Choose Your Adventure
You literally have access to the world’s most interesting minds in the palm of your hand. The trick is choosing the right ones to pay attention to. The Internet presents the best people for you to learn from and work with, much better than you would find in your community. But it also presents the worst possible people for you to be influenced by, who can bring out the worst in you and lead you down a dark path.
You can get into a conspiracy theory and lose your friends, spouse, and livelihood, or get into a crypto community and become rich while building cool stuff with your friends and changing the world. And it’s so easy to start down either path. You click follow, then you’re on your way down the rabbit hole.
Much has been made of the dangers of the Internet, and rightly so. But the perception seems unbalanced. We have discovered a magical tool, but we’re more afraid of it than we are excited about it right now. We talk about algorithms like they’re magic spells that we can’t resist.
We can do better. We have examples of how to use these amazing tools better. A simple guideline: look for people who are earnestly building, not bitterly mocking. This obviously brings to mind web3 and crypto projects in general. These groups buzz with idealism, energy, and chaotic activity. There’s a sense of possibility and of gleeful play which is hard to find elsewhere. It’s The Great Online Game, as Packy McCormick puts it.
Find a group that seems to have some positive vision, approach what they’re doing with an open mind, as if they might know something you don’t. Take some time to learn. And look for a way to contribute, or just find a different community.
If these groups don’t sound terribly appealing, consider the alternative. Let’s face it, at this point many of us spend most of our time online. If we’re going to be spending so much time there, and we know the default is to waste time, we should make a real effort to find and join the right community.