Writing isn't something that only writers do. It's a basic skill for getting through life. We write to explain, and we write to explore. When explaining, we also help clarify concepts to ourselves. When we explore, we push the boundaries of what we know and think about – changing the way our minds work. Writing is a form of thinking – it's “thinking on paper” and anybody who thinks clearly should be able to start writing clearly about any subject. But many people are afraid of ...

Writing isn't something that only writers do. It's a basic skill for getting through life. We write to explain, and we write to explore. When explaining, we also help clarify concepts to ourselves. When we explore, we push the boundaries of what we know and think about – changing the way our minds work. Writing is a form of thinking – it's “thinking on paper” and anybody who thinks clearly should be able to start writing clearly about any subject. But many people are afraid of ...

Loot is a project that allows anyone to mint an NFT representing a set of 8 adventurer-themed gear items. These items have scarcity characteristics that are randomly distributed. It is called a "fair mint" project, because the contract does not sell the NFTs - they are free to mint. Only 8,000 tokens can be minted in total, and the creator has reserved 222 of them for themselves as a reward (these tokens have the same scarcity distribution as everyone else's). All tokens have already bee...

Loot is a project that allows anyone to mint an NFT representing a set of 8 adventurer-themed gear items. These items have scarcity characteristics that are randomly distributed. It is called a "fair mint" project, because the contract does not sell the NFTs - they are free to mint. Only 8,000 tokens can be minted in total, and the creator has reserved 222 of them for themselves as a reward (these tokens have the same scarcity distribution as everyone else's). All tokens have already bee...

Fractional is a protocol for splitting the value of a single NFT across many accounts. In its first 2 months it has created $450 million of fractionalized liquidity from NFTs. The protocol follows these steps:An account tells the protocol to exchange their NFT for ERC20 tokens. They specify a name and symbol for the ERC20, the number of ERC20 tokens to mint, and a reserve price for the NFT.The owner is now referred to as a curator, and should distribute the ERC20 tokens (usually by putting it...

Fractional is a protocol for splitting the value of a single NFT across many accounts. In its first 2 months it has created $450 million of fractionalized liquidity from NFTs. The protocol follows these steps:An account tells the protocol to exchange their NFT for ERC20 tokens. They specify a name and symbol for the ERC20, the number of ERC20 tokens to mint, and a reserve price for the NFT.The owner is now referred to as a curator, and should distribute the ERC20 tokens (usually by putting it...

Today, with 75% of young people spending almost all of their time online, a portion of our identity construction has moved to the social web, resulting in modern-era digital identities that are independent of nation states. Similarly to how state-issued identities allowed citizens to work and live in urban environments, these corporation-issued web identities have allowed users to log in and use online services - such as media streaming via YouTube, or mobile payments via Venmo. But the centr...

Today, with 75% of young people spending almost all of their time online, a portion of our identity construction has moved to the social web, resulting in modern-era digital identities that are independent of nation states. Similarly to how state-issued identities allowed citizens to work and live in urban environments, these corporation-issued web identities have allowed users to log in and use online services - such as media streaming via YouTube, or mobile payments via Venmo. But the centr...

Four months ago, our team launched Mirror Crowdfunding. We have had a number of successful campaigns - attracting a median participation of 54 backers per project, and raising a total of over 134 ETH ($351,400 at time of writing) for books, essays, software, newsletters, and public goods. This essay is a critical exploration of the success of Mirror Crowdfunding so far. I also argue that a rare combination social exchange underlies these campaigns - generalized and productive.What is a Mirror...

Four months ago, our team launched Mirror Crowdfunding. We have had a number of successful campaigns - attracting a median participation of 54 backers per project, and raising a total of over 134 ETH ($351,400 at time of writing) for books, essays, software, newsletters, and public goods. This essay is a critical exploration of the success of Mirror Crowdfunding so far. I also argue that a rare combination social exchange underlies these campaigns - generalized and productive.What is a Mirror...

The promise of web3 is that platform ownership and governance will be shared, and the creators of these new platforms have a responsibility to design fair ownership distribution algorithms. Bitcoin and Ethereum both distribute ownership, but have enriched very powerful entities on the basis of information asymmetry. Was Bitcoin really a fair launch, considering how few people had a chance to even hear about it by the time 1/4 of the supply had already been handed out by the end of 2010? The U...

The promise of web3 is that platform ownership and governance will be shared, and the creators of these new platforms have a responsibility to design fair ownership distribution algorithms. Bitcoin and Ethereum both distribute ownership, but have enriched very powerful entities on the basis of information asymmetry. Was Bitcoin really a fair launch, considering how few people had a chance to even hear about it by the time 1/4 of the supply had already been handed out by the end of 2010? The U...

NounsDAO is an NFT project that combines pseudorandom image generation with auctioning, community governance, and a novel rendering technique. Each NFT is called a Noun, and one Noun is minted every day, indefinitely. All Nouns are auctioned, and sales revenue goes into a treasury. NounsDAO has adapted governance protocols from DeFi to allow owners of Nouns to create and vote on proposals over treasury funds and protocol upgrades. At time of writing, there is 2,074.0122 ETH (~$6.88m) in the t...

NounsDAO is an NFT project that combines pseudorandom image generation with auctioning, community governance, and a novel rendering technique. Each NFT is called a Noun, and one Noun is minted every day, indefinitely. All Nouns are auctioned, and sales revenue goes into a treasury. NounsDAO has adapted governance protocols from DeFi to allow owners of Nouns to create and vote on proposals over treasury funds and protocol upgrades. At time of writing, there is 2,074.0122 ETH (~$6.88m) in the t...

PrefaceThe following essay is a homage to collecting enabled by web3. It is a living document, minted as a collectible Writing NFT. By collecting it, you encourage me to keep refining and elaborating these views, which will be updated here.Introduction: The Social Web Progresses into the Art of CollectingThe technology underpinning web3 enables ownership of digital media – including images, music, and writing. Some have said that this brings property rights to the internet. A common framing i...

PrefaceThe following essay is a homage to collecting enabled by web3. It is a living document, minted as a collectible Writing NFT. By collecting it, you encourage me to keep refining and elaborating these views, which will be updated here.Introduction: The Social Web Progresses into the Art of CollectingThe technology underpinning web3 enables ownership of digital media – including images, music, and writing. Some have said that this brings property rights to the internet. A common framing i...

The vast and wonderful knowledge of this marvelous universe is locked in the bosoms of its individual souls. To tap this mighty reservoir of experience, knowledge, beauty, love, and deed we must appeal not to the few, not to some souls, but to all.– W.E.B Du Bois, “Of the Ruling of Men” (1999: 84)A healthy democratic society entails a just and rigorous definition of the person and the empowerment of the person with political agency via voice and exit. The success of progressive politics throu...

The vast and wonderful knowledge of this marvelous universe is locked in the bosoms of its individual souls. To tap this mighty reservoir of experience, knowledge, beauty, love, and deed we must appeal not to the few, not to some souls, but to all.– W.E.B Du Bois, “Of the Ruling of Men” (1999: 84)A healthy democratic society entails a just and rigorous definition of the person and the empowerment of the person with political agency via voice and exit. The success of progressive politics throu...

Web3 is now too large and the stakes are too high to launch on the Ethereum mainnet. The Ethereum roadmap pivoted in 2020 to focus on supporting L2 protocols as the primary scaling strategy. Optimistic Rollups are a type of L2, and are production-ready today. Web3 developers should build their applications on one of these rollups, such as Optimism or Arbitrum. Choosing a specific Optimistic Rollup is not a difficult decision, because users will be able to bridge across all L2s cheaply and sec...

Web3 is now too large and the stakes are too high to launch on the Ethereum mainnet. The Ethereum roadmap pivoted in 2020 to focus on supporting L2 protocols as the primary scaling strategy. Optimistic Rollups are a type of L2, and are production-ready today. Web3 developers should build their applications on one of these rollups, such as Optimism or Arbitrum. Choosing a specific Optimistic Rollup is not a difficult decision, because users will be able to bridge across all L2s cheaply and sec...

Some people think we that should eliminate pain from human life. The goal of Transhumanist movement, for example, is to use chemical and genetic technology to live in a “sublime and all-pervasive happiness” – the eternal survival of a hedonistic body.Over the next thousand years or so, the biological substrates of suffering will be eradicated completely.– David Pearce (founder of the World Transhumanist Association) In Transhumanism, “physical” and “mental” pain are viewed as biomedical affli...

Some people think we that should eliminate pain from human life. The goal of Transhumanist movement, for example, is to use chemical and genetic technology to live in a “sublime and all-pervasive happiness” – the eternal survival of a hedonistic body.Over the next thousand years or so, the biological substrates of suffering will be eradicated completely.– David Pearce (founder of the World Transhumanist Association) In Transhumanism, “physical” and “mental” pain are viewed as biomedical affli...

NFT collectibles (e.g. Nouns, Punks) enable communities with verifiable membership via token ownership. Social forums like Mirror can use ownership verification to legitimize an account's voice within these communities, producing social capital for a pseudonymous avatar - without revealing the identity of the owner. This allows anonymous individuals to reliably coordinate, transact, and advance group values - an innovation in global collective action.Who is Noun 17?Buying a collectible N...

NFT collectibles (e.g. Nouns, Punks) enable communities with verifiable membership via token ownership. Social forums like Mirror can use ownership verification to legitimize an account's voice within these communities, producing social capital for a pseudonymous avatar - without revealing the identity of the owner. This allows anonymous individuals to reliably coordinate, transact, and advance group values - an innovation in global collective action.Who is Noun 17?Buying a collectible N...