Web3 has been a very fashionable term this year, mostly for the alt-finance cartoon characters and tech world’s ultrasophisticated twitter-thread authors. It was one of the two cheat code phrases that you could use in 2021 to bypass the critical thinking of LPs when raising your first ever fund, with the other being “metaverse”. Congrats, you now have one billion dollars to deploy because you learned the trendy words and you went to a good school, glhf.
I think Cobie is one of really serious minded and able persons (or might I even say narratives, cause he is sort of a narrative himself) of the crypto world. The ability to really understand the metaphors and the so called under-text is remarkable in today's world. I am truly grateful for his work and I am very happy that he shares his ideas with us. It seems that some people have this gene of a pastor:) And its very cool. My life would be very much different without Cobie's and Ledgers podcast UpOnly. Thanks guys!
It's great to read your posts. I’m new to cryptocurrency trade. Its about 2 months. When I research about crypto there are many information pollution. Your articles are very helpful in weeding out this information pollution. Many thanks.. I want to share my idea about your article.
Gattopardo (The Leopard) is a nice movie, based on the novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, about social turmoil and class conflict in Sicily in the 1860s.
The film follows the Prince of Salina who is intent on preserving the existing aristocratic class order in the face of a rising bourgeoisie. As the crisis grows, Tancredi, the prince’s Wily nephew, speculates that things must change if they are to remain the same. Originaly the sentences is; “If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.”
And they do. After the revolution, the old aristocracy remains on top, allied via marriage with the new urban elite. The response has been gattopardo economics, which is change that keeps things the same. If we look at this perspective most of the revolutions contains “Gattopardo Economics” bias. Also the Bitcoin revolution have a big bias to remain power to the mainstream financial instute and cooparations.
As J. Baudrillard say, we live in the age of “simulation”. We are dealing with simulations of people, plants and animals, not themselves. In order to accelerate the transformation of time into money, natural maturation in human and nature depending on the production rate of capital it is kept alive in greenhouse time by being taken out of its time. On the other hand, cooperation turns into simulacrums in the capitalist universe: a state of pretending, where gift-giving turns into bribery and the act of giving out for self-interest increases.
Is there a possibility to build a more livable world of the future? Maybe there is. However, it seems to me that this possibility has to be shaped by institutional transformations to encourage mutual aid and gift giving.
What a great comment. Really loved that you shared your thoughts.
Would you please elaborate a little more on this one?
"As J. Baudrillard say, we live in the age of “simulation”. We are dealing with simulations of people, plants and animals, not themselves. In order to accelerate the transformation of time into money, natural maturation in human and nature depending on the production rate of capital it is kept alive in greenhouse time by being taken out of its time."
Thanks for your interest. I didn't want to write long. it is incomprehensible. you are right.
If we can't live our own time, we turn into someone else's simulation.
I can elaborate by two example.
Consider the fruits and vegetables produced in greenhouses. It is not the same with products growing in natural condition. However, the production of agricultural products in greenhouses ensures faster. Speed is a concept that can be measured over time. The time of the vegetable grown in the greenhouse is not the same as the time of the vegetable grown under natural conditions. In the greenhouse vegetables grows in a shorter time. Although the color taste is similar to the natural one, but its not the same. We can say that it is a simulation of a real vegetable. If you put the internal time inherent in a natural product under the pressure of external factors, it begins to live not its own time, but the time of the capital that constantly wants profit. The things that cannot live its own time its turn into a simulation.
The situation is similar in terms of education. Education has little to do with revealing and developing one's own essence. What matters are the demands of authority and capital. The education model shaped by the capital world; It has been developed according to whether it works or not, rather than social or individual benefit. The duration of the training is determined by whether the capital is an urgent human resource or not. The time of education is narrowed or expanded according to the capital. Man's maturation and self-realization are not important. Unfortunately, it is possible to reproduce these examples in a wide range from health to environment, from justice to politics. All these examples show that the time we live in is determined by hierarchical institutions. If capital or authority more dominant on our time we turn more simulation.
Just big black Dayyyyyymmnnn...I mean to understand the concept is onw thing being able to communicate the concept is another level.. it is the most amazing comment i have ever read on any social media platforms. keep doing what you are doing.. we want.. the world want and in need of more people like you.. God bless you brooo
Wow, even though this comment is quite depressing, it shines a light on why systems and institutions could be constructed the way they are, and the motivators that shape the world. Great flow. If you write a newsletter, sign me up for sure!
"On the other hand, cooperation turns into simulacrums in the capitalist universe: a state of pretending, where gift-giving turns into bribery and the act of giving out for self-interest increases."
This is my primary fear too, that the vast majority of participants are in it, transacting, evangelising, and forming communities that produce no tangible value with the unsaid agreement that they're all in it for future gains. Decentralization without critical thinking is not something I'm so confident about either.
I don't like so much the use of the term "capital". It seems to me that we use it too much to blame the tool instead of blaming the motivations behind those that use it. Motivations that are common to any human society. We all want power and more time. We want to be free now and in the future. Money seems to be one of the best tools to protect us against uncertainty.
Not so far in the past the biggest building in any location was the temple. As dictators know well, the use of force is nothing compared to the strength of popular support, hence the alliance of the church and the powerful. Money, capital, as we know well was a tool "en-forced" by the powerful, but still a tool, always in the hands of those who shape our ideas and even our deeper beliefs.
So, no. We don't live in any simulation. Nothing more human that the pressure that we are putting on ourselves. Nothing more natural that the problem and our will to keep looking for solutions.
I have loved computers and information technologies since I was a boy, but I am convinced that the most important revolution is not about data, but that of truth. Maybe this internet of value will make us see this more clearly.
I engage in such a discussion on Cobie's platform. I apologize for having to reply to the comments.
The feeling of security, which begins after the birth of a person, continues increasingly throughout his life. His family, surroundings, money, reputation, knowledge, and all the assets he owns are also the protection walls of his living space. Trust in assets becomes a habit. These assets determine the helplessness or power of a person.
Family, school, job, salary, bank accounts, credit cards, cars, roads, security lanes, safety belts, security cameras, social security, birth control pills, police, military, police etc. In all of them there is a fiction of the human mind. The belief that everything will happen under his control.
In such a perception of the world, all values are inverted. Concepts such as morality, virtue, and modesty are used as simple motifs in social relations for the individual who idolizes power and does not want to lose his power.
But life is full of uncertainties. A larger fiction confronts the fiction of the human mind and bankruptcy occurs. All the values he trusts, the walls that keep him safe, collapse. People who rely on the temporary will fall.
The fall of man is seen as a cry. In fact, screaming is not just experienced during the fall. The decline begins earlier with the delusion of power and power in oneself. Therefore, a person is a scream before and after losing. He just isn't aware of it before. For this reason, modern man is in a hurry to reject his heart in order not to hear and suppress the sound of his cry before falling due to his passion for power. However, the more a person runs away, the more he gets cornered.
Uncertainty is adjacent to man as an incalculable phenomenon. It has a metaphysical side. It is necessary to distinguish between uncertainty and risk. Calculations are made to minimize risks. But you cannot calculate uncertainty. For this reason, I think that calculations made on power and money will be wrong in order to avoid uncertainty.
I tried to express that the rate at which time turns into money, as a unit of measurement, determines all areas of life of human beings, causing a great simulation. Of course, power relations are as old as human history. But man's living space was not determined at this level by capital. Financialization has become today's units of measurement in all areas of our lives. For this reason, the tools in someone's hands turn into someone else's goal. On the other hand, the fact that there is no guarantee that will prevent the one who has power from putting pressure on others ensures the continuation of the simulation.
Also, what you wrote evoked the distinction between the performance society and the disciplinary society. We are moving from a disciplined period under the control of a foreman, where working hours are determined within the factory order, to a performance society that is self-motivated to constantly achieve more. I don't think the performance society liberates people more. And I think that the criticism of this situation is not well done.
Thats a really cool comment You wrote. Lot of work put into it, that is obvious. However, if I may, please try to be (and me myself, I am trying, believe me) more optimistic:) Actually I understand Your realistic approach but I might add, we are going to change world (hopefully so).
This piece is fantastic. I think one thing to add is a consideration of the alternative. If not web3, then what?
Considering the question this way, I don't think there's actually an alternative. The current owners of web2 are not going to sit still.
The potential for monetary incentives exists now. It's in use, now. People spend one Singapore of electricity (or whatever the latest electricity equivalent), because of digital designed monetary incentives. Bitcoin is not exactly a "smart contract," I guess because it's not flexible. But the value proposition of mining Bitcoin was, basically the ur-smart-contract.
If the so-far-incoherent web3 goldrush doesn't run with the money-incentivzed web, then the incumbents will. There is no future web WITHOUT incentives baked in.
We can have the central Chinese Citizenship Authority hand out pennies (or travel vouchers, or access to schools, or healthcare), or we can have the ZuckerVerse hand out pennies on the advertising dollar, but there is no future where nobody uses the blockchain. Companies with platforms will, without a doubt, engineer cash-equivalent incentives into their platform.
The web3 push will hopefully yield some alternatives to Chinese Central Authority or Mark Zuckerberg.
Oh boy I really hope u rite cause either choice is like pulling the trigger against oneself ... It is gotta to b an alternative to this tyrannical parasites of Freedom!
We r all smarter than that (constructing a dystopian sad society based on webs)
I totally agree that we haven’t really seen what web3 is or will deliver yet. There are so many exciting possibilities, but it’s hard to predict today what that will look like.
The primary things I see today as a start to the development of web3 would definitely be in the integration of blockchain technology to existing technology (I.e video games, art, logistics, computing, etc). What we really haven’t seen though is user-friendly blockchain technology aimed at the masses.
On the note of value creation - that’s a really important topic too. As you said, people will start “choosing companies that will let them be rewarded for the value creation that they already participate in.” I think the example that comes to mind for me is the Brave Browser/BAT token. I’m not sure their attention token has matured enough to gain substantial advertiser support, but I really do like the way they’ve shaped their business model to reward users. I do hope more companies follow suit and potentially use the blockchain (web3?) to allow for profit-sharing or similar concepts.
Thanks for this Cobie! It's a difficult task to explore this space without either getting carried away by the hype or spiralling into pessimism - This post somehow managed to tread that line. The promise of a society with more equal opportunity is definitely hopeful, but are we building the dining hall without building the kitchen? While I see a lot of platforms and initiatives around equitable distribution, I don't see the value being created. A lot of it looks like solutions searching for problems.
Can you think of any difficult problems that have been solved by Web3/Crypto without requiring a Web3 utopia?
this article is not only well written but encapsulated the future downsides of web3.0 with all the on ground relevance and possible solution cases. its an amazing piece of reading and drenched my appetite of a cryptocousein. Keep up what you are doing.
You're the man Cobie! Loving your articles on here. I know you love fucking around a lot and shitposting, but in reality you have a great understanding of all things crypto. I appreciate you taking the time to write these articles and for providing your analysis and insights.
Hey Cobie, I am glad I came across your substack. I like your perspective on this topic which I would describe as optimistic about the technology but aware of the reality of it.
I think Cobie is one of really serious minded and able persons (or might I even say narratives, cause he is sort of a narrative himself) of the crypto world. The ability to really understand the metaphors and the so called under-text is remarkable in today's world. I am truly grateful for his work and I am very happy that he shares his ideas with us. It seems that some people have this gene of a pastor:) And its very cool. My life would be very much different without Cobie's and Ledgers podcast UpOnly. Thanks guys!
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Dear Cobie,
It's great to read your posts. I’m new to cryptocurrency trade. Its about 2 months. When I research about crypto there are many information pollution. Your articles are very helpful in weeding out this information pollution. Many thanks.. I want to share my idea about your article.
Gattopardo (The Leopard) is a nice movie, based on the novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, about social turmoil and class conflict in Sicily in the 1860s.
The film follows the Prince of Salina who is intent on preserving the existing aristocratic class order in the face of a rising bourgeoisie. As the crisis grows, Tancredi, the prince’s Wily nephew, speculates that things must change if they are to remain the same. Originaly the sentences is; “If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.”
And they do. After the revolution, the old aristocracy remains on top, allied via marriage with the new urban elite. The response has been gattopardo economics, which is change that keeps things the same. If we look at this perspective most of the revolutions contains “Gattopardo Economics” bias. Also the Bitcoin revolution have a big bias to remain power to the mainstream financial instute and cooparations.
As J. Baudrillard say, we live in the age of “simulation”. We are dealing with simulations of people, plants and animals, not themselves. In order to accelerate the transformation of time into money, natural maturation in human and nature depending on the production rate of capital it is kept alive in greenhouse time by being taken out of its time. On the other hand, cooperation turns into simulacrums in the capitalist universe: a state of pretending, where gift-giving turns into bribery and the act of giving out for self-interest increases.
Is there a possibility to build a more livable world of the future? Maybe there is. However, it seems to me that this possibility has to be shaped by institutional transformations to encourage mutual aid and gift giving.
What a great comment. Really loved that you shared your thoughts.
Would you please elaborate a little more on this one?
"As J. Baudrillard say, we live in the age of “simulation”. We are dealing with simulations of people, plants and animals, not themselves. In order to accelerate the transformation of time into money, natural maturation in human and nature depending on the production rate of capital it is kept alive in greenhouse time by being taken out of its time."
Thanks for your interest. I didn't want to write long. it is incomprehensible. you are right.
If we can't live our own time, we turn into someone else's simulation.
I can elaborate by two example.
Consider the fruits and vegetables produced in greenhouses. It is not the same with products growing in natural condition. However, the production of agricultural products in greenhouses ensures faster. Speed is a concept that can be measured over time. The time of the vegetable grown in the greenhouse is not the same as the time of the vegetable grown under natural conditions. In the greenhouse vegetables grows in a shorter time. Although the color taste is similar to the natural one, but its not the same. We can say that it is a simulation of a real vegetable. If you put the internal time inherent in a natural product under the pressure of external factors, it begins to live not its own time, but the time of the capital that constantly wants profit. The things that cannot live its own time its turn into a simulation.
The situation is similar in terms of education. Education has little to do with revealing and developing one's own essence. What matters are the demands of authority and capital. The education model shaped by the capital world; It has been developed according to whether it works or not, rather than social or individual benefit. The duration of the training is determined by whether the capital is an urgent human resource or not. The time of education is narrowed or expanded according to the capital. Man's maturation and self-realization are not important. Unfortunately, it is possible to reproduce these examples in a wide range from health to environment, from justice to politics. All these examples show that the time we live in is determined by hierarchical institutions. If capital or authority more dominant on our time we turn more simulation.
Just big black Dayyyyyymmnnn...I mean to understand the concept is onw thing being able to communicate the concept is another level.. it is the most amazing comment i have ever read on any social media platforms. keep doing what you are doing.. we want.. the world want and in need of more people like you.. God bless you brooo
Thanks bro.
Wow, even though this comment is quite depressing, it shines a light on why systems and institutions could be constructed the way they are, and the motivators that shape the world. Great flow. If you write a newsletter, sign me up for sure!
I felt like I'm in my postmodernism and modernism sociology class again, thank you :') Let me know if you start a newsletter or something!
I didn't want it to be like a lesson :) Thanks.
Fantastic comment.
"On the other hand, cooperation turns into simulacrums in the capitalist universe: a state of pretending, where gift-giving turns into bribery and the act of giving out for self-interest increases."
This is my primary fear too, that the vast majority of participants are in it, transacting, evangelising, and forming communities that produce no tangible value with the unsaid agreement that they're all in it for future gains. Decentralization without critical thinking is not something I'm so confident about either.
I don't like so much the use of the term "capital". It seems to me that we use it too much to blame the tool instead of blaming the motivations behind those that use it. Motivations that are common to any human society. We all want power and more time. We want to be free now and in the future. Money seems to be one of the best tools to protect us against uncertainty.
Not so far in the past the biggest building in any location was the temple. As dictators know well, the use of force is nothing compared to the strength of popular support, hence the alliance of the church and the powerful. Money, capital, as we know well was a tool "en-forced" by the powerful, but still a tool, always in the hands of those who shape our ideas and even our deeper beliefs.
So, no. We don't live in any simulation. Nothing more human that the pressure that we are putting on ourselves. Nothing more natural that the problem and our will to keep looking for solutions.
I have loved computers and information technologies since I was a boy, but I am convinced that the most important revolution is not about data, but that of truth. Maybe this internet of value will make us see this more clearly.
I engage in such a discussion on Cobie's platform. I apologize for having to reply to the comments.
The feeling of security, which begins after the birth of a person, continues increasingly throughout his life. His family, surroundings, money, reputation, knowledge, and all the assets he owns are also the protection walls of his living space. Trust in assets becomes a habit. These assets determine the helplessness or power of a person.
Family, school, job, salary, bank accounts, credit cards, cars, roads, security lanes, safety belts, security cameras, social security, birth control pills, police, military, police etc. In all of them there is a fiction of the human mind. The belief that everything will happen under his control.
In such a perception of the world, all values are inverted. Concepts such as morality, virtue, and modesty are used as simple motifs in social relations for the individual who idolizes power and does not want to lose his power.
But life is full of uncertainties. A larger fiction confronts the fiction of the human mind and bankruptcy occurs. All the values he trusts, the walls that keep him safe, collapse. People who rely on the temporary will fall.
The fall of man is seen as a cry. In fact, screaming is not just experienced during the fall. The decline begins earlier with the delusion of power and power in oneself. Therefore, a person is a scream before and after losing. He just isn't aware of it before. For this reason, modern man is in a hurry to reject his heart in order not to hear and suppress the sound of his cry before falling due to his passion for power. However, the more a person runs away, the more he gets cornered.
Uncertainty is adjacent to man as an incalculable phenomenon. It has a metaphysical side. It is necessary to distinguish between uncertainty and risk. Calculations are made to minimize risks. But you cannot calculate uncertainty. For this reason, I think that calculations made on power and money will be wrong in order to avoid uncertainty.
I tried to express that the rate at which time turns into money, as a unit of measurement, determines all areas of life of human beings, causing a great simulation. Of course, power relations are as old as human history. But man's living space was not determined at this level by capital. Financialization has become today's units of measurement in all areas of our lives. For this reason, the tools in someone's hands turn into someone else's goal. On the other hand, the fact that there is no guarantee that will prevent the one who has power from putting pressure on others ensures the continuation of the simulation.
Also, what you wrote evoked the distinction between the performance society and the disciplinary society. We are moving from a disciplined period under the control of a foreman, where working hours are determined within the factory order, to a performance society that is self-motivated to constantly achieve more. I don't think the performance society liberates people more. And I think that the criticism of this situation is not well done.
Thats a really cool comment You wrote. Lot of work put into it, that is obvious. However, if I may, please try to be (and me myself, I am trying, believe me) more optimistic:) Actually I understand Your realistic approach but I might add, we are going to change world (hopefully so).
Thanks, I hope so...
This piece is fantastic. I think one thing to add is a consideration of the alternative. If not web3, then what?
Considering the question this way, I don't think there's actually an alternative. The current owners of web2 are not going to sit still.
The potential for monetary incentives exists now. It's in use, now. People spend one Singapore of electricity (or whatever the latest electricity equivalent), because of digital designed monetary incentives. Bitcoin is not exactly a "smart contract," I guess because it's not flexible. But the value proposition of mining Bitcoin was, basically the ur-smart-contract.
If the so-far-incoherent web3 goldrush doesn't run with the money-incentivzed web, then the incumbents will. There is no future web WITHOUT incentives baked in.
We can have the central Chinese Citizenship Authority hand out pennies (or travel vouchers, or access to schools, or healthcare), or we can have the ZuckerVerse hand out pennies on the advertising dollar, but there is no future where nobody uses the blockchain. Companies with platforms will, without a doubt, engineer cash-equivalent incentives into their platform.
The web3 push will hopefully yield some alternatives to Chinese Central Authority or Mark Zuckerberg.
Oh boy I really hope u rite cause either choice is like pulling the trigger against oneself ... It is gotta to b an alternative to this tyrannical parasites of Freedom!
We r all smarter than that (constructing a dystopian sad society based on webs)
I rather spend my day surfing under the sun.
Cheers
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> Web3 doesn’t really exist yet.
... this is because you're waiting for an obvious "sign" via something obvious / tangible. but, web3 isn't a technology, it's a choice.
I feel there could be a pt 2 to this. Really well done Cobie, seems you have lots to say about this area of the market.
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$CTK security for Web 3.0
Founded by Yale and Columbia Professors
I totally agree that we haven’t really seen what web3 is or will deliver yet. There are so many exciting possibilities, but it’s hard to predict today what that will look like.
The primary things I see today as a start to the development of web3 would definitely be in the integration of blockchain technology to existing technology (I.e video games, art, logistics, computing, etc). What we really haven’t seen though is user-friendly blockchain technology aimed at the masses.
On the note of value creation - that’s a really important topic too. As you said, people will start “choosing companies that will let them be rewarded for the value creation that they already participate in.” I think the example that comes to mind for me is the Brave Browser/BAT token. I’m not sure their attention token has matured enough to gain substantial advertiser support, but I really do like the way they’ve shaped their business model to reward users. I do hope more companies follow suit and potentially use the blockchain (web3?) to allow for profit-sharing or similar concepts.
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Thanks for this Cobie! It's a difficult task to explore this space without either getting carried away by the hype or spiralling into pessimism - This post somehow managed to tread that line. The promise of a society with more equal opportunity is definitely hopeful, but are we building the dining hall without building the kitchen? While I see a lot of platforms and initiatives around equitable distribution, I don't see the value being created. A lot of it looks like solutions searching for problems.
Can you think of any difficult problems that have been solved by Web3/Crypto without requiring a Web3 utopia?
I enjoyed this one.
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this article is not only well written but encapsulated the future downsides of web3.0 with all the on ground relevance and possible solution cases. its an amazing piece of reading and drenched my appetite of a cryptocousein. Keep up what you are doing.
You're the man Cobie! Loving your articles on here. I know you love fucking around a lot and shitposting, but in reality you have a great understanding of all things crypto. I appreciate you taking the time to write these articles and for providing your analysis and insights.
Hey hey . Web3 related . Can you (puppy eyes) please inbox me on https://twitter.com/infiniteRoots_?t=xipMAYfJeEo33hmSEsRW6w&s=09
Hey Cobie, I am glad I came across your substack. I like your perspective on this topic which I would describe as optimistic about the technology but aware of the reality of it.
Balance is the key. Thanks once more for your wise thoughts
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Great work.
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Fuck vulture capitalists