NFTs are Friends, Not Foes
NFTs Aren’t as Bad as You Think: Give me a chance to convince you…
This article is meant for those who are anti-NFT, or, those who are pro-NFT but want to try to convince a friend or family member who hates the things to maybe think again.
Before I begin the convincing, let me start with some honest truth that many NFT bros won’t give you: NFTs aren’t perfect. I’ve seen many arguments against NFTs, and while I think a lot of them are flawed at best, there’s some truth I can’t ignore. For example…
- If you hate NFTs because of the BAYC (Bored Ape Yacht Club) crew or other similar PFP (Profile Picture) clubs, I have to admit that I can’t fully disagree. No one likes being left out of some cool kids club, but much worse, no one likes a bunch of similar folks banding together and claiming to be the cool kids while ignoring a large group of outsiders who disagree. It’s rough to watch and I can totally understand someone looking at certain sales and being completely dumbfounded, or horrified, at the thought of someone dropping that kind of cash for a digital image of an ape. If that’s you, trust me, I agree. I will have some more things to say on this later, but you’re not wrong. It’s kind of absurd that someone spent that much on that ape.
- If you hate NFTs because they’re bad for the environment, sure. I feel you. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make the world a better place, lower our carbon footprint, etc. However, for this issue I do have some strong arguments that I’ll get to below, but hey, on the very surface of it, I can vibe with you. You hate the idea of nature dying a little more so that someone can own a digital image? That’s reasonable, definitely.
- If you hate NFTs because you don’t understand them, don’t own any, and feel left out, that’s a very human response! It’s totally normal. Of course, what you do with that feeling and the exact way that you react can have a large impact on your future. Still, if you feel that way, I understand.
So, as you can see, I’m trying to make sure this isn’t some crazy biased, “trust me bro NFTs are the future duuude” bruh talk. There are problems in the NFT space and I plan to write more about those in an attempt to help the space grow and evolve in the direction that I and many others want it to take. However, I do think that there are some great responses to the above points that you may not have considered and I think that if you come to fully understand what is going on in the crypto world and with NFTs specifically that you will, at the very least, not feel so angry and left out. Hopefully you’ll actually come to see the value and perhaps even want to participate, but I think that I’ll at least be able to convince you that NFTs aren’t as bad as you think. So, let’s go point by point…
Crappy Clubs
Do I hate BAYC? Nope. I don’t love the aesthetics, personally, and some members of the community are obnoxious as all hell, of course. But do I hate the NFTs or their creators? Not at all. Why would I? Like many things in life, the problem is the people en masse, not the product or the creator. However, I do think they’re a little over-valued. The important thing for me here, though, is that this isn’t an NFT-specific problem. Ever heard of the brand Supreme? Here’s a list of some of the most expensive Supreme products. Yes, the first item is indeed a plain white t-shirt with a slightly modified version of their logo for, yes, that’s right, five thousand dollars. Crazy, right? My point here is simple: artificial scarcity, or at least somewhat forced scarcity, is nothing new. I’m sure many people look at images of a Crypto Punk or a BAYC ape and think to themselves “why in the world is someone spending that much money on that?”. We have the whole “right-click save” crowd who argue that they can also “own” the same images for free, simply by saving the jpeg to their computer. We had this guy who apparently downloaded all NFTs and made a torrent for everyone to download, for free. There’s also an entire industry around fake Gucci and other over-hyped brands. People still buy Gucci, and that’s their choice. So look, whether or not you agree with this whole concept, if you really think about it you’ll have to admit that the problem isn’t NFTs, it’s people. It’s greedy people, people pleasers, people who follow the crowd, etc.
If you really dislike the idea of spending lots of money to be part of some actively exclusive club, that’s fine! You’re free to think that, I’m sure many, many people agree. However, it’s not something that NFTs invented. NFTs are just another stage in the evolution of that idea. If you think someone with a Supreme hoodie is stupid then you probably think someone with a BAYC PFP is stupid and that’s fine! Some would think you’re right, others wouldn’t, but we should all be able to agree that NFTs aren’t evil or terrible because something that already existed migrated to a new platform and continued to exist in a way that’s almost identical to how it did before. It’s an old idea that simply moved from physical to digital.
Excessive Environmental Effects
Ok, so what about the environment, right? Some of you probably think I can’t argue against that criticism. “How could we possibly justify destroying the environment to mint digital collectibles? It’s absurd!” Well, unfortunately for you, dear reader, this is about to get dark: what do you think you’re doing every single day of your life, NFTs or not?
How much of our work and play isn’t “bad for the environment”? Are cars good for the environment? Are video games good for the environment? Are Netflix binges good for the environment? You need to think about what you’re saying here. If your argument against NFTs or blockchain technologies in general is that they’re not necessary and have some negative impacts on the environment, and therefore, we should get rid of them, then I have some bad news for you about almost every single aspect of modern life. Turns out, we don’t actually need to drive cars, have fast food delivered to us, buy fast fashion clothing all the time, put up Christmas lights, watch TV, buy new smartphones, take long showers, light city streets at night, listen to music while we walk, run or do anything outside, and so on and so forth. I could go on forever.
So sure, if you feel like you absolutely need music and long showers and food delivered to you but you don’t need NFTs, that’s your point of view. I’m sure there are others who do various things to limit their carbon footprint while also liking NFTs. In my opinion, unless you’re willing to give up basically the entire structure of modern life, it’s pretty hypocritical to judge any form of art, commerce or entertainment that’s “bad for the environment”. Anything that’s energy intensive is bad for the environment, but if that’s really how you feel, then stop watching TV, stop playing video games, stop driving a car… basically, unless you’re willing to live in a forest, farm off the land yourself, and do nothing but exercise and meditate all day, I don’t think you should be talking trash about someone else’s modern convenience, productivity tool, or entertainment.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s excess, and then there’s excess. As a fan of NFTs, I’m frustrated by how many copy-cat projects keep coming out. We didn’t really need BAYC, but at least they innovated on the Crypto Punks concept and remixed the core concepts of brands like Supreme to make something somewhat new. What we really don’t need are the dozens of projects trying to ride their coattails. Baby apes, bored ape wife club, the list goes on. In my eyes, these are the excessive uses of the technology that really are nothing but bad for the environment. That’s my point, though: you probably felt like The Emoji movie was a huge waste of money, but loved Up. Maybe you hated the last Kanye album but love his old work. Perhaps you think KFC is disgusting but love Popeyes. Ok, these are all my takes but what I’m getting at is that every technology, art-form, and type of product comes with things that you might like and things that you might not. Why are NFTs any different? What makes them all evil, wasteful, excessive examples of technology destroying the planet? They’re simply another avenue for commerce and human expression, so of course, there’s a lot of trash. Still, there are many gems to be found as well and I for one feel like those are worth the existence of the tech as a whole, even if others are abusing it.
Uninterested, Underwhelmed and Uninformed
Lastly, let’s discuss the one point against NFTs that I can’t really argue against, no matter what logic or facts I bring forth unless you, the audience, are willing to listen. Yes, at the end of the day, if you don’t really “get” NFTs, feel left out, and hate to see others making money in ways you don’t understand, you’re going to hate NFTs. There’s nothing I can do about that. However, if anything I’ve said above has you thinking, please, just keep thinking. I promise that the more you research and participate in the future of the internet, be it NFTs specifically or crypto as a whole, the more you’ll “get it”. I’ve seen this famous article floating around twitter, being shared by a lot of pro-crypto, pro-NFT accounts:
The point is clear: if you listened to the hate in the year 2000, you probably fell behind many of your colleagues who didn’t. Imagine being a professional or corporation in the year 2010 who gave up on the internet in the year 2000. You would be playing a lot of catch up. Put it this way: if you sit on the sidelines, hate on NFTs, and refuse to engage with what is likely the third evolution of the internet, or Web3.0, you’re going to be left behind! I don’t want that for anyone. That’s why I’m writing this article.
So here’s the thing: if what you’ve seen and heard so far about NFTs doesn’t excite you, that’s fine. No one is saying that you need to buy into any of these super expensive “who’s the richest ape?” contests. What you may not know is that there are lots of NFT projects doing truly new things with various older models of entertainment or community. My next article will be a few examples of NFT projects that I’m excited about, ones that really are doing something new and different in the realms of art, finance, entertainment and community. I’m hoping that anyone who reads this is now willing to at least dip their toes into crypto and NFTs.
No matter how much you read, you probably won’t “get it” until you participate. To be clear: I’m not saying throw a bunch of your money into random hyped coins or NFTs. That would be extremely unwise and likely lead to losses. What I’m saying is that there are opportunities each day to join interesting communities, participate in fun projects and yes, make money, if you’re willing to do some research and put the work in.
I could go much further with all of my above arguments. I could tell you about dozens of NFT projects with more reasonable pricing and more functional rewards than the examples of excess above. I could talk about plans already in motion to switch most of crypto to renewable energy, or the fallacy that mining for gold and ore to sustain the fiat currencies of the world is somehow better for the environment than crypto. I could discuss how hypocritical it is to say that Bitcoin and Ethereum are bad for the environment while pretending that our current monetary systems aren’t. I could talk about how Ethereum is switching to Proof of Stake soon instead of Proof of Work, making it much, much less energy intensive, or provide more examples of modern conveniences that few people seem to have an issue with that are as bad or worse for the environment than crypto. I could provide article after article outlining factual arguments for why crypto likely isn’t going anywhere soon, why we’re likely in the growth stages of Web3.0 and why that means you’ll be left behind if you continue to ignore it.
I could do all of that and more, but if you refuse to engage, you won’t understand. Hopefully this article has given you lots to think about or at least piqued your curiosity and got you wondering if maybe NFTs aren’t as bad as you thought. We have a saying in crypto: WAGMI, or, We’re All Gonna Make It. Of course, it’s false. For some to win, others have to lose and that’s just the dark truth of our world of duality. Still, I think it’s a beautiful idea and I think it’s telling that crypto has rallied behind this cry. Most of us do want all of us to make it, us being me, my friends, and you and yours! Crypto is a truly open space, free for all, any race, colour or creed. The only barrier to entry is knowledge and time. If you’re willing to put in the work, do your own research and participate, you can join in. Hopefully you will soon. See you there, friend.
Images:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EzSd6StVUA4eYqQ?format=jpg&name=medium
