Real Metaverses
The month of October, with mild temperatures and more relaxed anti-Covid measures, was perfect for the Lisbon Blockchain Week, which took place between the 18th and the 24th. a virtually unknown and underground ecosystem in the Portuguese capital.
Hundreds of developers, artists, designers, influencers, investors and crypto-geeks landed with suitcases and luggage for a frantic week, which included, in addition to conferences, many parties, hackathons, exhibitions, music concerts, rooftop parties and beach raves.?The rhythm of circulation between events and meeting places of all the participants that spread throughout the city and surroundings as an organism integrated into the city, but at the same time, only visible to the most attentive and knowledgeable of the underground reality, was staggering.
This was one of the first metaverses I was able to experience in Portugal.?A reality disconnected, in general, from the mainstream, but, at the same time, connected to and enjoying infrastructure and spaces for nightly events in the city where some of the most vibrant 'social' meetings took place.?Who are these participants??Where do they come from??What are you doing??Possible answers will be discussed later.?For now, other metaverses are in progress in the world.
And what is a metaverse after all??It's a broad concept.?The word is used in the game world and transports us to virtual worlds.?Basically, these are digital utopias in which many participate through the technology that gives them access.?The latest example of a tech giant wanting to create a metaverse is Facebook.?Mark Zuckerberg, possibly tired of so many scandals and breaches in privacy and security, will be preparing to set sail for a world where the virtual is intangible to the laws and norms of real society.?But he is not the only one and it is amazing to see the number of admirers and followers who vibrate with the new utopias announced with cities built from scratch or “innovation zones” all over the place, some already mentioned in past chronicles.?They are outstanding individuals, multibillionaires and powerful, who, in a first division, compete for a place in the space race aboard phallic rockets with uncertain destinations.?On a second level, those who propose to build new cities from scratch, with their own allegedly “freer” laws and social structures.?Free from the stupid regulations of some countries.?Free from absurd taxes, free from social censorship that oppresses them.
They live in their own wealthy universe of followers, fans, and collaborators.?They want to build the new city-states, supported by "freedom" and merit, but without realizing that the dreamed new world will lead to decay and social conflict, as there will always be an "old world" full of problems that could be solved or minimized with a percentage of that utopian investment.
Although we are talking about new cities, there is an anchor that will tie them to reality.?Many of these projects are conceived as metaverses in the cloud.?The cloud will be the new atmosphere for digital exchanges and interactions with all data filtered and analyzed by artificial intelligence and new voting, contracting and authentication processes, granting new and autonomous identities.
“The problem of anarchist utopias is the human essence.?The realization of this type of dream will inevitably be accompanied by conflict and insecurity in the face of the reality of laws and regulations.”
The case of the city of Telosa is one of the examples.?A dream of American billionaire Marc Lore and with the participation of the regime's architect, the intoxicating Bjarke Ingels.?These are utopias that sound good: “a more egalitarian, fair and sustainable future”; Telosa will cost 400 billion dollars and will be a “15-minute city with workspaces, schools and other basic services”, with few distances between them, avoiding large displacements of its residents and using green and non-polluting vehicles, with an emphasis on bicycles, scooters, and autonomous cars.
A dream, but it is a dream shared by hundreds, if not thousands, of other “normal” cities around the world and that could become a reality with the investments and technological resources and political influences of these billionaires.?However, this is not what is intended.
We have a feeling that there is a new power emerging and that it is trying to shed social norms, laws, and regulations.?An attempt to refund capitalism, making it fairer and guaranteeing more equity.?There is no doubt that the sound of the words is captivating, especially in a world where corruption is growing, incompetence and clientelism are rife and taxes levied finance everything but the well-being of citizens.
Another case is that of Dryden Brown: a university student who wants to find his utopian city based on NFT (non-fungible token) statues that will then be replicated in the real world.?Dryden believes that the US has very strict regulations and laws, “stupid” even, and so is considering Cyprus to launch its city.?He will certainly ignore the headaches of European regulations, which, already noting a monopoly state of the big cloud providers, are getting ready to release new regulations, supposedly with a view to giving more transparency and justice to this area.
What do these and other utopian projects have in common with Lisbon and its relationship with Blockchain Week??It all comes down to the technology running through their veins.?Decentralization of decision-making power based on blockchain and cryptocurrencies with special emphasis on the Ethereum platform.
If in the case of multibillionaires, there is capital to launch cities from scratch in different parts of the world, there are more modest initiatives and experiences, taking place simultaneously, which consist of the acquisition of land with some dimension and co-creation of new sustainable communities, mixing permaculture, Zen retreats and green or ecological entrepreneurship.?In Portugal, there are already several.
The results announced are more or less identical: fairness and equity in decisions using DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations), smart contracts developed in Ethereum and NFT, which fuel creativity, innovation and disruption of markets and new sources of income.
While the normal world deals with energy crises, wars, pandemics, famines, climate change, corruption, crime, and insecurity, among other social ills, there is a whole metaverse already real constituted by anarcho-crypto-hippy-nerds who use the same tools to build their utopias.?Everyone dreams of a better world, but it is the real world that still welcomes them, and, in the case of Lisbon, it offers fun, sun, beach and food that the virtual world does not have.
The problem of anarchist utopias is the human essence.?The realization of this type of dream will inevitably be accompanied by conflict and insecurity in the face of the reality of laws and regulations.?And, in the case of anarcho-capitalists, the exaggerated proximity to the established powers, governments and companies, which survive and interact in the real world.?Which of the utopias will society tend towards in the coming years?
The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the ideas of Smart Cities magazine.