NFTs
NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are having a moment. Camps are pretty divided on whether the surge in popularity of NFTs is pure hype, or whether NFTs will fundamentally change our world.
I lie in the latter camp, in fact, I think NFTs will become the worlds biggest product category in coming years.
In this article, we talk through what an NFT is in simple terms. Why it could completely change how we interact with the world, and the implications this could have on the environment, ego development, and the metaverse…
The Ultimate Way To Flex
My biggest realisation as an entrepreneur was to stop seeing things as they should be, but see things as they are. A grandiose vision on how to change the world is all well and good, but only if it syncs up with a deterministic view on how the world will be.
For better or for worse, we live in a largely individualistic society. Zero-sum games (read status games) are rampant. We love to flex on each other by buying nice cars, that offer no real material improvement to quality of life, Rolex’s, expensive jewellery, clothes etc. While it’s inevitable we will realise the limitations of this worldview and move back to a more integrated version of a community-driven society (not bound by religion) for the foreseeable future, betting on humans desire to communicate value through materialism is a pretty safe bet. If you’re curious about societal and ego evolution check out Don Beck’s incredibly well-researched model of Spiral Dynamics, it’s one of my most foundational mental models.
NFTs as status-games appeal to our mostly stage orange population.
NFTs provide the easiest way for people to play status games. If I buy a fancy piece of art, or a nice car, the only way to demonstrate this value is to have you over to my yard to show it off. My NFT collection, however, is a constantly visible, locationless, shop window of my tastes, values and interests. Owning a Cryptopunk doesn’t just signal I’m a baller, it shows I’m a crypto fanboy, an early adopter, that I’m tech-savvy.