Ethereum World Computer & Promethean Civilization of the Future
In this video I explain how Ethereum can serve as the foundation for a parallel society/civilization, and how instead of trying to fix our broken systems and institutions we should build a new parallel system and migrate over to that. I also talk about how the myth of Prometheus can serve as a guide as we navigate the 21st century.
Note: It was pointed out in the comments that we actually have a lot to lose if we're imagining tearing Western civilization in some sense. I absolutely agree with that. I am NOT one of those people who think we should "burn it all down". Western civilization is incredible, but what I see is a gradual decline of what made the West great, and I think we will start to see more and more of our mechanisms grind to a halt in the coming years. My hope is that we can modernize and revive everything great about Western civilization, so that its true spirit can survive and thrive!
Credit: The idea of Prometheus as the symbol for this new civilization of the future is not my idea, it comes from philosopher Jason Reza Jorjani who has written extensively on why Prometheus is the right symbol for a new path of the future...
0:00 - intro
0:12 - a parallel civilization
1:02 - the sinking ship
2:02 - prometheus
Here's the script:
The world seems to be collapsing around us. But, I believe we have a chance, now, to build a new civilization of the future. A civilization that is more creative, ethical, free, rich, and preserving of nature, than anything in history.
Bitcoin was the first global decentralized ledger. A money system immune to manipulation. Ethereum, was the first global decentralized computer. A computing platform that can run programs immune to manipulation.
So, upon this platform we can build new systems of money, but also financial programs around that money, in fact we can build a whole parallel financial system.
And Ethereum programs are Turing-complete, which means they are general. So, we can build new systems for doing science, media, journalism, education, funding of the arts — we can create a new parallel society.
And, as the capstone of this new societal operating system we can build re-imagined systems of government — a new kind of Democracy that actually works!
So, Ethereum can serve as our World Computer — as the foundation for an new civilization that we build with code.
I often think of the set of systems and institutions that our society runs on, as our "civilizational ship". We're out at sea in this ship. And our ship is old, corrupt, dysfunctional, broken, and by God it's taking on water. It's sinking and it can't be saved.
Instead, we need to build a new civilizational ship. One that's fit for the 21st century, which harnesses modern technology, instead of fighting it. We've got to build this thing and migrate over soon — because the water is rising.
And I think we all feel this. Some kind of impending doom. We sense the rising water. And so, some people want to go back, no more technology, no more industry, decelerate, de-growth — danger ahead!
But we can't go back. We've got to charge forward. We've got to create the future. It can be a good future if we make it so. And I don't think this new civilizational ship can be built — I know it. I can see it.
The mission of my life is to draw and explain this vision as best I can — that's the purpose of my videos.
The true spirit of the West is not Christian it's Promethean.
For the Greeks, Prometheus created mankind, giving us a soul in the form of a butterfly — a symbol of transformation. We don't have a fixed nature — our nature is change, and evolution. "Man is something that should be overcome" as Nietzsche wrote in Thus Spoke Zarathustra.
Prometheus also stole the fire of science, technology, and the arts from Zeus. And he gave this fire to man, as a gift, because science, technology, and the arts drive evolution.
He wanted us to break out from under the great patriarch Zeus (God), to no longer be herd animals led by a master, but to evolve and grow up — to become masters of our destiny, to chart our own course.
So, let's do that! Let's build a new civilizational ship and sail that ship to new horizons! THIS IS OUR DESTINY!
What have we got to lose?
