Why Shaan Puri Is Wrong About The Metaverse — Is This The 1st Time Anyone Mentioned The Metaverse Renaissance?

Shaan Puri’s Twitter post on our global failings about the Metaverse set off a chain of cognitive events which altered how I think about our digital future.

At least this week.

This is what he said, In case you didn’t read it because you were at NFT.NYC and trying to figure out how the hell an NFT collection got The Strokes and Beck to play a private party; or wondering how much it actually costs to publish an add on a giant Time Square advertising hoardings. (Not as much as you think.)

“Most people think “the metaverse” is a virtual place. But what if it’s not a place? It’s Not a Place, It’s a Time. Yes, a moment in time. You know in artificial intelligence, there’s an idea of “the singularity”? It’s a moment in time where AI becomes smarter than humans. The moment when artificial intelligence > human intelligence.” — Shaan Puri

Right now everything is up for debate in the Metaverse; hell, there isn’t even a goddamn definition of what it is, let alone what it could be. So Shaan Puri is well within his remit to say the Metaverse is a time, rather than a thing. It‘s more fucking valid than the tired tropes much of the world is dishing in a vain attempt to remain relevant in a conversation ransacked by Meta.

But Shaan Puri is wrong in the details. If the Metaverse is a time and not a place, move away from the singularity. It’s a duration of time. A new Renaissance.

The European Renaissance was a 300-year period of artistic and cultural enlightenment. Michelangelo gave us David and Machiavelli gave birth to the Prince. The only Leonardo was Da Vinci. It was a time in the evolution of the species where we explored the world and the expanse of the mind, where peace followed war followed peace followed war; where the Ottoman Empire rose and forgotten dynasties fell. It was a time of Shakespeare and Galileo and Henry VIII and Elisabeth I and Vasco de Gama.

“The Renaissance was a fervent period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic “rebirth” following the Middle Ages. Generally described as taking place from the 14th century to the 17th century, the Renaissance promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature and art. Some of the greatest thinkers, authors, statesmen, scientists and artists in human history thrived during this era, while global exploration opened up new lands and cultures to European commerce. The Renaissance is credited with bridging the gap between the Middle Ages and modern-day civilization.”

Does that sound like the Metaverse? Does that invoke the cultural and philosophical foundation of web3?

Read it again.

“…a fervent period of (European) cultural, artistic, political and economic “rebirth”

A fervent period of cultural, artistic, political and economic rebirth.

Allow me to get funky.

Cryptocurrencies = Economic rebirth

NFTs= Artistic rebirth

DAOs = political rebirth

The Blockchain = Cultural rebirth

Let’s look at the Metaverse Renaissance from the future.

“The Metaverse was a fervent period of global cultural, artistic, political and economic ‘rebirth’ following the centralised stone age of Web 1 and Web 2. Generally described as taking place from the 21st century to the 24th century, the Metaverse promoted the rediscovery of ‘value’, ‘ownership’, community, art, finance and entertainment. Some of the greatest thinkers, developers, scientists and artists in human history thrived during this era, while the traditional inherited wealth and institutions of the ‘Old World’ perished under the weight of their own incompetence and reluctance to adapt to the shifting sands suffocating their outdated and useless M.Os. The Metaverse is credited with bridging the gap between the rich and the poor, giving the world’s population financial freedom and creating a truly global community.”