I was invited to participate in a panel discussion about Web3. This is the title: “Governance and Web 3.0: Sense and Sensibility.”
It struck me as a clever enough title. The details were a bit complicated. It was a virtual meetup with over 80 attendees. I suspect most were enthusiastic about the Blockchain/Crypto angle on Web 3 and thinking they were going to hear specific guidance. If so, we probably didn’t satisfy very many. That is because each of us were questioning different facets of this body of technologies, from blockchain and cryptocurrencies to NFTs and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). I couldn’t resist showing a New Age business guidance book I had purchased back in the 80s–The Tao of Power. As in, everything old is new again–Taoism being an ancient philosophy, somewhat spiritual in nature. Definitely not starkly transactional as in the DAOs running on the blockchain.
My bigger concern is grounding an over-arching era of the web in a specific version of decentralized technology. Why not establish some general parameters or values? We can say decentralized but leave it open for platforms of a more relational character.
Since the panel discussion, I have already seen more deep critiques of this space and expect there will be a lively debate for some time to come. If you have over two hours, I highly recommend Line Goes Up — The Problem with NFTs
. The presenter, Dan Olson, offers the content in segments if you aren’t inclined to sit for the whole thing at once. I kicked off my weekend with a Friday viewing complete with popcorn and a rum and coke. It was gripping!
descant labs 