TheFringe with Tatiana: Recent Episodes
Dr Tatiana Zalan
The Fringe helps you to navigate the rapidly changing world and increase the odds of your success. Here we discuss technology, startups and mental models of successful people.
There are 2 main scenarios for future economic growth and technical progress: (1) exponential and (2) asymptotic. The first is propagandised by Singularity and 4th Industrial Revolution proponents. Under the asymptotic scenario, the rate of growth in the long term is about 0.2%, or Britain’s rate of growth from 1300 to 1750, up until the first industrial revolution. Which one is accurate?
"My art doesn't sell" is a common complaint of emerging digital artists. When you dig deeper, it turns out it’s coming from a new artist with no offline or online track record. In this episode you will find practical advice on the ying and yang of selling digital art, from defining your strategy to promoting your art.
"My art doesn't sell" is a common complaint of emerging digital artists. When you dig deeper, it turns out it’s coming from a new artist with no offline or online track record. In this episode you will find practical advice on the ying and yang of selling digital art, from defining your strategy to promoting your art.
Whichever art fair you go these days, the visual language is more or less the same, a statistical mean. If you want fame and commercial success, as a contemporary artist you need to develop your own unique visual language – sensitive to local context, but also aware of global trends. Social stance should be part a big of your identity as a creative professional or creative entrepreneur.
How is technology impacting the art market? I’m discussing the most important trends, what they mean for you as an artist and how you can take advantage of these new trends.
The role of an artist has evolved from a craftsman to bohemian to professional and now to a creative entrepreneur. If you want to succeed today as a digital artist, you cannot shield yourself any longer from the imperatives of the market. The two commandments for digital artists today are – build your personal brand and find your audience. You reach your audience by having a brand. This is even more important if you want to venture into web3.
With fast explosion of AI agents like chatGPT approaching human-like intelligence, we are now at the pivotal juncture and have two choices (1) force the AI development on the basis of large LLMs to solve problems facing humanity OR (2) put a break and address the unknown and well understood risks of AI, which could have catastrophic consequences.
The Fringe is dedicating March to women in web3 and women in tech more generally. My guest today is Amina Mehti. Amina is An Azeri-American founder, serial entrepreneur, multidisciplinary creative, advisor and consultant with a career that spans across Dubai, Baku, Milan and New York City. Amina is also a keynote speaker, web3 strategist, panelist, and podcast guest on the topics of digital self-identity, creative and tech innovation, sustainability, diversity and inclusivity.
The Fringe is dedicating March to women in web3 and women in tech more generally. My guest today is Giovanna Melfi, a change maker, a serial entrepreneur with an impressive background in the luxury goods industry. Giovanna has recently ventured into web3 and the metaverse.
AICG (AI-enabled content generation) will make lies indistinguishable from truth - for individuals, societies and communities of any scale. When this risk materializes, it will destroy most current human civilizations, because their cultural codes are built on a distinction between truth and lie. AI-generated text is particularly difficult to distinguish. In this episode I will look at the progress in text-generating language models and how they enable highly scalable, individualised and persuasive campaigns
NFTs are actively bought, sold and invested in. But what are the legalities of these actions for creators and investors?
At the beginning of a new year, it’s customary to make predictions. Here I take a different slant, looking at the world today and our prospects through the lens of big history and cliodynamics.
The internet was built without a native identity layer. Our digital identity is our most valuable asset, it permits us to access services, execute transactions and prove ownership of our assets. Right now, almost all things that happen in the web3 ecosystem are purely financial objects. Soulbound tokens (SBTs), non-transferable, non-tradeable digital identities, are one way of aggregating social relationship information in web3. Will they become web3 passports?
Since early 2021, advances in AI research have produced machine learning models capable of generating original images from simple text prompts. AI models are trained on vast datasets so that they could recognise patterns and learn to replicate. What works are being created with AI? How helpful is this for creators? What ethical and legal issues does this raise? How much “art” is AI-generated art?
The news of Elon Musk taking over Twitter has put Mastodon into the public spotlight as an alternative social network. Launched in 2016, Mastodon describes itself as a “free, open-source decentralised social media platform” that strives to be “a viable alternative to Twitter”. Some observers describe it as a web3 platform. Are we witnessing a battle between web2 and web3 social media? Can social media be done differently?
Why did Elon Musk acquire Twitter and what are his plans for the social media platform? Interpretations of the consequences of the acquisition range from a big win for democracy and free speech, and saving humanity to becoming a Web3 business or a super-app like WeChat. So what is, after all, Musk’s strategy?
“ Every artist who exhibits in public is voluntarily or involuntarily participates in art therapy”. Can art really heal? Art helps to release emotions and restore inner balance, it improves cognitive functions, alleviates pain, reduces stress and creates a unique cognitive shift into a holistic state of mind called “flow”, the state of optimal performance
“Don’t believe the hype about web3” is a growing theme among critical thinkers. To an extent, this attitude is justified. There’s a lot of nonsense in the space due to greed, FOMO and a lack of imagination, education and discernment. What’s missing in web3? A lot… but today I’ll focus on purpose, innovation and the gap between expectations and reality.
Many of Web3 and NFT projects are solutions in search of a problem. Users, investors and business partners are being sold buzzwords and scams. But there are, of course, solid projects, and in today’s show I’m focussing on one such project – Book Token. This is the first read-to-earn model which incentivises reading and seeks to transform the license-based industry to a digital ownership model. Is this the future of the publishing industry?
Futurists and organisations practising deep foresight sometimes incorporate “black swans” in their future scenarios. It’s a term coined by Nassim Taleb who says that his profession is “probability”. The most interesting fact about “black swans” is that there has been little scientific, empirical basis for these events. Perhaps because of this, “black swan” has become a “a cliché for any bad thing that surprises us.” But recent research changed this. How should you navigate Black Swans?
Eric Balance is a creator, writer and International speaker who focuses on leadership development, conscious culture and effective communication. He works with multinational corporations whose leaders are seeking to elevate their corporate vision and culture by taking their people and guiding them toward a shared purpose. In his work he blends ancient wisdom with unique personal insights from his own journey. We talk about alternative futures and what kind of leaders are needed for such future.
The idea of the Metaverse, whose proponents believe it to be the next stage of the evolution of the Internet, has spurred public interest, venture capital, corporate investment and increased regulation. One of the key questions is whether the grand vision of the Metaverse – open, decentralised, interoperable and ONE – will be realised. Geopolitics will play a decisive role in shaping Metaverse’s direction. Nascent metaverses are already breaking down along geopolitical lines. China is developing its own version of the metaverse with Chinese characteristics.
The Metaverse is not a technology, collection of technologies, not Web3, as is commonly believed. It’s an entirely new conception of “reality” based on a convergence of the physical, digital and biological worlds. For this vision to be realised, we need infrastructure with radically new capabilities to store and transmit data at incredibly high speed. As out planet is heading toward an energy crisis, we need a revolution in energy production and energy consumption. If you’re an investor, entrepreneur, executive, a government official or any other decision-maker, then you need to pay attention and make the right investment decisions for the future.
In the post-pandemic world, many businesses are facing even greater uncertainty and unpredictability. One such uncertainty is the singularity, when, by 2045, machine intelligence arguably surpasses our own. Some executives and entrepreneurs have taken this idea blindly, without necessarily understanding that such “Singularity scenario” is only a forecast. In this Episode I will dispel some myths about Singularity in the hope that executives and entrepreneurs don’t make costly investment mistakes.
The Network State: How to Start a New Country by Balaji Srinivasan was one of the most anticipated book releases of 2022 in the tech community and beyond. Its key argument is that you can start a country from your computer just like you start a startup, and you can build it digital first, physical second. In this episode I review the remaining chapters of the book.
The Network State: How to Start a New Country by Balaji Srinivasan was one of the most anticipated book releases of 2022 in the tech community and beyond. Its key argument is that you can start a country from your computer just like you start a startup, and you can build it digital first, physical second. In this episode I review the first two chapters of the book (Quickstart and History as Trajectory).
NFTs are one of the most leveraged and speculative segments of the crypto market. “Aping in” in NFT projects might have worked in a bull market, but a volatile bear market requires a different strategy and a different mentality. And yet there hasn’t been a better time to invest in NFT art.
Things are pretty ugly in the world of cryptocurrency right now. Raoul Pal, a well-respected macro investor, has recently shared how he thinks about the market, as well as blockchain and cryptocurrency adoption, value and investment opportunities. His digital assets investment philosophy is based on exponential growth, network effects and Metcalfe’s law. Is this vision of the crypto market correct? What’s “wrong” with Metcalfe’s law? And could the current bear market be more than simply another recession in a business cycle?
The World Economic Forum has recently announced a new initiative – it is bringing together leading voices from the private sector, civil society, academia and policy to define the parameters of an economically viable, interoperable, safe and inclusive metaverse. At the same time, the WEF is transplanting its stakeholder model principles into the metaverse. The three major technologies underpinning the metaverse will be VR, AR and brain-computer interface. What are the reasons for this initiative?
Who is the future human who will harness the achievements of the unfolding digital revolution? In this episode I will consider three brief sketches – Homo Deus, Homo Digital and Homo Creator.
Are you ready for virtual babies? They will look like you, cuddle you, will cost about $25 per month to bring them up in the metaverse, and you can cancel them if they’re naughty. Do you like this scenario? I don't. I will explore two inspiring alternatives to this dystopian future – Asgardia, a space nation, and the NBICS project by the Russian Cosmic Society.
Smart cities emerged as an answer to the growing problems of unsustainable urban expansion, inequality, climate change, and insecurity. Their governance emphasises public-private partnerships and places information and communications technologies (ICT) at the core of operation. Smart cities also pose non-trivial challenges, like privacy and ownership of data. As we’re transitioning to a new socio-economic order, what are the alternatives to smart cities?
New technologies, particularly AI, have penetrated not only traditional “technical” professional spheres, but also the artistic spheres, changing the nature of the creative process. We’re reaching the point when a computer can become not only as a tool to aid a human creator, but a separate creative entity. Can an AI be an artist? Or is AI a collaboration of artist and machine exploring new visual forms?
“Events like this happen once in a century”. In this show I focus on how and why we are transitioning to an entirely new economic order and what all of us can do to navigate these turbulent times.
Social media giants (Web2) have been trying to incorporate elements of Web3 into their platforms – introducing nfts, tokens and incentives. Are they succeeding? And what does it mean to you, the creator?
In this episode we will share some insights from the recent Nonfungible Conference (NFC) that took place earlier this week in Lisbon.
Justin Aversano is one of the most exciting creatives in the world who’s barely 30 years old. His now famous photography collection Twin Flames, turned into NFTs, is a required case study for any creative entering the NFT space. What can creators learn from Aversano?
Have you ever wished to own an iconic piece of art like Banksy or a valuable NFT like CryptoPunk, but could not afford to spend millions? With fractionalisation, you now can. In this episode I will explore the benefits of fractionalisation, investment potential and risks, and legal aspects of ownership.
The Bored Apes Yacht Club (BAYC) is one of the most successful NFT projects. It has become a flashpoint for both excitement and skepticism about NFTs. What explains the project’s success? What can collectors, artists and startup founders learn from BAYC?
As the world’s attention is focused on the conflict, there is another, insidious war going on – cognitive warfare. The main challenge is that it is essentially invisible; all you see is its impact, and by then it’s often too late. By distorting people’s reality through a cocktail of powerful technologies, it causes dis-orientation and inability to make decisions in the interest of themselves, their family or humanity at large. There are, however, ways of protecting yourself against cognitive warfare.
The NFT market has gone vertical, and yet the legal regime that governs NFTs has fallen behind. The laws for NFTs are intended for an older digital economy focused on licenses rather than sales of digital goods. Full, real, digital ownership is still elusive. If you’re building wealth using digital assets, this show is for you. You must understand the risks of NFT ownership.
In Part 1 of the show I spoke about the opportunities in the metaverse space – direct-to-avatar business model, future of e-commerce and advertising, In Part 2 I focussed on constraints and frictions, technological and customer-related. In this show, I’m bringing to you important legal issues and social acceptability of Metaverse. Metaverse is a legal minefield.
In Part 1 of the show I spoke about the opportunities in the metaverse space – direct-to-avatar business model, future of e-commerce and advertising, with examples of what fashion and luxury car brands are doing and what kind of money customers are willing to spend on digital goods. Today, the show is focussing on constraints and frictions, technological and customer-related.
Metaverse is the hottest buzzword in the business world today. Even since June 2021, when Mark Zuckerberg announced FB’s bold plans to become a metaverse company, brands big and small started to re-evaluate their business models and marketing strategies. Is metaverse ushering new ways of selling and shopping? Is it part of digital transformation? Is it an experiment? Or perhaps a fad? In this first part I will focus on the new business models and opportunities offered by the Metaverse.
What will happen with CBDCs (central bank digital currencies) in 2022? Is this an innovation which will help with the adoption of cryptocurrencies? Or is this nothing less than a government control tool? In this episode I will focus on the long-anticipated white paper by the US Fed “Money and Payments: The US Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation".
Do you know what was the most popular query on Google Trends globally in 2021? How do I heal? How do I become resilient? With the Wim Hof method, involving breathing, mind control and cold exposure, you can not only heal, but activate your potential and transcend your limits – all at zero cost.
At the beginning of a year, it’s customary to make predictions about what might happen in 2022. In this show I’m focussing on the future of web 3.0, DAOs, NFTs and the Metaverse.
In Part 1 of this show dedicated to transhumanism, I talked about the history and philosophy of transhumanism. In this episode I will delve into how the world might look like in 2030 – through the lens of transhumanism - as well as moral, ethical and legal implications of transhumanism.
Human augmentation, or transhumanism, has recently been a hot topic in policy-making, tech and even religious circles. In this first episode dedicated to this topic, I will talk about what transhumanism is, its milestones, philosophy, and the ancient roots of this movement.
In this episode I'm interviewing Larisa Vakulina, a success and happiness coach, on how high-achieving people can find balance in their lives. We will also explore how to become limitless and manifest positive change in the new world that's unfolding.
Crypto art is one of the artistic movements of this millennium that speaks a new digital expression language. In this episode I will talk about the various technological, economic and cultural aspects of crypto art and offer a framework for valuing crypto art.
The Metaverse is having a moment, particularly after the recent corporate pivot of Facebook, which is transitioning from a social media company to become a metaverse company. Is Meta a successor to the mobile internet, combining augmented, virtual and mixed reality? Or the worst invention of all times?
To say that Worldcoin – a cryptocurrency based on Ethereum- is highly controversial is an under-statement. Is this an innovative project that solves the old problem of the internet – prove of humanhood? Or is it a dress rehearsal for Universal Basic Income? My intention in this episode is to get a fair and balanced view of the project.
What will the world look like in 10 years’ time? This is an important question for every entrepreneur, business owner and consumer alike. In this episode I will explore the trends and events that will shape our world in 2030, as predicted by the WEF (World Economic Forum), and their implications for the world of business.
he Diem Association (previously known as Libra) is an intriguing project, of which Facebook is a big part. On this show I will talk about Diem’s brief history, vision and objectives, participants, how Diem will work and what it means for us and society.
CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies) is one of the most important trends for the future of money and payments over the next decade. In this show I discuss what CBDCs are, how they work, what are the risks, which countries are working on implementing CBDCs and what they mean for the ordinary folks like you and me.
Central Bank Digital Currencies, #cryptocurrencies, #bitcoin, #Ethereum, #banks, #finance
The market for meat alternatives could be worth $140bn within the next decade, or about 10% of the $1.4tn global meat industry. Cellular, lab-grown meat is part of the WEF 2030 agenda, and we’ve seen a number of exceptionally well-funded startups emerge focussing on the alternatives to regular meat. This is also one of the hottest investment opportunities right now. In this episode I will discuss how such meat is grown, companies participating in the industry and investment opportunities.
At over $2T market capitalisation, the emerging 24/7 cryptoasset market empowers ordinary citizens with an internet connection to participate in wealth creation alongside with trillion-dollar institutions. While the crypto market shows some similarities with traditional asset classes and markets, it is also quite unusual. In this show I will discuss volatility, crypto returns, liquidity, regulation and other crypto market characteristics.
DFINITY, with its Internet Computer, is most certainly one of the most ambitious ambitious projects in the blockchain space. It is a public infrastructure that aims to host the world’s next generation of software and services. In this episode I will discuss the idea behind DFINITY, what problems it solves, their roadmap, and some of the recent issues around their token offering.
DAOs (decentralised autonomous organisations) are internet-native entities living on blockchain. They are able to fundamentally change the economic relationship between people. In this episode we will explore what DAOs are and why they are important.
Have you ever considered moving to a startup city? Be a founder of a cloud-first network state? Becoming a citizen journalist, because you have particular expertise? Operating in a pseudonomous economy? This episode will give you a glimpse into the future of technology, economy and institutions.
startups #social media #blockchain #cryptocurrency #decentralisation #pseudonymity #The Fringe #Tatiana Zalan
If you’re just starting investing in crypto, where do you start? If you’re not risk averse, then investing in early-stage crypto projects is the best option for maximum returns. You need to think like an angel investor. Consider the team behind the project, the use case and tokenomics.
Blockchain is a special type of a distributed database that ensures trust amongst its participants through consensus about the state of the system. We will look at the two most common consensus mechanisms – proof-of-work (in Bitcoin) and proof-of-stake (future Ethereum).
blockchain #cryptocurrency #bitcoin #Ethereum #consensus #proof-of-work #proof-of-stake
NFTs – non-fungible tokens – are a recent innovation that enable a completely new system of intellectual property rights secured on blockchain. NFTs are the fundamental building blocks of Web 3.0 enabling creators to monetise their work in ways not seen before.
00:00 Welcome
02:35 Blockchain for creators
08:58 What are the use cases of NFTs for creators?
12:01 Benefits of NFTs for creators
14:06 An early example - CryptoKitties
16:34 SuperRare - an art gallery
18:22 NFTs in gaming - Axie Infinity
20:59 Beeple
22:23 NFTs in music - Kings of Leon
24:49 Songcamp - a music collective
27:26 Value of NFTs
30:24 Key insights for creators
Web 3.0 – decentralised, open source networks with native currency – offers limitless economic opportunities for creators – photographers, digital artists, musicians, entrepreneurs and community builders. It subverts the exploitative advertising-based model of tech giants and puts creators and their communities in control of their income, wealth and data.
How do you become a super-achiever? It’s a statement of the obvious that people who are the top of their game “think different”. But what does “think different” actually mean? This is what we’re exploring in this episode. It will resonate most with entrepreneurs and professionals who want to become legendary in their chosen field.
mental models #startups #super-performers #super-achievers #conformity #contrarian #Tatian Zalan #The Fringe
The uninformed media like to describe Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as "scams" used for money laundering. One way of debunking this dangerous myth is to look at the origins of cryptocurrencies. This episode is dedicated to the brilliant scientists and engineers who were early inventors of e-cash and related technologies necessary to conduct e-commerce transactions between strangers on the internet.
05:01 Alan Turing
08:00 Ralph Merkle, David Chaum, Cypherpunks
14:03 Wei Dai, Nick Szabo, Adam Back and others
20:07 Satoshi Nakamoto and Ethereum
24:11 Why Bitcoin and crypto matter
In this episode, we will look at misconceptions surrounding bitcoin and cryptocurrencies: (1) cryptocurrencies are a scam, (2) cryptocurrencies are used for money laundering and (3) cryptocurrencies waste energy.
03:21 Myth # 1 - cryptocurrencies are scams
10:17 Myth # 2 - cryptocurrencies are used for money laundering
16:13 Myth #3 - cryptocurrencies use too much energy
26:47 What's the value of Bitcoin and Ethereum to society?
Welcome! So glad you’re joining me today. It’s my first show ever, and the topic is Living in The Future Now. I will talk about blockchain and cryptocurrencies, life extension, and startup cities and countries.
00:00 Welcome to The Fringe
04:06 Two futuristic technologies, and one futuristic idea
07:06 Blockchain and cryptocurrencies, decentralised finance and NFTs
13:35 Life extension and age reversal
21:57 Startup cities and nations - Liberland, Prospera, cloud-first network state
26:38 Conclusion