We have a great deal of focus upon the Metaverse of late. This suddenly became part of mainstream discussion. However, at this point few know what it means. There is also the fact that a great deal of development and advancement is required in the area of communications as well as processing before we can even begin to imagine a Ready Player One experience.
Therefore, what people are mostly talking about is missing the point.
Web 3.0 is another topic, along similar veins. This does, however, have some interesting properties that are going to revolutionize things. For the first time, we are realizing how much the Internet is actually eating the world.
More of our activity is moving online. This was a trend started long ago. Nevertheless, of late, we are seeing the Internet "growing up".
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New Economic Paradigm
Web 3.0 is a totally new economic paradigm. We are forging ahead to the point where the majority of economic activity will take place in this realm.
Much of what is enabling this is the fact the Internet is rapidly transitioning. While the use of NFTs and avatars captures people's attention, it is really nothing new. Second Life was around more than 15 years ago while gaming utilized token and other digital assets. What we are seeing today is the next step in that process.
The Internet is starting to create it owns goods. Instead of taking from the outside world, it is now a manufacturing center in and off itself. These items, unlike in the past, can move from game-to-game. We see the Internet developing its own laws regarding this, based upon what the particular networks choose.
What this means is that value is easily transferred. The ability to transition from one form to another is becoming seamless. Presently, we see exchanges handling the swap. It is possible the next step in this is where this operate takes place at the wallet level.
Either way, this new economic paradigm is going to rival the production of the outside (offline) world. We see absurd growth rates which is stunning to people. Nevertheless, when we consider the space of this medium along with the ability to engage with more than 5 billion people, we suddenly realize how confining the offline world is.
The value of this realm is not hidden. It is no coincidence that the most valuable companies in the world all have some form of operation in the digital arena.
Now it is time for the average person to get involved.
25 Years Into The Future
What will all this look like around 2045? That is hard to say. We can extrapolate some things out yet that will likely leave us coming up short.
After all, in 1995 who would have predicted that we would do most of our online activity via mobile, communicate for free with people all over the world, and see digital networks like Facebook that have a "population" larger than the two biggest nations combined?
Yet that is exactly where we are at.
The idea of online communities becoming powerful formations is already being seen. This is a process we can count on continuing.
One of the steps forward by the Internet is the fact that people who never met can get together and raise enormous sums of money for a cause without even interacting. The people do not know who the others are. It is possible even the community "leaders" are not well known. Nevertheless, through the use of the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) we see this starting to take place with regularity.
ConstitutionDAO most recently exemplified this. Over the course of a week, it was able to raise more than $40 million from 20,000 in an effort to buy one of the original prints of the United States Constitution. These people have nothing in common other than the desire to see a nation's historic artifact not reside in the hands of a private individual.
Imagine trying to accomplish something like that in the offline world. There is no way that $40 million could be raised a week after starting out, especially without the benefit of enormous donations. Here we see the power of the new economic model that is forming.
Hence when we forecast out to 2045, we know two things will happen. The speed which the entire digital realm operates will be faster by orders of magnitude. Whether Moore's Law is still in effect is of no consequence. There are many other factors which keep accelerating the pace that data is processed.
At the same time, we will see the numbers get very big. Again, when we are dealing in a world that is nearly limitless, most anything can be funded. Many people point to the wealth that is already created in the world. This is a drop in the bucket compared to what is about to be unleashed.
One of the advancements taking place with the Internet is the fact that money is going to become unlimited. Consider how impactful the idea is of anyone being able to create their own medium of exchange. That means that resources are going to be available for just about any activity one can think of.
Here is where we see individual innovation enter the picture. Just like the brain behind ConstitutionDAO was able to generate a project that was worth more than $40 million, it also will set off a wave of others that put the numbers much higher.
In other words, anything in the online or offline world can be funded in this manner.
The Accelerating Rate of Economic Growth
As we can see, technology is rapidly accelerating the rate of our economic growth. Many believe the Internet is the greatest technological invention of humanity. Whether it is more impactful than electricity is up for debate. What is clear, however, is the impact this mechanism is already having.
And we know this is just getting started.
It is becoming evident the world is becoming flush with money. The ability to fund ideas leads to more technological innovation. Hence, we can expect a rapidly expanding economy, especially when it is build upon technology. The "Internet Economy" will expand at level most cannot comprehend.
Of course, this is not relegated to just the online. During the past 25 years, we saw the online world compliment the physical. Companies, industries, and individuals used this medium to supplement what was occurring elsewhere. This is going to reverse.
The center will be the digital realm which expands out. Thus, any technological advancement is going to impact the physical world. This is only going to accelerate the pace of change there also. It will also bring the economic factors with it. Consider, for a moment, how impactful "digital twins" can be in the world of manufacturing and production.
What the last 25 years taught us is that a few things happen when the Internet enters the picture. The first is whatever is there gets obliterated. We can expect entities, no matter how large or powerful, to face their mortality. This occurred on a number of occasions and will continue to do so.
The second result is that we end up seeing abundance created. Whatever the industry, the Internet becomes the largest copying machine in the world.
Finally, costs plummet. Take a look at any industry that went digital and notice what happened to the cost for the products or services. Major corporations who were leaders were wiped out in a matter of a few years (Record companies come to mind). This is only going to spread over the next two decades.
As we watch the new paradigm shift taking place, it is easy to envision how the corporation, as we know it, is going to become a casualty. Instead, harkening back to the idea of communities, we see how these structured as a DAO will start to find their way into use. By 2045, this might be the norm.
The world is changing and the Internet is at the center of that. This is an opportunity for everyone who is paying attention.
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