*"A conversation between RM and ChatGPT about Digital Space."
*
We often liken our interoperable, composable, modular decentralized smart contracts to LEGO, don't we? My fascination with LEGO runs deep – in my case, I even worked there.
But it wasn't just the sets, the themes, or even the neatly packaged boxes that captivated me in my childhood. It was how each set told a story or contributed to a larger narrative – a standalone adventure waiting to be unfolded. Opening a LEGO box, you discover more than bricks; you find a symphony of potential, each piece a part of something bigger. The joy lies in transforming a pile of abstract pieces into something tangible and real. As a child, I knew what to expect from each set, yet if I could travel back in time, I'd seek the moment I first disassembled a set. It marked the beginning of limitless possibilities.
Reflecting on this, I can't help but draw parallels to the crypto and Web3 world. We have our 'bricks' – dApps, smart contracts, and tokens – technological marvels indeed. Yet, in our eagerness to celebrate these components, we've overlooked the larger picture they're intended to form.
In the LEGO universe, no one starts with (buying) just a single brick. You begin with a set, following instructions, often drawn in by its theme. It's the story each set narrates that's captivating. When you buy a LEGO Star Wars Millennium Falcon set, it's not just the individual bricks that excite you; it's the time of building it, the unfolding narrative, when playing with it. Most of us don't dwell on the individual pieces of a set. However, in the realm of Web3, we've begun treating each 'brick' as if it were the final product.
Here we are, friends, GM (a boomer term from the Web3 lexicon). We've built a digital world teeming with individual 'bricks', sold, mintable or executable through a contract call separately, yet missing the essence of why people love LEGO. It's not the individual pieces that draw them in; it's the stories and utility (play) these pieces create when combined. It's about the joy of seeing a set come to life, learning new techniques, immersing oneself in a narrative through play.
In our world of crypto, the world with a bad rep, we've become builders obsessed with our bricks. We have incredible pieces, but no sets to unite them, no stories yet to tell. In catering to the “degenerate” AFOLs (Adult Fans of LEGO) of our industry, we've neglected a broader audience. LEGO is not just for die-hard fans; it's a childhood staple, but open for anyone. People buy LEGO sets for their themes, for their aesthetics, for the joy of the building process. The system, the individual bricks, are secondary. Hear that? This is a crucial point to emphasize: for most, the individual brick in the world of LEGO is an afterthought.
This is where we've stumbled in Web3. We've been so captivated by the potential of our system, our bricks, that we've forgotten to build the sets. We're showcasing single digital bricks as marvels, but where's the excitement of the composable possibility space coming from? Think about it even the simplest LEGO figure comprises multiple pieces.
Self-reflection time: While our intentions have been noble, focusing on developing, distributing, and even open-sourcing individual bricks, we've been oblivious to the outside world's indifference. Bricks are merely tools. It's not just about the brick, the smart contract, or the dApp – it's about the stories they can tell, the sets they can form, the potential that unfolds in enjoying a complete set.
To make Web3 and crypto genuinely appealing, we need to think in terms of sets – sets that teach, inspire, and delight in their simplicity, with a good portion of utility (and that can be play (but maybe not just play 2 earn?)). It's about reimagining our approach, not just about onboarding the next billion users onto the blockchain but introducing the blockchain to them in ways that ignite their creativity and sense of adventure. General design principle stable here: Meet People where they are. This might mean integrating a few bricks into what they already know and love, and be okay not sell the full blown network state code is law not your keys not your token protopia. Yes, account abstraction, intents, zk proofs are important (also for sure really cool concepts and shall I say provocations), but they are still just bricks, not stories, not themes, not complete sets. All in all just another brick in massive wall that hold us back to gain traction. To showcase a different world, we need to move beyond exploded-view diagrams that flaunt our interoperable censorship resistant opensource decentralized smart bricks. We need complete, cohesive wholes.
In our digital LEGO landscape, we've meticulously crafted bricks, yet missed out shipping the castles, cars, and pirate ships. The things that everyone out there can fall in love with. We've been so engrossed in coding the bricks of the future that we've neglected to craft and narrate their story. Our digital odyssey has enriched some of us through bytes, but to engage more people, we must acknowledge that, so far, we've presented lackluster tales. We've built a system with picks and shovels but haven't shown how to use them to create something meaningful, or actually novel. How we begin this journey, however, is still a question I ponder." Devs, PMs, VCs, and Desingers please do something.
