NFTs but make it 🪐🧠 with lessons from Marshall McLuhan, Isaiah Berlin, and the Enlightenment
Its about ✨owning the online✨
Its about ✨owning the online✨
People are buying pictures of rocks 
One of my favorite stories by Edgar Allen Poe is A Descent into Maelstrom
This is a *metaphor* for being immersed in media and technology. We are all stuck in this vortex.
But what happens when we can’t escape the vortex? (Aka the ~metaverse~)
This is a *metaphor* for being immersed in media and technology. We are all stuck in this vortex.
But what happens when we can’t escape the vortex? (Aka the ~metaverse~)
We become the vortex.
as we digitize every aspect of our lives - we are slowly becoming the metaverse, slowly becoming this vortex.
But there is still an element of froth to this stuff that is like ???? is this really sustainable? WHAT ARE WE VORTEXING INTO?
as we digitize every aspect of our lives - we are slowly becoming the metaverse, slowly becoming this vortex.
But there is still an element of froth to this stuff that is like ???? is this really sustainable? WHAT ARE WE VORTEXING INTO?
So what’s going on?
Short Answer: lots of $$
Long Answer: NFTs are essentially a digital fingerprint (unique) on the blockchain (on a smart contract platform, most commonly Ethereum) - and it can be anything from real estate to art to tickets to a football game.
Short Answer: lots of $$
Long Answer: NFTs are essentially a digital fingerprint (unique) on the blockchain (on a smart contract platform, most commonly Ethereum) - and it can be anything from real estate to art to tickets to a football game.
NFTs are a noun, not a verb – they point to the asset, they aren’t the asset themselves. Property that you can buy or sell just like any other property (as long as the market is liquid)
Art. Games. Creators. Tickets. But we don’t ~really~ own that (right now)
Art. Games. Creators. Tickets. But we don’t ~really~ own that (right now)
The TLDR is that we have been online for a LONG time but we’ve never OWNED our online. The platforms have always been in charge, and they take a big cut from that (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok)
let’s analyze this through the lens of Marshall McLuhan:
He says we make the tools - but the tools make us as well.
Finance is a culture. We are increasingly defined by what we make and own. We are becoming the vortex.
He says we make the tools - but the tools make us as well.
Finance is a culture. We are increasingly defined by what we make and own. We are becoming the vortex.
Marshall is most well known for “the medium is the message”
It’s not always about the thing, it is about how/where/when the thing does the THING
This is what NFTs/crypto/financialization *means*. It’s not about rocks getting NFT’ed. It’s more than that.
It’s not always about the thing, it is about how/where/when the thing does the THING
This is what NFTs/crypto/financialization *means*. It’s not about rocks getting NFT’ed. It’s more than that.
But???? Budweiser?
It’s about playing the game - brand engagement proves an element of mainstreamy-ness
THIS CREATES FOMO AND A FEEDBACK LOOP BECAUSE NOW EVERYONE WANTS BEER.ETH
It’s about playing the game - brand engagement proves an element of mainstreamy-ness
THIS CREATES FOMO AND A FEEDBACK LOOP BECAUSE NOW EVERYONE WANTS BEER.ETH
https://twitter.com/budweiserusa/status/1430316343392354306
The answer is that the NFT process, the NFT platforms - that’s going to drive a lot of value. NFTs will still be valuable, but the *medium* even more so.
This isn’t about rocks, this is about Web3 tools being implemented so we build our own little economies
This isn’t about rocks, this is about Web3 tools being implemented so we build our own little economies
https://twitter.com/cdixon/status/1429585848912076810
Just look at gaming
@metavestor put together this excellent graphic detailing the fact the video game is more than just the video game - its for “gamers and asset holders”.
@metavestor put together this excellent graphic detailing the fact the video game is more than just the video game - its for “gamers and asset holders”.
Meltem had wonderful views on the bubbleness of it all (because the NFT space is indubitably bubbly) - it’s wealth. We just have a LOT of rich people. They want to flex.
https://twitter.com/melt_dem/status/1430193639976808449
As Frank points out. “The truth is that the human psyche is complex and not all decisions are made to produce an “optimal outcome”’.
https://twitter.com/fintechjunkie/status/1428336389054246915
“Collective belief drives the value of an asset” - here, collective belief drives the value of everything.
Are our beliefs rational? Do they need to be?
Rationality is not something to be solved for.
Are our beliefs rational? Do they need to be?
Rationality is not something to be solved for.
the Hedgehog and the Fox
We spend much of our lives focused on the Individual - Crypto is the deviation from that
We spend much of our lives focused on the Individual - Crypto is the deviation from that
When we don’t have the answer, we turn to science fiction.
Things are moving SO QUICKLY and our framework for processing these things is just not as speedy as the world around us.
NFTs are not just jpegs - because in this ✨futuristic world✨, it represents more than that.
Things are moving SO QUICKLY and our framework for processing these things is just not as speedy as the world around us.
NFTs are not just jpegs - because in this ✨futuristic world✨, it represents more than that.
https://twitter.com/brianroemmele/status/1429456920490897417
The Connect the Dots
It’s an ecosystem - and just like the Gold Rush, it will be interesting to see who the winners are.
Probably platforms and marketplaces, things that enable all of this. Not only the dots themselves, but the things that connect them.
It’s an ecosystem - and just like the Gold Rush, it will be interesting to see who the winners are.
Probably platforms and marketplaces, things that enable all of this. Not only the dots themselves, but the things that connect them.
https://twitter.com/JonahBaer/status/1357136373665435654
And don’t think that this is just crypto. Traditional finance doesn’t “make sense” (to an EXTENT) either.
https://twitter.com/BullandBaird/status/1429853327450382407
Money is an abstraction of value. We want to own stuff. We want to build stuff.
We are iterating into a world where we become the vortex - we have to redefine what our frameworks are amid community, ownership, and finance as an increasing part of our narrative
We are iterating into a world where we become the vortex - we have to redefine what our frameworks are amid community, ownership, and finance as an increasing part of our narrative
The market is calibrating, and euphoria is a part of that. We are figuring out how to Own the Online.
Thank u for reading 🤠
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