A Shared Vision: This Is Your Story
Last Wednesday, July 3rd, I returned from the Asia Blockchain Summit 2018 in Taipei, Taiwan.
The first thing I did when I came back to the office was “vision sharing” with our 11 new employees. Rather than going the traditional route, we did a lot of legwork to find our new recruits without posting a job listing.
The new recruits joined us after much persuasion, so we needed an opportunity to think about the purpose and direction of our foundation. This was mentioned briefly in a previous story as well; I believe that people exist before technology. It’s certain that blockchain will revolutionize the world but my priorities will never change.
A New Question and a Clue
So then what could I tell these people? I wanted to use this time not to give them an answer that I had thought of, but to pose a new question. If I had the perfect answer, I had no reason to hire them. Eventually, I thought of the below op-ed.
(If you ask me why a CEO of a blockchain company is reading a print newspaper while the newest technologies are transforming the world, I can only tell you the following, which is also the reason I started this series.
As more information floods the world, the thirst for accurate information also increases astronomically. The medium that ultimately convinces me through accurate truths told with systematic logic was paper: that is to say, print newspapers and books.)
Professor Jae Seung Jung said the following at the end of his op-ed:
“I want to ask this of the younger generation. The world is not on your side yet. The government, banks, and credit card companies want to maintain their immense centralized control…They see blockchain as a threat. They fear a decentralized world, and they don’t want a world where such an industry thrives.
But the world should work in such a way that the creator profits more and the consumer can enjoy the content for less…It should be possible to precisely track every process of the creation and the transaction.
The Zeitgeist Is Ultimately Coexistence
I also don’t think that technology will solve everything. I don’t believe that technology is omnipotent. However, I do recognize, like Professor Jung, that the tide of the era is headed towards decentralization. As such, the so-called zeitgeist for our age is coexistence, not monopoly. The privileged class who ignores this will disappear as history has proved, and the adapters will survive.
Especially today, in an age when the slogan to consider is more “How to live a good life?” than “Let’s live a good life,” culture will be the field that receives more spotlight than many other aspects of society. Thus, ultimately, a coexistence platform created by cultural content and blockchain technology is the focus of the future.
I will do my part as the first generation of this, and I believe that the improved second and third generations of POPCHAIN will arrive based on this. Like this, the world will change little by little until it is completely overturned at a tipping point.
One More Step from the “Twelve Steps”
While grooming my thoughts from the question that Professor Jung sparked, I came across his new book, The Twelve Steps (Across, 2018). I have a habit of thoroughly reading 10 Saturday newspapers because they all have reviews about the best books that were published that week.
Every day, there are dozens of new books, and I cannot physically read them all. As such, I’m always grateful for the clairvoyant writers who find and read the good books before me and summarize their main points. I refer to them to expand the frontier of my knowledge.
In this way, I found this book. I ordered it immediately and read it in its entirety on the plane back from Taiwan. This book, which is a collection of 12 lectures that Professor Jung gave to various professionals, more keenly describes the problem that Professor Jung pointed out in the above op-ed.
So I had to write about it before my thoughts scattered away. I opened my laptop on the plane back. The things I learned and felt at the Taiwan and the revelations that Professor Jung’s new book afforded me mixed together to produce a piece of writing, and my thoughts came together. I wanted to share this with the 11 core team members, and I present it here.
The following is a summary of the lecture.
“I majored in industrial engineering in college. I took physics as an elective and learned about quantum mechanics. I still don’t fully understand it; it was, and still is, too difficult for me. But I do remember the shock that quantum mechanics gave me.
Questions like these, for example: “The world is not continuous on an extremely small scale? Not even light and energy? I’m also made up of atoms that have the characteristics of both waves and particles? Then does my existence in a space hinge on probability? I’m supposed to keep my mouth shut before it’s measured?”
But here’s the thing: quantum mechanics is the canon theory in modern physics. Even Albert Einstein vocally opposed this theory, saying “God does not play dice with the universe.” It’s still a shocking theory even today, so one can only imagine the impact it had 90 years ago, when the first official interpretation of quantum mechanics was released.
Max Planck, the founder of modern quantum theory, said: “A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.” The tone is rather cynical, but it’s admittedly hard to deny.
Blockchain Will Come To Resemble Quantum Mechanics
It’s easy to interpret something after all is said and done. On the other hand, during an age when the paradigm is completely shifting to blockchain, in the middle of this vortex, it’s extremely difficult to predict how this technology will evolve. What’s more, turning this into a business requires immense courage and momentum, like quantum mechanics did. In the tech industry right now, whoever first picks the fruits that blockchain has endowed the world is the winner.
So let’s think; who would have imagined that we could put a computer on a desk? And who would have imagined that a time would come when said computer never leaves our hands? Even the person who started this revolution would not have known how it would change our society. Whoever jumped on the train knowing this would have fallen behind without seeing the fruit, blinded by greed.
The Establishment That Turns a Blind Eye
Thus, it’s hard for the establishment to accept the challenges posed to the current culture ecosystem where middlemen take a bigger share of the profits than creators. It might even be knowingly turning a blind eye. Hence, the POPCHAIN team has the clear goal of making a sustainable blockchain culture platform. We want to provide a direct transaction system that both creators and consumers can trust. We want a world where creators make more money and consumers can pay less.
Blockchain and cryptocurrency are beautiful, amazing technologies in and of themselves. It’s not hard to build since it elaborately connects preexisting technologies and is open source. The economic and cultural benefits to reap when it’s used well are also obvious.
But the world is not sold on blockchain yet. The resistance of the establishment is not easy to beat. It’s a phenomenon that comes with the birth of a revolution. Nevertheless, as was the case with all technologies that changed the world, blockchain will weather all trials and errors and cultivate a new business ecosystem in five years.
You will be the driving force behind this. Culture and blockchain are the most effective and efficient media for cultivating the zeitgeist of coexistence. Let’s achieve this dream with POPCHAIN.”
I’m not sure I did a good job sharing my vision, but I can remember that everyone looked hyped after I was done. Instead of loudly cheering, we finished our first vision sharing session by asking a question each after calmly expressing our reactions. Those questions are now incubating as a new business idea.
Will Son’s Book-Letter: The Goal
We want to keep introducing new books about tech (including blockchain), cultural content, and its ecosystem in this new column, “Son’s Bookshelf.” It will, of course, include news about our foundation, as the column begins at the intersection of the foundation’s actions and the newest trend of the blockchain industry.
And of course, this is limited to books I read cover to cover. The reason for writing about new books is obvious; I want to lead the POPCHAIN Foundation at the frontier of new knowledge, since the blockchain industry changes dramatically every day. In addition, I want to share news from the field, new information, and my insights with you, the readers. In the end, the answer lies in coexistence.
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