Transmission 17.1: Eric E.'s Manifestos for a Responsible Web3
This is a newsletter for designers and time travel facilitators. It has insights about the speculative practice and tools we use in our method that they could try as well.
Our first USA correspondent for The Time Travel Transmissions, Eric E., kicks off the season with three broadcasts about his futures practice. This is broadcast one.
My name is Eric and I am a junior designer and developer living in Chicago. I first heard about the agency this Spring when Joss co-taught one of my classes at university, Columbia College. I realized during that project I have been time traveling for years! These are some of the topics closest to my heart, so expressing how I feel about them right now has been very cathartic. I hope Web3 can develop further as a concept to unify people interested in developing ideal internet futures.
I am humbled to share my thoughts with other thinkers and makers this month. Happy October, and thank you for reading.
Always supportive of expressing that which we care about, and this being a wonderful hodgepodge of futures designers, inventors, and creators listening, the agency is thrilled to share the broadcasts with those holding something dear to say.
We support Eric’s expression, we’d like to encourage other youths to share anytime, and to ask our recipients for their encouragement and support as well.
- The Time Travel Editors
Manifestos for a Responsible Web3
It is my belief that the 2020s are the defining decade for the next generation of the World Wide Web, (or Web3). Millennials and Zoomers share the responsibility of co-creating equitable technologies that democratize virtual spaces, encourage embodied expression, and respect our humanity more than the technologies of yesterday.
Web3 is a buzzword often included in conversations about blockchain, cryptocurrencies, etc. While I see it already having many inflated connotations, I think it possesses hugely latent potential to activate/organize the wave of human-centered designers who share the same mission I stated above. These are some of my thoughts about building a better internet.
Future 1: Sustainability
I always love to remind people that the internet is truly a network of giant cables connecting us. These cables run underground and even across our oceans, delivering data in bytes for a server to store, or a computer to display. Your data, everything from an email to a digital photo album are all series of positive and negative magnetic charges just as real as sunshine or a breeze. There is a surprisingly thin difference between what is physical and what is virtual.
Every piece of technology should be assembled with future scavengers in mind. It is in our human nature to repair and recycle, so any technology that intentionally discourages these activities will not be considered Web3.
Shenzhen is a dense urban metropolis in China famous for its innovative spirit and massive secondhand smart device market. The market stream of used phones and tablets almost always ends with somebody who disassembles the device completely and salvages every individual part for resale or raw material. Widespread adoption of an attitude like this is essential for reducing unnecessary waste!
My other point related to sustainability has to do with the concept of ‘open source’, code and assets made free for the public to use and modify without restrictions.
The revolution of being globally connected has pushed the gears in the zeitgeist of referencing and remixing into overdrive. We would evolve faster as a collective if we learned to be better at sharing our tools. Even making proprietary assets open source after x amount of years could be a solid start. Building sustainable development practices and removing barriers for future creators benefits us all.
Activity: Time to future–scavenge!
Set a 15-minute timer
Go around your room, neighborhood, basement, apartment, workplace, etc. studying objects with “future eyes”. Every object you encounter will have been left by you. What is being left in the world?
And what about the objects and ideas being made by you right now? What are you leaving in the world for future scavengers?
When the 15 minutes are up: take a nap <3