Collective Individuals

In the crypto space, we see two, simultaneously paradoxical and complementary, trends. The first trend is the rise of wallets as an identity. Wallets are now someone’s credit score, reputation, resume, and more. With NFTs, they’ve also become someone’s physical appearance. At the same time, anonymous devs and employees are becoming more common. With DAOs becoming a powerful force in the space, talented people can now just pick up DAO bounties and get paid completely on-chain without ever revealing their fleshy, meatspace self. 

However, there is no reason that a wallet necessarily has to represent a single person. In Star Trek, there’s a group of aliens called Borgs. Borgs are characterized as being part of a hivemind, in which individuals all merge into one collective intelligence. Instead of having names, they refer to each other as parts of a larger group (seven of nine, three of five, etc.) The anonymity of crypto, alongside the identification systems that total transparency offers, allows anyone to become their own Borg collective. 

In fact, perhaps this is the first step of transhumanism. Perhaps humans first transcend our bodily prisons not in the physical world, but in the digital. Not only are people not required to confine themselves to a single human identity, they are in fact incentivized to merge their skills and intelligence with others. While it’s rare for someone to be a great designer, programmer, and salesman all at once (unless ur anish), it’s not nearly as difficult to find two people that have the skills you lack, and work with them. DAOs can easily hire the group (and check the validity of their skills through on-chain identity) and the collective individual is rewarded for curating a strong team. 

There are definitely interesting second-order effects of this happening. For example, someone could be part of more than one collective individual simultaneously, allowing them to inhabit multiple bodies at once. They would also potentially have different reputations, both empirically on-chain, and socially. With all interactions being digital, many of today’s prejudices go away, but are replaced by new ones (hee hee ur NFT avatar is cheap im not gonna talk to u). The nature of a company’s (or in this case a DAO’s) interactions with an individual also change when people shift to being collective individuals. For example, what if one member of the DAO has a falling out with a member of a collective individual? What are the repercussions of that? Is this even possible with anonymity? This is probably like DeFi, we can try to predict the effects all we want, but the super cool stuff won’t be known until it actually happens. 

Furthermore, while thinking about collective individualism in the context of work is interesting, it doesn’t stop there. With more and more activities happening online and if the metaverse (idk if i can say this word anymore without sounding like one of those vcs that were all like iBm suPplY liNE bloOckhchiain!!) takes off, our physical selves lose more and more importance. In a few decades, collective individualism could be the main way that people interact. The digital world, our main world, could be populated by millions of eclectic NFT avatars, who are controlled by the billions of humans hidden underneath. We could see entirely different communication methods, laws, and social etiquette. What does collective individual ownership look like? What does a chat room for collective individuals look like? What happens when two (or more? UwU) collective individuals fall in love?  

If this is interesting, you should read: https://otherinter.net/research/squad-wealth/

Modding The Real World

One of the most underrated drivers of innovations in video games is modding. (Mods are "modifications" or changes to the original game) Many of today's largest games and genres started from mods of existing games. For example, the entire MOBA genre, which encompasses the most played game in the world (League of Legends), came from DOTA, which was a mod of Warcraft. Or, the Battle Royale genre, which includes Fortnite (every VC and 12 year old’s favorite game) came from PUBG, which was a mod of Arma. It's incredible how much of today's culture and most played games came directly from communities that modded the games they loved.

These modders are generally extremely skilled, creating entirely new games within the constraints of an existing one. I think the best example today is Minecraft, where modders have created thousands of unique ways to play what is, at its base, a very simple game.

To me, one of the most exciting parts of crypto is interoperability and composability. This allows for gaming-like modding communities to form around non-game platforms. With a centralized app, everything is locked behind it's API and possible changes are usually quite minimal. In addition, it's trivial for service providers to shut down access, which greatly increases the risk to third-party communities (unfortunately, this is actually a problem that is popping up in the video game world too).

With crypto, many of these protocols and platforms are open. Third parties can build new interfaces and interactions on top of the tokens of existing systems. In addition, various platforms can be linked together (Ex: DeFi legos), creating powerful crossovers. Importantly, third parties are incentivized to build on these platforms. While video game modders receive no compensation (and this is often legally enforced), platform modders can be rewarded with significant financial gain. 

A core difference between video games and other software is that video games are generally separated from the real world. As a result, no matter how good a certain mod is, it won't significantly affect the world we live in. On the contrary, crypto platforms directly plug into the world we live in, and successful mods can have great impact. 

(Brief company shilling time) At Matrix, we’re building a platform that allows creators, esport teams, and other digital brands to reward fans for their engagement. One thing I’m really excited by is the ability for third-party communities to build on top of our platform. If someone is a fan of Creator/Team/Brand X and they use the Matrix platform, they can build on top of their Matrix issued NFTs and tokens. I foresee a world where each brand has their own modding community, that builds tools/minigames/etc for their tribe. And again, because this work can be incentivized, people can start making a living from doing this (similar to how Minecraft and Roblox builders are generating millions). 

Somewhat adjacently to this, I also see crypto-empowered crafting/remixing being a huge thing. Current NFTs are pretty static. All the mainstream ones are just pictures linked to the blockchain. Sometimes, you can even unlock a Discord channel with them!!!!!!! :o However, I’m very excited by more innovative NFTs that truly use the potential of crypto. Anyone who’s seen TikTok understands the power of remix culture: funny example I saw on Twitter today:

Kalhan@KalhanR

If you still don’t get the hype around TikTok, I implore you to watch this whole thing until the end 😭

5:32 PM · May 8, 2021

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2.99K Reposts · 14.6K Likes

Videos, clips, and sounds take on a life of their own. This is great for smaller creators, because they can be clipped, remixed, and then be taken viral. I think the same thing can happen with NFTs, with a brand’s NFTs being crafted onto another one, creating the potential for infinite collabs. (We’re building this at Matrix too! I’ll probs write a whole other thing just on crafting but I promised people I’d get this done by midnight and i’m getting spanked if i don’t.) 

Basically, I’m super excited by the potential of taking the creative + builder energy that exists in the video game community and allowing it to start influencing the real world. Definitely going to look for ways to cultivate this and encourage it while building our product. 

The real gains were the friends we made along the way

Over the past few days, I made a few hundred percent points of profit off of great, fundamentally sound stock like $AMC (a dying movie theater chain) and $BLIAQ (the liquidation stock of the bankrupt Blockbuster). Others have been doing the same, and making millions off of assets like $GME, $BB, Dogecoin, and others. 

At first glance, the cause for this rise appears to be something called a short squeeze.

Short Squeeze Explanation:

If we look closer, much of the interest in buying these assets comes from a feeling of “wanting to stick it to the man”. Buying shorted stock on Robinhood and posting memes on /r/WallStreetBets is the Covid version of Occupy Wall St.

im a spoon ≥ 🧢🗽🥂@Velokx

Damn, actually on the sub rn and it's common sentiment. Just wow

10:10 PM · Jan 27, 2021

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32.6K Reposts · 169K Likes

However, I think it goes even deeper than that. Buying these assets gives someone more than just the potential to make a profit. There’s so much retail buyer interest because buying these assets is the initiation ritual to various online communities. Loneliness is our silent pandemic, with 73% of 18-22 year olds saying that they sometimes or always feel lonely (and this is before we all got locked into our houses!!). But, by buying meme stocks, we can enter the /r/WallStreetBets community of 5.6 million people. 5.6 million new friends with whom we celebrate over profits, commiserate over losses, and act in various degenerate ways. Buying the correct stock is the social proof that we belong and is the glue that gives us commonality. Holding onto the stock through the dips is the hazing that tests our commitment and loyalty, making us even closer on the other side. We know that a common enemy is a great bonding force (WWII, 9/11, other sport teams). The common enemy here are hedge funds, and the bonding energy catalyzed the upward explosion of stock value. 

The same thinking holds true for other things, like buying Bitcoin or Dogecoin. This isn’t a new phenomenon. We purchase concert shirts and sport team clothing/season tickets for roughly the same reason. With markets though, this effect is exponentially larger because of skin in the game and the added possibility of profit. 

New companies and protocols will harness this effect through social tokens and collectible NFTs. Legacy communities will start releasing these new assets in an effort to capture the aforementioned market effects. As the protocols evolve to better support community aspects, these tokens will become as ubiquitous and ingrained in life as social networks are today. And, as the value of these tokens goes stratospheric, we’ll discover that the real gains weren’t the money, it was the friends we made along the way. ❤️

Bread Nations and Circus Nations

And also digitally native nations

The Roman poet Juvenal came up with the phrase "bread and circuses" as a negative critique of how the Roman empire could pacify it's citizens. He thought that citizens would be at peace if they were provided with two things: bread (food, infrastructure, survival necessities) and circuses (entertainment).

Even though Juvenal meant this negatively, this still holds true. Today, we look to our bread nations to provide our survival needs. These are the traditional institutions that we think about when we talk about nations (United States, China, North Korea, etc.). Some of these are democratic, some are dictatorial, etc.

Instead of looking at nation states for our entertainment, we turn to circus nations/corporate-nations (Disney, NFL, various religions, etc.) to satisfy that need. (Unless you're unlucky enough to be forced to view North Korean state-sanctioned "entertainment". There's also an argument to be made for Tencent as state-sponsored entertainment.) Unlike how bread governments have a spread of governance systems, circus governments are all essentially dictatorships. We have no say in their governance. Also, with declining religious participation and television viewership, we're clearly looking to emigrate to new circus nations. 

How does this tie into Matrix? (If you don't know what Matrix is, read this. tl;dr: We're creating a democratic esports team.)

I've been thinking that in building Matrix, we're building the stickiest, most powerful form of a brand. We're really building a digitally native circus nation. Our fans are our citizens and our teams/streamers are the cultural glue that keeps everyone together. The great thing about having digitally native nation is that we don't have to worry about pesky things like geography, borders, etc. And, because we're building a circus nation, we can basically outsource the expensive, low-profit margin stuff to existing bread governments (if we're using VC techspeak to talk about it, we're kinda unbundling the Roman Empire). Thinking about Matrix as a nation makes me super excited about the future of entertainment and governance. We've never had the opportunity to have such a close-knit society that's not limited by physical distance and survival necessities. And, we've never had the opportunity to have a democratic circus government before. By thinking about ourselves with a nation framework, we can deeply explore both of these new opportunity spaces within the context of esports. :) 

Game B Eli5

An super simple Game A/B explainer

I just read this and it's the most important thing I've ever read. It's pretty disorganized and complicated though, so I tried to pare it down. Full credit for everything goes to that doc and it's authors.

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To understand Game B, it's useful to start by understanding Game A and it's shortcomings.

What is Game A?

Game A is society's method of self-preservation. Civilization was created to make us conform. Think of humans like individual cells in a body. When the cells work together in concert, the organism lives. Dissenting cells are cancer and have to get killed. Game A/civilization is humanity's chemotherapy and removes dissenting humans (criminals and similar).

Section tl;dr: Game A allows humans to form societies and live together.

How did Game A/civilization accomplish this?

👑 Formal hierarchies: People are ranked and given power in accordance to their ranking. Those with high power are responsible for keeping the people below them in line. (Ex: Kings, presidents, college graduates, etc.)

✝️ Formal narratives: These are our cultural values that are used to keep people in line. (The Bible, consumerism, etc.)

⚖️ Formal law: Laws. Duh. (The Constitution, no murdering people, etc.)

💸 Markets: Markets are essentially a language that we use to talk about resource distribution. In the Market language, people with more power (money) get more say. (This is similar to Chinese, where your parents yell at you and you stfu)

Section tl;dr: Game A uses hierarchies, cultural values, laws, and markets to keep people in line.

What are the effects of Game A?

Game A works, but it's created huge power differences between people. Also, the "game" in Game A is the game of power. Everyone tries to accrue as much power as possible. No one can control this. Civilization has become a "📎paperclip maximizer📎" with power continuously accruing at the top. (fun fact! Steinbeck wrote about this a looooong time ago in Grapes of Wrath. He describes the bank as "something more than men, I tell you. It's the monster. Men made it, but they can't control it." He also talks about these scary tractors [machine imagery]. Thanks high school english!) Game A is so deeply ingrained into our society that it’s a struggle to deconstruct it.

Game A is a zero sum game. There are winners and losers. We can think of our civilization as a large scale Prisoner's Dilemma. In the Prisoner's Dilemma, if both prisoners decide to cooperate with the jailer (which means that they DO NOT trust each other and DO NOT cooperate with each other), then they both go to jail for a long time. This is what's happening with Game A. We do not trust each other, we do not cooperate, and individuals only try to get the best results for themselves. Unfortunately for us, because of existential risk, our jail is not a prison term, it's a death sentence.

Section tl;dr: Game A is Prisoner's Dilemma where we are all prisoners that continuously attempt to betray everyone else.

What is Game B?

Game B isn't a thing. Game B is a goal that seeks to discover how we can create an "anti-fragile, scalable, ever-increasing omni-win-win civilization".

We need to find a way where civilization is positive sum but also allows humanity to keep advancing and prevents us from killing ourselves.

Bret Weinstein uses Wikipedia as an example. Encyclopedias were in a zero-sum game with each other, but then Wikipedia came along and gave knowledge away for free. Wikipedia won.

In order to discover the solution to Game B, we need to play and experiment with new forms of governance, markets, and every facet of our society. For example, my startup is exploring new forms of corporate governance and democracy by using esports as a testing ground.

Section tl;dr:

Encyclopedias are Game A. Wikipedia is Game B.

Game B looks to discover the scenario in Prisoner's Dilemma, where through cooperation, both prisoners go free. Maybe the prison doesn't exist in the first place. Or maybe, there isn't even a need for the concept of prisoner and jailer.

If we go back to our "humans are cells" metaphor, in Game A, our cells form a monkey. Solely focused on survival. Game B seeks to form our cells into a human. We've transcended the focus on survival and can make cool things like art and this post.

What can humanity become once we've evolved past monkeyness🙈?

Note: A really really really good resource on further understanding Game A/B is Tim Urban's new series. Game A seeks to control our Primitive Mind. Game B seeks to use our Higher Mind.