1/22

**On Interoperability → Power, Individualism, & Gestalt**

Interoperable data induce 3 important cultural outcomes for users:

I. Reclamation of Power
II. Expression of Individualism
III. Cultivation of Gestalt

🧵(let's get anthropological!)👇

working @ goldman sachs. writing → hunter.mirror.xyz. queering crypto @ serif

2/22

I.  *RECLAMATION OF POWER*

Network Effects = Power

e.g. Facebook is powerful b/c Facebook possesses strong network effects.

Network effects EMPOWER COMPANIES (the owners of network effects)...

...but DISEMPOWER USERS (those who rely upon—but do not own—network effects).

3/22

Where are Facebook's network effects derived from?

*USERS!*

Facebook is built on a moat of USER DATA: Facebook's value *IS* USERS THEMSELVES!

In exchange for PRODUCING Facebook's value, users are COMPENSATED with access to Facebook's data network.

5/22

This leads to 3 suboptimal outcomes:

1. Users do not reap the full benefits of Network Effects.

2. The relationships between Applications & Users become adversarial.

3. Products are lousy given low user leverage (absence of legitimate alternatives - e.g. Facebook MAUs).

6/22

For users to be EMPOWERED, network effects must be DECENTRALIZED!

(...or eliminated, though this is also insufficient.)

USERS DESERVE TO OWN THE NETWORKS THEY CONSTITUTE!

Enter... INTEROPERABILITY!

7/22

Formerly, users had to GIVE UP their data—their POWER—in EXCHANGE for participating in data networks.

This trade-off is NO LONGER NECESSARY!

Interoperable systems solve this by DECENTRALIZING control over network effects:

From centrally-held → user-owned.

8/22

Ceramic Network is an excellent implementation of this vision.

Rather than data becoming the siloed PROPERTY of applications, Ceramic EMPOWERS users by RETURNING DATA OWNERSHIP back to them.

Interoperability is the foundation for user-owned network effects…

9/22

...enabling users to port their data to any application, while remaining in control.

In this model, users are SUFFICIENTLY COMPENSATED for the value they produce!

Interoperability enables USER OWNERSHIP over:

1. Data
2. Value
3. Autonomy in Cyberspace

10/22

An ongoing thesis of mine:

Interoperable, user-owned network effects will lead to the destruction of companies that derive their value from user extraction.

I'm incredibly excited about this—& excited about projects that empower users.

Onward.￼

￼ https://twitter.com/hunterlampson/status/157668699155865

11/22

II.  *EXPRESSION OF INDIVIDUALISM*

Thinking anthropologically...

The cultural trait that best characterizes the Western world (esp. American culture) is the belief in INDIVIDUALISM.

Westerners see themselves as having a relatively high degree of personal autonomy.

12/22

This manifests in beliefs like intellectual autonomy, rationality, privacy, meritocracy, & freedom.

Rather than recognizing one's inalterable embeddedness in society, Westerners believe they have the capacity to insert into/withdraw from society at their will.

13/22

The belief in INDIVIDUALISM shapes the CONSUMER HABITS of society.

In the Western world, DISCRETIONARY CONSUMPTION is a tool for DISTINGUISHING ONESELF from others.

From buying x-of-y art creations to thrifting beaten-up jeans, ...

14/22

... Western CONSUMPTION is about one's IDENTITY as an INDIVIDUAL.

Regardless of the efficacy of individualism, it's a powerful force that shapes consumer behavior.

Consumers demand products that ENABLE their distinguishment from others & EXPRESS their individualism.

15/22

How does INTEROPERABILITY INDUCE INDIVIDUALISM?

Interoperability enables consumers to seamlessly port their consumptive habits to all areas of their lives to construct richer, more comprehensive expressions of who they are.

16/22

e.g. A Partyhat can be worn in RuneScape, but not in Fortnite.

So, the IDENTITIES of RuneScape & Fortnite players remain ISOLATED from one another & relationally ILLEGIBLE.

(h/t Stardust.gg for building in-game asset interoperability!)

17/22

Siloed APPLICATIONS = Siloed IDENTITIES.

Fragmented, digital identities are incompatible with existence in the physical world.

In the physical world, we exist as constellations of layered entropy.

Our digital life must allow us to express this.

[h/t Disco.xyz :) ]

18/22

Interoperability tells the story of layered entropy.

Interoperability bolsters the expressive qualities of existence in cyberspace.

Interoperability enables users to better express their INDIVIDUALISM.

Interoperability produces MORE ENGAGED USERS!

Onward.

19/22

III.  *CULTIVATION OF GESTALT*

Gestalt describes an organized WHOLE that is greater than the sum of its parts.

WHOLE > W+H+O+L+E

Gestalt describes the coalescence of components such that a distinct & superior entity is cultivated.

20/22

Today's applications function as ISOLATED components (take the Facebook or RuneScape examples above).

When applications INTEROPERATE, they produce an ORGANIZED WHOLE.

INTEROPERABILITY GENERATES GESTALT!

21/22

Numerai is an example of a gestalt entity.

Numerai weaves together 3 ISOLATED COMPONENTS to achieve a SUPERIOR WHOLE:

A. Crowd Wisdom
B. Data Analytics
C. Financial Utilization

(Companies like Kalshi, Waze, and Two Sigma, leverage only 2/3 of these components). https://i.imgur.com/tZZfOAr.jpg

22/22

Achieving gestalt status (affectionately named!) is the holy grail of any product/company.

Gestalt status represents the essence of technological creation. 

It describes the superiority of technological layering.

INTEROPERABILITY GENERATES GESTALT!

Onward!

4/22

But this compensation is INSUFFICIENT!

Users deserve more. Users deserve OWNERSHIP over their data without giving up access to data itself.

* * *

So, when Network Effects are CENTRALIZED, the following is true:

*STRONG Network Effects = DISEMPOWERED USERS!*