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Timo Ellis's avatar

hi Daniel! thanks so much for all the great observations in this (brilliant) analysis - only one thing really stuck out for me in it that seemed worth questioning; IMO, hoping for Blockchain- related tech to be anything but environmentally catastrophic anytime soon (unfortunately) seems misplaced; with the comment in mind you made about NFT's themselves being "digital distractions" also consider this from a few weeks ago; "the Guardian estimated that the sale of 303 editions of Earth, an NFT produced by the musician and artist Grimes earlier this month, “used the same electrical power as the average EU resident would in 33 years, and produced 70 tons of CO2 emissions.” ..+ from what I gather even the most optimistic scenarios for BC's eco-sustainability seem a long way off...+ it seems evident that the whole phenom itself was (unsurprisingly) initially, voraciously developed, like so many things in tech, without any real long (or short!) term regard for the environmental impact/ consequences...+ my assumption here would be that, you being you, that you probably already knew all this, etc...which then leads me to wonder what your thinking/ rationale would be for still advocating for it the way you do...especially as a sort of "glimmer of hope" at the end of the essay? (+ IMO this hope seems additionally curious as earlier in the essay you explicitly lamented the "...the deeper incursion or penetration of Capitalist economics and the one-dimensional logic of the market.." which in all likelihood, would/ will continue to be the primary material and idoelogical modalities this tech is used within?) thanks man

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Peter Maguire's avatar

"Our incessant immersion in the digital and virtual costs us a certain degree of interiority and unique subjectivity. With our ever-present phones, we can’t escape the intrusion of the collective into our inner space of self-reflection. This insistent presence is like an implicit, mute Greek chorus, ever ready to judge, praise, condone, or condemn." I could not agree more. Your comments on modern film and television are also spot on.

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