Look at the image above: the shape acts as the border for the imaginary country called Farcasterland. Like borders of nation-states, the black-line acts as boundary to the seemingly impossible shapes and colours inside the silhouette. Just like the artwork feels magical (at least for me, more on that at the end) I often catch myself imagining Farcaster as a utopian network state where fully present people play infinite games. Am I the only one who has this fantasy?
if Farcaster became a network state, I'd want to be a citizen on day one.
I have met some incredible farcastoors IRL, engaged with 100s on warpcast, and also dived into 1:1 video calls with people who seem mission-aligned.
Fact is, I don't have such a high density of high quality human connections IRL where I live.
Speaking of human connections, an early instantiation of farcasterland might be just channel members, the famous Dunbar number. Let's check if you are aligned with my long-term mission:
I want to co-create and co-live in a regenerative community.
Let me explain:
Many years ago, I dove into the world of systemic thinking and self-organisation (holacracy, sociocracy) where I formed my own view on complex models like Spiral Dynamics and Integral Theory. Then a few years later, I trained as a psychedelic coach supporting people to prepare and integrate psychedelic journeys. I learned a ton about Internal-Family-Systems (IFS), Trauma, Inter-Generational Trauma, holotropic breathwork, bio-hacking, neo-colonialism, and Ancient Wisdom traditions. Plus, I learned directly from various visionary plant medicines in form of mystic experiences, ego-deaths and cosmic union. However, the most profound and lasting impact of my personal and professional growth path is my global community.
I am grateful to have met some of the most beautiful (meaning kind AND holistic thinking AND intentionally acting) people on earth; they embody what they teach, propagate or 'sell'. Many of my friends operate at the intersection of inner work, self-mastery, creativity, entrepreneurship, systemic change and planetary regeneration. I have directly learned from luminaries like Daniel Schmachtenberger, John Vervaeke, Christiane Seuhs-Schoellenberger, Nora Bateson and Alexander Beiner.
In parallel, I have dived into many blockchain-crypto-web3 rabbit holes over the last four years. What struck me most is not that some people are unabashedly here for the casino only, and nothing but the casino. No, it's people who are often well regarded founders, VCs, authors etc. who sincerely, genuinely and profoundly believe that technology will just solve our problems.
Techno-optimism is insufficiently holistic to be treated as THE solution for the meta-crisis.
I was a die-hard atheist, rationalist and e/acc proponent when I was younger. The experiences over the last 10 years have influenced me to become more of a d/acc advocate (don't agree with some overly defensive currents) so perhaps I rather subscribe to an n/acc - natural acceleration approach: the complexity on Gaia is naturally growing according to the (known) laws of thermodynamics.
Diversity of existence is naturally accelerating.
Sure we have species loss of epic proportions, but we also have, epigenetically-speaking, a Cambrian explosion of diversity: every single human is 1000x more different and diverse compared to other humans than any other animal is to a fellow of the same species. Maybe an unintended consequence of identity politics is turning 8 billion people into the sample size of n = 1.
How? Humans might look reasonably similar, but the world we construct in our minds, scaled to 8 billion, creates almost infinite constellations of energy - and the universe is nothing but a constant shape-shifting of matter from one energetic state to another. And our beautiful minds, they create all these memes...which is why Richard Dawkins coined the term meme in 1976 in The Selfish Gene.
No matter how many scientific and academic accolades he has won...
I wouldn't want to have Dawkins as a neighbour in my Farcasterland...
because he seems incapable of admitting he is wrong, accepting other views with his heart and being open to the world of the esoteric...which makes me wonder what story he keeps telling himself to feel ok inside. Sorry Rich, but Atheism is just another belief system and scientific 'knowledge' lasts as long as its invalidated by new theorems from the next generations.
Ok, but who would I want to have as neighbour in a regenerative community located ideally in a New Climate Oasis?
You guessed it: my inner circles on Farcaster plus my closest friends and peers from the tribes mentioned above. Ideally a human that embodies these implied systemic choices:
There is, of course, no perfect Farcasterlander - my forebears tried that under Hitler and we all know how it ended!
To be crystal clear: these virtues say everything and nothing about you or me as a person. Irrespective of how we look, live, love, work or parent, wether we are introvert or extrovert, no matter of what we pay attention to - we can choose these virtues (or not). Why these? Well, afaik they are all life-affirming practices:
if we choose them = WAGMI
if we don't choose = NGMI
Life wants to life. Memes want to propagate.
Right now, network states are mainly memes, Balaji's big vision. It seems like they are an idea whose time has come - and nothing can stop this, just like no power can stop hyper-structures like Bitcoin or Ethereum anymore. Praxis got $500,000,000 in funding and has 14K early citizens. Big fish. The Network School has opened its first cohort in Malaysia. It's happening.
On the other hand, Próspera feels like too much like neo-colonialism for me to. Just next door in Costa Rica (as well as Europe) I know of at least a dozen local experiments, initiatives, structures, festivals and gatherings for Co-living that aim for healing and regenerative transitions.
Vitalik got a lot right with ZuZalu but it was transient by design. Co-here is making small strides but I'd rather buy a share in a village in the UK or on Crete. Why always exotic locations? Why not where we already live? I don't know but I notice this: despite the swathes of digital nomads and the global co-working movement, when it comes to co-living we are nowhere near there yet:
Co-living is lagging Co-working as a concept bc it's more complex. Nice design space then.
Farcasterland = our design space
Praxis Nation or another emerging network state projects with ambition are an audacious cast into our future. They will take time to realise. Rome wasn't build in a day. Even if today's infra and tools can be build 1000x faster than in ancient Rome, changing and uniting our worldviews, our beliefs and our values arguably takes longer than current roadmaps and runways would envision. Let's start by building the social substrate in this channel first: We are the people we have been waiting for. It's time for our shot.
Ok, banger. Now what?
Change happens here-now and the only way to start is by starting...let's start in our little sandbox in this cozy corner of the internet. Where else would we dream-up a new way of co-living by co-creating small onchain experiments in dialogue, coordination, governance, impact and becoming?
Why becoming? You cannot 'know' the emerging system by what John Vervaeke calls Propositional Knowing alone.
You need to also intentionally experience the shift from old to new system.
You need to participate in the moment-by-moment transitions because otherwise you won't co-create its next iteration. As a result you will fall back to to a level that is not farcasterland-aligned:
victim: life happens to me
POV: a good citizen of Farcasterland might be a blend of Creator and Co-creator with a dash of Becoming.
Now what?
Right, hghgmm, here is a hint of something some people call roadmap;
become a fully present member of Farcasterland channel
share why you are there, what piques your interest
co-create our vision, mission and values in fast iterations
participate by casting valuable observations and insights
engage in open-outcome-oriented dialogue
educate the interested in systems thinking and self-leadership
invite other mission-aligned people
onboard people you'd want as neighbours in Farcasterland
someone build a website for www.farcasterland.xyz
someone wants to be a channel co-owner or mod
experiment with fc-native tools, composer actions, clients in service of fulfilling the purpose of the channel
explore partnerships and collaborations with adjacent channels and artists
helping newcomers understand Farcaster culture and the big "why we are here"
Source and Decentralisation
These tasks and deeds are an invitation for all of us and especially myself. I am the source of Farcasterland: I need this. I am scratching my own itch. Without me this channel wouldn't even exist. The source as defined by Peter Koenig is like the unmoved mover in Aristotle's texts, the one that starts an initiative.
I am the source and can't wait to let go of control. Lmao:-)
There is a part in me that wants to be naive and think the world revolves around me. Then there is another part that knows that I can live life to the fullest if am open to be wrong, willing to learn from others, prepared to change my tracks, detached to begin again, fearless to trust the process and humble to let go. This part is called antaur btw;-)
That's what I aim for, so that's what you can expect. You are invited to tell me if I am not practicing these.
What I expect from you is to be fully present and to take full responsibility for your experience if you join the Farcasterland channel.
Tell me what channel you're in and I tell you who you are!
Idk if this is for you but if you like being in some of these you might like Farcasterland, too.
higher higher-fm optimists coop vandelay july network-states foresight success believein cocreated valuesdao innerwork spirituality nervous therapy psychedelics now empathy regen gratitude
The OG artwork that inspired Farcasterland silhouette
What you see below is the original artwork: a photography, not photoshopped, just masked to hide the context of the scene.
To fund some early small scale operations for this experimental channel, I will make a tiny collection of one of one NFTs. I could make a single one that actually reveals the full image. But then you know and cannot stay in the unknowing which can be a delightful space. BTW: no one has ever correctly guess what the actual picture is about, but hundreds have shared their vivid interpretation.
On a morning walk in May 2024, the source energy came through me and told me that this image shall be the silhouette for Farcasterland. I got the channel name the second I got home. It took me six months to figure out what this channel wants to be. What do you want it to be?
First Farcasterland Frame
If your attention kept you this long, thank you and congratulations. Here is a little alpha for you: I will drop a fun frame on warpcast this week related to Farcaster and network states. It will pull your PFP and assign an imaginary citizen number to your mint. I make no promise but a low # number might be of some value further down the road...
Other antaur articles you mind find enjoy reading:
