In a world where economic and cyber vulnerabilities should be revealed to everyone, current events and the current war in Ukraine have repeatedly revealed, but the irresponsibility of corporate leaders is solely through the credibility of citizens. Match.
In my last column, “No more unreality needed,” we talked about virtual reality and reported that major Internet companies are working hard to bring it into their online lives. Facebook (now “Meta”) Mark Zuckerberg is a virtual reality “Metaverse” that believes that real life should be overcome and defeated, and the amount of our work, commerce, entertainment and socializing. I am particularly keen on seducing us to increase.
Zuckerberg hopes that the fantastic digital world generated by software will be the “place” where we want to spend our most time. Compared to online life in the Metaverse, the real world should feel pale.
Zuckerberg’s goal is worrisome. It will further separate us from the real problems of society and feed the data manipulation and profit triads that have become the main reason for the existence of web platforms.
In fact, ad-filled virtual reality will be a place designed to sell us more.
It’s no coincidence that another digital-only work, “NFT,” is being hyped alongside virtual reality. NFT is a “non-fungible token”. That mysterious term is essentially a digital file jargon. Non-fungible tokens are just one unique digital file. NFTs exist only in cyberspace. They are not real physical objects. This is far less than you might initially imagine. NFTs – one digital file – can be a photo, drawing, video, or graphic artwork. It could be a tweet, song, JPEG, Word document, etc. Everything that can be created on a computer and contained in one unique file can be an NFT.
So what’s the big deal? If any file could be an NFT, why are non-fungible tokens being talked about?
Well, follow the money. Just as many speculators collect baseball cards, coins, antiques, vintage cars, jewelry, art, and other rare or valuable objects (“collections”), the value of these items is significant. Expecting to go up, speculators working online have decided to bet that the value of a particular unique digital file (NFT) will increase dramatically.
Yes, this is ridiculous. However, in response to this latest epidemic (this get-rich-quick scheme), artists and celebrities quickly turn on their computers to generate digital artwork and digital images that the general public can freely bid and buy. ..
Remember, you don’t buy the actual work of art, you just buy the digital image. For example, you can buy a JPEG file of your photos and print them on paper if you want. But assuming the photo was published online somewhere, everyone else could.
Perhaps you bought the exclusive right because only you have the original file on your computer. But that’s a disadvantage. To sell the artwork, I had to print it somewhere (at least once). Therefore, it was widely published and replicable on digital platforms.
Some NFT hawkers want to say that the buyer owns the copyright of the original file, but there is no existing law to back it up and they are trying hard to force something across the world’s cyber territory. please give me. Copyrighted files, especially images, are downloaded and printed daily by millions of people around the world.
Nevertheless, people who have money for gambling are enthusiastic about buying NFTs. Recently, many digital file-only “artwork” have been sold for millions of dollars. Famous artists, professional athletes, actors and celebrities make money by marketing digital files of their art and merchandise.
It’s like Air Jordan’s past fads, you don’t just get the actual sneakers, you get those digital images. NFTs are of no value unless people simply pretend to be worth them.
And, like all the shortcomings and Ponzi schemes, it only emerges in the air with atmospheric hype and player delusions, but if Mirage doesn’t have anyone to buy, one day many people will find worthless NFTs. Will remain held.
NFTs are a perfect complement to virtual reality. Fill your fantastic world with fantastic objects – and spend a lot of money to do it.
There are two other things you need to know about NFTs. In every conversation about NFTs, you will hear the words “cryptocurrency” and “blockchain”. Do not be threatened, impressed or distracted by these terms. They aim to camouflage overall fraud and give an aura of legitimacy and technical sophistication around NFTs. It also aims to convince the entire business of purchasing and “owning” individual computer files (NFTs) to be safe.
Most NFTs are paid in “cryptocurrency”. It is a popular digital currency for technophilia, money launderers and Russian ransomware spammers.
“Blockchain” is a fantasy term for what is essentially a ledger book. However, it is a digital book that records accounts and transactions and tracks ownership of NFTs and cryptocurrencies through a large amount of computer processing.
But don’t be distracted. Remember that NFTs are just computer files, nothing more.
Brian T from Swampscott. Watson is the author of “Headed Into the Abyss: The Story of Our Time, and the Future We’ll Face.” Contact him at btwatson20@gmail.com.
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