Cryptoeconomics and the Distributed Future of Work
This post is the first in a series of articles by Daniel Thorson and Michael Fogleman about cryptocurrencies and the possible futures they open up for organizations, communities, and individuals.
PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4
Our economy is going through a radical phase shift.
The old economy has reached “The End of Jobs”: “the era of largely abundant, high-paying jobs that characterized the second half of the twentieth century is gone.”¹ Increasingly, individuals are starting lifestyle businesses and adopting a “portfolio” model of work with multiple income streams, varied commitment levels and increased optionality. This diversity enables cross-fertilization, network effects, and the possibility of dramatically increased growth opportunities.
At the same time as employment patterns change, novel cryptocurrency-based projects are re-envisioning how humans collaborate. This includes projects like Aragon, Colony, District 0X, and DaoStack that are creating platforms for new ways of organizing collaborative efforts.
What does the emergence of these two trends mean for the future of human labor and collaboration?
How will individuals and organizations adapt to these technologies as they become more widespread and useful?
The convergence of the ‘End of Jobs’ with the rise of distributed autonomous organizations offers a glimpse of what the next phase of human labor will look like. For individuals who position themselves accordingly, this shift represents enormous and liberating possibilities. For those who turn away from or ignore these emerging realities, well…
A turkey is fed for 1,000 days by a butcher, and every day confirms to the turkey and the turkey’s Economics Department and the turkey’s Risk Management Department and the turkey’s Analytical Department that the butcher loves turkeys, and every day brings more confidence to the statement. But on day 1,001, there will be a surprise for the turkey…
— Nicholas Nassim Taleb
¹ Pearson, Taylor. The End of Jobs: Money, Meaning and Freedom without the 9-5. Lioncrest Publishing, 2015.
Vertical Context Cues
Curiously Related Rabbit Holes
- Daemon: A sci-fi vision of Distributed Autonomous Corporations, both beautiful and terrifying.
- Notes on The End of Jobs: A synopsis of the ‘End of Jobs’.
- A Manifesto of Human-Centered Work: An expansive vision of what work is and ought to be.
