I recently saw an interview with Jaron Lanier that has truly changed the way I see things. A bold statement, I admit, and not one I make lightly. As a matter of fact, I don't think I ever expected to change my mind as much as I have from watching a single video.
The interview is fascinating, and I would encourage anyone who cares about revising their own dogmas—and some of us are dogmatic, sadly so—to watch it. At any rate, I want to hyperfocus on a specific topic that was brought up, one that, in my opinion, is particularly important for us Hiveans, especially if you're building things on this blockchain.
The word I want to focus on is friction.
We tend to believe that some amount of friction is necessary. We may not agree on what "some" means, but most of us instinctively distrust things that are too easy. This mentality has its upsides, but it has also worked against anything resembling mass adoption.
We think—and I'll include myself in this—that the sovereignty of the Hivean citizen is the most important aspect of it all. That jumping hurdles, learning the ins and outs of the chain, understanding the complexity of our keys, and navigating the governmental system is somehow a requirement for citizenship.
"Not a real Hivean," some would say.
"Not a real Web3 guy," others would shout.
To which I now reply:
Who cares?
I'm serious. Serious like a heart attack right before dinner.
Who cares?
I guess we do. I guess we have. But that is precisely the issue.
We should not care that much.
At some point, Lanier starts talking about software piracy. Open source is part of the conversation, of course, but for a moment he focuses on piracy. He dares to suggest that I, a common pirate, spent years working in service of the very corporations I claimed not to like.
How dare he say such a thing?
But then he explains the network effect.
"Network effect?" I thought, quickly retrieving the definition from the dusty almanac inside my head. Of course I know what the network effect is, Lanier. Don't come at me with your basic concepts.
Except he wasn't talking about what I thought he was.
You see, the fact that we pirates copied and installed programs like Windows and Office in the early days helped make those programs—and therefore Microsoft—the centralized power of desktop computing.
Do you see it?
We helped them become the standard.
"That wasn't my intention," I protested internally. "I just needed to browse the internet, and I was a teenager who hadn't learned Linux yet."
Fair enough.
But the work had already been done.
Why did I spend so many years effectively working for Microsoft before switching to Linux?
Because Windows had the least amount of friction.
Now do you see it?
Is the picture focusing?
The network effect—that giant, almost ungraspable phenomenon of mass consensus—doesn't emerge because people collectively decide what is best. It emerges because people drift, little by little, toward convenience.
Nobody wakes up wanting to strengthen a monopoly.
They just keep choosing the path that asks the least from them.
Is it convenient to use Windows?
Well, yes.
Yes, it is.
I hate to say it, but it works.
It's convenient. It takes less effort to learn, less effort to use, and less effort to become productive with.
Now is the picture focusing?
Let me put this in plain English.
We may not need better protocols or better underlying technology nearly as much as we need systems that anyone can use with little to no effort, little to no knowledge, and so much convenience that using something else feels inconvenient.
Two clicks, you're logged in.
Two more taps, you've shared something.
Three, and you're making an effort.
The whole time: fun, engaging, and rewarding.
Anything we don't do in this direction is missing the goal—whether by inches, meters, or miles.
I'll leave you with the interview because I genuinely think it's a gem.
But I hope that after you watch it, and after you read my little op-ed here, you'll understand why I'm hitting Enter with my forehead.
MenO
