saudações do Porto 🇵🇹
intro
gm and welcome to the third issue of my friend newsletter. i'm writing to you from the beautiful city of Porto. this time around, i'll be discussing the philosophy of subtraction, some updates on what i've been up to, some points in my user manual, before i conclude with the origin story for the gift economies project and two lil' poems. as of this issue i'm also switching to mostly lowercase as i consider it to better reflect my writing voice and overall (life)style. don't worry, i'm not ditching punctuation. yet
philosophy of subtraction
when i discovered the web3 space last march, i resonated with something that i could only articulate later, and even then not to the full extent. there are two concepts that i had been experimenting with unstructuredly before learning their names and ways. the first one is being a channel. the second is the philosophy of subtraction. i regard them as my most selfless attributes and although i strive to default to them in most aspects of my life, i am in a conflicting-enough learning phase of aligning my reactions to my intentions, so i might not be walking the talk properly yet.
being a channel. i first heard this concept applied to humans when Audrey Tang said about themselves that their work as a minister is to "become a channel to allow for greater combinations of intelligence and strength to come together."
channel (v.) - direct towards a particular goal
with this definition in mind, i think of a channel as an entity (person or organization) that guides others towards a goal by signaling the paths forward and cheering tiredlessly along the way. i would add to my own definition of human channels (1) a complete indiference towards personal recognition and (2) a self-ascribed responsibility to facilitate pluralism of methods to achieve the goal. a channel wishes to subtract themselves. i consider owocki (Gitcoin's disaffiliated co-founder) to be a channel for bringing people together around the mission of funding public goods without prescribing approaches, and for continuously engaging with and recognizing others' personalized contributions to this goal. other channels i noticed are the Kernel stewards, who generously connect you with people and projects that align with your own work, creating paths to synergy. between all the blur caused by my hectic way of navigating the internet and thinking associatively, i came to the realization that my particular positioning (highly intersectional from multiple perspectives) and inclinations within the spaces i frequent would make me a (dare i say, good) channel.
the philosophy of subtraction. after reading through A Philosophy of Subtraction (see notes) by Saffron Huang from Reboothq who talks about Ethereum Foundation's (EF) influence and approach towards the ethereum ecosystem, i drew some parallels to how i've been operating in life for a while now.
subtracting oneself can be understood as minimizing one's role and influence to the point of eventual self-exclusion. in the case of ethereum, the EF could act like an all-mighty director who vetoes (through direct voting or social influence) any project and proposal popping up in the space. instead, they delegate their decision-making and allocate their own funds to support the ecosystem's more organic growth, in an attempt to "resist the natural tendency of organizations to grow and accumulate value within themselves." here are two highlights from the article, explaining the possible outcomes of such an approach:
The optimistic outcome [of applying subtraction to other organizations] is that we’d have more players, more choice, dynamics of co-creation rather than competition, and an overall more resilient and pluralistic ecosystem.
While [no alternative economic model] can be a panacea, and new efforts generally have rough edges, we can still learn from bold, imperfect attempts at prefriguring something different.
i envision the gift economies project to be precisely that- an imperfect attempt at prefiguring something different (at scale). professionally, i hope to build tools for freedom and creativity without capturing any for myself, and to empower others to create. i also see subtraction to be relevant in one's personal life. in this regard, i try to be a place of encounter between friends and opportunities, then withdraw myself from the equation where i feel no longer useful. my track record of dealing with withdrawing is not great as i am still not attuned to the amount of selflessness it requires. i can't believe i'm mentioning this in a somewhat public post, but it was quite the learning journey for me to apply subtraction in my personal life after bringing two good friends together, realize i need to take steps back and then actually take them, abandoning the previously developed instinct of fighting for the role i wished to play. if i were to name the outcomes of this exercise of subtraction, i feel both a lack of and freedom from the pressures of ownership.
the origin story of the gift economies project
back when i was in college and lived in a student dorm, i kept ideating over a better mechanism for our vacuum cleaner system.
the vacuum cleaner system
each floor within a residential building had one vacuum cleaner and one resident assistant (RA) who, among many other duties, would lend, upon request, the vacuum cleaner to any resident on that floor. in most cases, we would contact the RA via some messaging app, agree on a pick up time, and return it after use. in theory, nothing can be simpler. sometimes, however, we had to coordinate the pick-up with other residents in case the RA was away for an extended period of time. other times, the floor vacuum was broken and we had to find neighbors on other floors willing to share theirs. in an emergency (e.g., broken glass in the middle of the night), you'd better have your own personal vacuum cleaner (which some students did) to avoid waking up and anger your RA. usually, this seemingly simple request needed a set of back-and-forth messaging with at least one person to learn the status of the vacuum cleaner and negotiate a good pick-up time. while from a resident's point of view this might not be a painful endeavor, the RA had to repeat it for 10-40 residents maybe per week, depending on how well coordinated suitemates within an apartment were. in our last year, me and my suitemates sure weren't (hi, xx 🤍).
there is a Python book titled Automate the Boring Stuff which teaches the reader how to build small programs that save useless time spent on boring tasks. even if coordinating the temporary ownership of vacuum cleaners wasn't a boring task, it still requires an unnecessary amount of time and communication to get it sorted. and for student residences where every 4-8 months we changed our roommates and location (dorm, building, or country) it was not practical and money-efficient to have one vacuum cleaner per room.
automate the vacuum cleaner system with access control
the first idea i had was to develop an access control-based system where, based on our room key card, we have access to a particular vacuum cleaner, e.g., if all were stored and individually locked on the ground floor of a residential building. at any time, we would be able to see whether the vacuum is available and check it out. implementing this system would come at a cost (setup + maintenance), yet long-term it would save many people's times and sanity. however, this system has its flaws: how do you ensure someone returns the vacuum in a good state (clean and functional)? if someone borrows the vacuum after another breaks it, then the wrong person might be held accountable and have to help replace it. eventually i stopped giving more thought to this one issue, and broadened it to resource-agnostic community-level coordination.
vacuum cleaners as common goods
with some of these thoughts on how communities can better coordinate their use of resources, i arrived in Austria where i got my own vacuum cleaner and decided to freely share it with anyone needing it. thankfully, i lived in a trustworthy community so i did not concern myself too much with what would happen if someone else breaks my vacuum cleaner and i won't have it once i need it next. at around the same time, i had developed a strong interest in gift economies which operate on the principle of giving without expecting anything in return. i started thinking whether communities could fully operate on such a principle while ensuring no one accumulates beyond necessity. in other words, how would i make sure that if i give my vacuum cleaner away for all the time i do not need it, i will be provided one as soon as i need it. how could one or a few vacuum cleaners become the common good of a community of, say, 50 people, and guarantee that as many of them cooperate to make them available for anyone else. and, if we find a successful method, how could we apply it to other types of resources? and how could we scale it to include gifting between communities which may have different types of resources? could we automate common goods temporary allocations at the society level? that's what i'm hoping to find out with the Gift Economies of Scale project.
the catch-all section
the mother of all media. after seemingly endless delays, i started organizing and curating content in this notion page. here, i keep track of what i read and categorize the texts to make it easier for me to find content that past me considered relevant when i focus on a specific topic such as tokenomics, web3 infrastructure, or urban design. i intend to add an option for others to schedule a read-along if they are interested in a particular text that we can discuss together afterwards to catalyze on any new ideas. i briefly read (and also noticed) that there is a lack o structured discussion space post-university, so this is my attempt to still have focused discussions starting with a common ground represented by the text.
on a further note, and probably inspired by rafathebuilder's (web3/crypto twitter aka CT) reflections on curation combined with my observations on whose content recommendation i am most willing to consider, i have thought of a small web3-based curation application (dApp) where your peers directly add references to your directory. for example, you could recommend me books by directly adding the titles (and links, tysm) in my virtual bookshelf. to avoid randos from adding i will be of course gate-keeping my recommenders with non-transferable NFTs. and if your recommendations are on point, i will make sure to reward you with some "meTokens". i am considering building on this idea at a future hackathon or just develop it on the side over the next few months.friend manual. i listened to this episode from the Brave New Work podcast about giving your co-workers an overview of relevant aspects of your behavior, expectations, predispositions that would help smooth interactions between you (see one example i came across randomly here). the essence of it is in the transcription below
it is a written document, usually like a one-pager [that lists] answers to basic questions that someone needs to know in order to work with you, in order to be effective as a collaborator with you and your life. [...] this was originated in the workplace, so it was really about "how to work with me." [...] if you think about the user manual idea, it's like you bought a VCR in the 80s [...] and you're like "how does this thing work?" and then you read the manual and you know- the same idea here applies. [...] if i just started working with you, or you just hired me, or i just hired you, what can i open up and just skip four months of being confused and being frustrated or being like "i don't get this person" and get to the bottom of it.
i found this idea brilliant because it saves so. much. guessing. which we shouldn't allow time for in our lives. i went ahead and did a small exercise to name three of my general 'instructions' which i consider to be helpful in anyone's rather informal interactions with me.
i function on a maker vs manager's schedule. i could do hours, days, and even weeks of completely focused work, but as soon as something lengthy-enough interrupts it, i can't mentally switch back until a roughly equal amount of time has passed. that's why i need to feel settled to even attempt to do deep work and why anything else than a free calendar makes it challenging for me to begin a task that requires lengthy focus.
i am quite online so my in-person ability to focus is dependent on whether there is a big drama going on on the internet. i love the internet culture and engaging with the ideas of wholesome anons, particularly within CT. since the internet is open 24/7 and constantly flooded with mind-bending takes, learning opportunities, and straight-up fascinating, mostly US-centric drama, i dedicate a large chunk of my social time assimilating online content. this could make me seem disengaged or impatient when in person because something exceedingly more captivating might be happening online. although i am trying to do better, know that if i seem away, my corners of the internet are most probably on fire (read it as a contranym); relevant memes:
as already mentioned, i consider myself a channel of sorts. i think i am quite resourceful in guiding and distributing opportunities and resources in a variety of fields/directions and i try to be generous with my time when providing support. it's something i adore doing so if you ever get recommendations from me, know it's (1) coming from a place of care, (2) you don't have to look at/listen to/read it, (3) i truly hope it serves you well.
i would love to hear at least one of your "instructions" which you think i might have not grasped until now, but would be useful for me to know.
poem(s)
mentally comfortable metal cold seats
the familiarity of strangers
mindlessly following directions
airports
these user-friendly entry points to unmet cities
the unclaimed
decentralized home
of anyone with a reason to wander
border-check your open heart
abandon heavy luggage at the gate
and be
(ready for boarding)
and an older poem as bonus
you can make a snug
pillow
on any road
you pick the right feathers from.
(to make a home)
outro
i was planning on sending this issue one week ago, but then good life happened and had to keep postponing it (is this what it means to "be your own boss?"). either way, i will reflect on the trip to Portugal in a separate issue set for next week as there's a lot to unpack that i would like to share with you, but which requires more time to process. as a teaser for now, going to Porto was one of my best decisions in a while and i have never been more at peace in web3. despite a rough start with unwelcoming weather, the finale was what i hoped for- and more. i'm saying this without knowing whether my second and last leg of the trip back home will actually go smooth or strikes at my layover airport will delay my return.
some medium news which most of you will have heard by then will officially come mid-April. in the meantime, i hope you will be doing amazing where you are with what you have. ooooh, and i did submit an application for EF's Academic Grants Round 2023 for the gift economies project. i'll keep you posted on the outcome and wish me luck!
with love,
raluca