General Seminar N°7 - METAVERSE

With Julian Bleecker and Nicolas Nova & special guest participants Patrick Tanguay and Dan Hon

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Above, beyond, beneath the UNI-VERSE lies this idiom — "METAVERSE".

Forget the definitions and quibbling. What is METAVERSE? Who is METAVERSE?

It seems its happening, as promise-filled as fiber optic cable TV and long-lasting batteries.

So..what? What is life when we're in/on/at the METAVERSE? What color is it? Who else is "there"? Is it a "there" or is it a nozzle, like that ".com" we once never heard about but now there are entire episodes of sitcoms about it.

What is METAVERSE??

Because I really want to know. And Jim Cramer didn’t really help me “get it.”

I don’t want to prognosticate.

I just want to hear us, collectively, make sense of what is going on, what its multiple destinations might be, and why it’s called METAVERSE when Neal Stephenson in “Snow Crash” called his vision of METAVERSE “METAVERSE” and it didn’t seem to be such a great a place to visit.

Wait.

Is the METAVERSE a place you visit?

Is it a place you live?

Work? Is the future of work the METAVERSE?

Is the METAVERSE a place and, if so, what kind of place is it?

Is it like walking around Grand Theft Auto or Animal Crossing?

Should I be “there” doing something or just playing around?

Should I be buying “land” in Cryptovoxels — and what is land in Cryptovoxels anyway? Is it the future of, like..”place?”

Should I think about it the way I thought about buying a building in DUMBO in Brooklyn back in 1993?

Is 2.09ETH (~$6700USD) for an undeveloped 239m² plot 1016m from the origin, with a 16m build height, a good thing to buy? And…then what?

If you have any interest in any of this, or if you’re trying to make sense of it for your work, client, “brand” or just to not feel like you’re losing touch with this fast moving world, then please join us for General Seminar N°7 — METAVERSE.

Wednesday September 1st, 2021 at 11am PST / 7pm GMT. Hosted remotely via Zoom. Limited to 15 participants. $20/seat.

SIGN UP HERE. RESERVE YOUR SEAT. LIMITED TO 15 PARTICIPANTS. (SOLD OUT QUICK! YOU CAN STILL FOLLOW ALONG IN OUR DISCORD VERSE — JOIN HERE.)

In this General Seminar we will address these topics through the use of Design Fiction. Participants will collaborate in small groups to imagine meaning of METAVERSE or associated future exemplars, products, services, companies, forms of experience that represent METAVERSE in the near future in which we pick up fresh METAVERSE at the corner bodega, and Nigerian-made knock-off METAVERSE Effector Nozzles can be had for $12.99 (or the equivalent in ETHEREUM).

General Seminar does not expect extensive preparation, but we do provide some suggested materials (below) to browse before we meet. Consider this stimulus material. Remember, General Seminar is not a lecture, it is a discussion — like a salon or dinner party. Everyone will have an opportunity to contribute their thoughts, their questions, opinions, and points-of-view.

Some Stimulus Material

[The Metaverse Primer] ◀ Very Thorough. Very Considered. Very Long. Very Recommended

[Are We In The Metaverse Yet?] ◀ A good effort at the ‘what is it?’ question

[Reality, Ownership, Scarcity — Sentiers] ◀ Patrick Tanguay Essay

[Synthetic Reality & The Metaverse — Sentiers] ◀ Patrick Tanguay Essay

[THE STREET DOES NOT REALLY EXIST - The Hundreds] ◀ One of the smartest people on the future is a streetwear fashion maven

[Mark in the Metaverse] ◀ The make-or-break-things gambit

[Decentraland] ◀ A METAVERSE