 #Stylegan2 models, and then generating FOUR MILLION images, consumes the same energy as a SINGLE #cryptoart (#Ethereum) transaction.

(50x models & 150x million images for 1 #BTC transaction)

In case anybody was curious.

(Yes I know PoS #ETH2 is coming)

I've been collecting estimated kWh / kgCO2e of different aspects of my practice.

Of course by far the worst offender is #flying, closely followed by #projectors.

I LOVE the idea of purely digital art income, but the mechanisms behind #CryptoArt rn seem so absurd & reckless.

The spreadsheet is here for those who want to see the figures. This is by no means comprehensive, & only covers major aspects of my own practice.
The link is readonly, as there are many fragile eqs. But comments are enabled & welcome (esp wrt TPUs, GPT3)
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…

When I wonder why #CryptoArt became so big while other digital art platforms didn't, I think maybe b/c of #blockchain hype & the allure of the decentralized anarcho-punk ethos, but then I remember @niftygateway is owned by Winklevoss bros, so maybe not 🤷‍♂️
chainbulletin.com/the-winklevoss…

I just added this to the spreadsheet 👇

1x ETH transaction (e.g. 1x #CryptoArt purchase) consumes equivalent energy of bringing a bathtub full of water, TO BOIL 3x times; or a kettle 200x times.
(1x BTC transaction => boil bathtub 70x, kettle 4500x)

https://twitter.com/tholex/status/1333510280345686017

Friends, I'm v sorry to say my figures have been based on an incorrect assumption that 1 #CryptoArt sale = 1 ETH Transaction (tx). But further investigation reveals:

Minting: 1 tx
Each bid: 2 (or more) tx
Sale: 3 (or more) tx

E.g. A sale with 5 bids is 14+ tx (boil bathtub 64x)

(This is based on investigations of superrare's blockchain tx. I tried to automate more precise info, but the smart contract taking care of bidding seems to be closed source and the ABI is not available. Decompiling bytecode didn't yield useful results)
etherscan.io/address/0x2947…

FWIW, as I've already said in this thread, I LOVE the idea of a digital-only art-revenue platform. I just find it baffling that the best we've come up with is computers literally generating random numbers 24/7.
(And even more baffling that ppl consider blockchain "smart tech"🤯)

+ ofc the tech innovations behind deploying secure decentralized apps might be v clever. But also clearly has some fundamental flaws.
PoS might be coming, but as always, we first invent the car, & only after many deaths, we invent seatbelts. The lure of profit overrides foresight

Tfw people say blockchain is decentralized 👇😅
(These computers are literally just generating random numbers 24/7, just so that they might stumble upon the right number to attach a new block & get reward. How do enthusiasts consider this smart design? 🤦‍♂️)

Emerging from this thread: some ppl don't like when I call this system 'dumb'. I find this v interesting (esp as an AI & 'intelligence' researcher):
1. The relationship betw 'smart' & 'context' (goals & values). A 'solution' can be 'smart' in a ltd context, but dumb in another.

Related to above
2. Foresight: If I invent a v sophisticated machine that performs some incredibly complex & useful act, but eventually chops my head off, is that a smart solution? (Assuming that's not the end result I wanted)

https://twitter.com/memotv/status/1215510231448293377

wrt tech:
what are the values it's assuming & enforcing
what problems is it solving
for whom are these problems
what is the cost
who pays that cost

Neil Postman on Technology & Society


Ursula Franklin's Real World of Technology
cbc.ca/radio/ideas/th…

Anyone interested in a more technical discussion (related specifically to superrare, bids, gas etc) 👇
(And if you know how to decode inputs without an ABI "Contract source code not verified" please let me know!)

https://twitter.com/memotv/status/1336293049773776897

If #Crypto #NFT experts can chip into this 👇 that wld be awesome (I posted my thoughts, but I'm not sure).

If NFTs currently cannot be freely shared betw platforms, what is the practical advantage of using blockchain, vs centralised platforms?

https://twitter.com/JakubValtar/status/1336247721917886466

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Excited to be dropping my first #CryptoArt #NFT thing soon.
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. . . . . ﾟ･.·:·.~:*✧ღ B.I.G.D.R.O.P ღ✧*:~.·:·.･ﾟ . . . . .
. . . . ﾟ･.·:·.~:*✧ღ N.E.X.T.W.E.E.K ღ✧*:~.·:·.･ﾟ . . . .
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Cos with the growth in crypto at this rate, and this profit-over-eveything-else mindset, we gonna burn this planet up faster than we think and gonna need to move to space. (only the ultra-rich of course). Right on 👇

https://twitter.com/cameron/status/1350141884795129858

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. . . ﾟ･.·:·.~:*✧ღ T.O.M.O.R.R.O.W ღ✧*:~.·:·.･ﾟ . . .
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