6 ms·

Lamina1: Neal Stephenson’s Anti-Commercial Metaverse

16 points by Kaibeezy 4y ago

freeone3000 4y ago
Huh, apparently Canada isn't allowed to access this.
- kebaman 4y ago
  Neither is the U.S.
  - PainfullyNormal 4y ago
    It loads in Japan (or more accurately, a Japanese VPN server). edit: Cache rules everything around me. https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:-Syf6TUybNgJ:https://www.redbrick.me/lamina1-neal-stephensons-anti-commercial-metaverse/&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=jp https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:-Syf6T...
saboot 4y ago
"Connection denied by IP2Location Country Blocker" Is this the anti-commercial metaverse?
- dundarious 4y ago
  It’s a link to a student newspaper in the UK. It works in Ireland. > About: Redbrick is the student publication of the University of Birmingham. One publication, presented in the two mediums of print and online, made for students by students. From the article: > Lamina1 aims to use blockchain technology to hand power back to the people, giving online communities the tools and infrastructure to build their own, more immersive internet. The article links to a white paper on the lamina1 website: https://www.lamina1.com/docs/Lamina1_Whitepaper_1.1.pdf https://www.lamina1.com/docs/Lamina1_Whitepaper_1.1.pdf
- alam2000 4y ago
  [dead]
cma 4y ago
I believe from the whitepaper they plan to take a permanent cut of all transactions at the base layer. A code-is-law Apple tax.
jillesvangurp 4y ago
The a16z podcast did an interview with Neal Stephenson recently where he talked extensively about Lamina1 and metaverse about a month ago: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711?i=1000587111087 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id8428187... I'm a big fan of his fictional work. I think his track record in startups has not been that great though. Even though he has clearly got some interesting ideas and thoughts. So, I don't have super high hopes that this time is going to be different. But I think that if you can look beyond the current crypto scandals there might be a need for something like what he is trying to build here. I'm not convinced that what he's building is the right thing technically. But the base observation that copyright, ownership of digital assets, and payments become a lot more complicated in whatever the metaverse is going to be is fundamentally not wrong. It's where our current systems break down. Novels like Snow Crash, the Diamond Age, Cryptonomicon, and his more recent Reamde and "Fall, or Dodge in heaven", all feature some kind of crypto payment systems and it's a recurring theme in his work. Even his baroque cycle is basically an historical science fiction novel that is about the birth of the modern financial system in the seventeenth century. So, he is an author that has a track record of understanding a thing or two about money.
- HourglassFR 4y ago
  > So, he is an author that has a track record of understanding a thing or two about money. On the contrary, while he is indeed a good author and has written highly enjoyable fictions (well, heavy on the nerdy side but this is HN after all so I think a lot of us have no problem with that), his understanting of how money and knowledge work on a societal level is quite frankly laughable. It is deeply rooted in the californian ideology and very naïve. But it still good fun, and it doesn't take itself to seriously.
- Kaibeezy 4y ago
  Considering the conventional wisdom that +90% of startups fail, I still like his visionary odds.
Kaibeezy 4y ago
https://archive.ph/DjBlV https://archive.ph/DjBlV
ozten 4y ago
“Layer 1 Blockchain” in the first sentence of the white paper. For me that has aged like a car salesman in a plaid suit. No thanks.
- Karunamon 4y ago
  I have a similar reaction to these non-interesting, noncontributing, unthinking, nonsubstantive knee-jerk expressions of hatred of all things crypto on HN. It's tiresome, and your comment could been more useful as a flag. This is a general point and not a gripe at the anti-crypto crowd: comments that boil down to "I don't like this topic" are not useful and probably don't belong here.
  - saboot 4y ago
    I don't like this topic, when this topic is scamming people.
    - Karunamon 4y ago
      Nobody has been scammed by the author and it is incredibly reductive, not to mention objectively wrong to the point of lying to imply that the entire topic of crypto is about scams.
      - saboot 4y ago
        The entire topic of crypto is scams and that's not a lie.
        Karunamon 4y ago
        Repeating a falsehood does not make it true.
        saboot 4y ago
        I agree
norswap 4y ago
I hope he succeeds at making something great. However, I'd have one criticism of this (which I've had of other projects including some I've been associated with), and it's that if you're trying to make something radically different than what exists (be that in society, or in the blockchain or metaverse worlds), then it's a bit weird to structure your venture in exactly the same ways as these other things. Besides Stephenson's word, there is nothing in the presentation that suggests that this is any different from the other initiatives out there. If ousting commercial interests is a goal, shouldn't this be structured in a much more decentralized way rather than having a corporate startup with a bunch of investors? I'm sure Stephenson doesn't need the money, and I'm sure that would inspire a bunch of hackers to contribute much more than the current structure.
jonnycomputer 4y ago
For the link, I got a 403 with the following message: Connection denied by IP2Location Country Blocker Please contact web administrator for assistance. what's up with that?

16 points by Kaibeezy 4y ago

freeone3000 4y ago

Huh, apparently Canada isn't allowed to access this.

kebaman 4y ago
Neither is the U.S.
- PainfullyNormal 4y ago
  It loads in Japan (or more accurately, a Japanese VPN server). edit: Cache rules everything around me. https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:-Syf6TUybNgJ:https://www.redbrick.me/lamina1-neal-stephensons-anti-commercial-metaverse/&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=jp https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:-Syf6T...

saboot 4y ago

"Connection denied by IP2Location Country Blocker" Is this the anti-commercial metaverse?

dundarious 4y ago
It’s a link to a student newspaper in the UK. It works in Ireland. > About: Redbrick is the student publication of the University of Birmingham. One publication, presented in the two mediums of print and online, made for students by students. From the article: > Lamina1 aims to use blockchain technology to hand power back to the people, giving online communities the tools and infrastructure to build their own, more immersive internet. The article links to a white paper on the lamina1 website: https://www.lamina1.com/docs/Lamina1_Whitepaper_1.1.pdf https://www.lamina1.com/docs/Lamina1_Whitepaper_1.1.pdf
alam2000 4y ago
[dead]

cma 4y ago

I believe from the whitepaper they plan to take a permanent cut of all transactions at the base layer. A code-is-law Apple tax.

jillesvangurp 4y ago

The a16z podcast did an interview with Neal Stephenson recently where he talked extensively about Lamina1 and metaverse about a month ago: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711?i=1000587111087 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id8428187... I'm a big fan of his fictional work. I think his track record in startups has not been that great though. Even though he has clearly got some interesting ideas and thoughts. So, I don't have super high hopes that this time is going to be different. But I think that if you can look beyond the current crypto scandals there might be a need for something like what he is trying to build here. I'm not convinced that what he's building is the right thing technically. But the base observation that copyright, ownership of digital assets, and payments become a lot more complicated in whatever the metaverse is going to be is fundamentally not wrong. It's where our current systems break down. Novels like Snow Crash, the Diamond Age, Cryptonomicon, and his more recent Reamde and "Fall, or Dodge in heaven", all feature some kind of crypto payment systems and it's a recurring theme in his work. Even his baroque cycle is basically an historical science fiction novel that is about the birth of the modern financial system in the seventeenth century. So, he is an author that has a track record of understanding a thing or two about money.

HourglassFR 4y ago
> So, he is an author that has a track record of understanding a thing or two about money. On the contrary, while he is indeed a good author and has written highly enjoyable fictions (well, heavy on the nerdy side but this is HN after all so I think a lot of us have no problem with that), his understanting of how money and knowledge work on a societal level is quite frankly laughable. It is deeply rooted in the californian ideology and very naïve. But it still good fun, and it doesn't take itself to seriously.
Kaibeezy 4y ago
Considering the conventional wisdom that +90% of startups fail, I still like his visionary odds.

Kaibeezy 4y ago

https://archive.ph/DjBlV https://archive.ph/DjBlV

ozten 4y ago

“Layer 1 Blockchain” in the first sentence of the white paper. For me that has aged like a car salesman in a plaid suit. No thanks.

Karunamon 4y ago
I have a similar reaction to these non-interesting, noncontributing, unthinking, nonsubstantive knee-jerk expressions of hatred of all things crypto on HN. It's tiresome, and your comment could been more useful as a flag. This is a general point and not a gripe at the anti-crypto crowd: comments that boil down to "I don't like this topic" are not useful and probably don't belong here.
- saboot 4y ago
  I don't like this topic, when this topic is scamming people.
  - Karunamon 4y ago
    Nobody has been scammed by the author and it is incredibly reductive, not to mention objectively wrong to the point of lying to imply that the entire topic of crypto is about scams.
    - saboot 4y ago
      The entire topic of crypto is scams and that's not a lie.
      - Karunamon 4y ago
        Repeating a falsehood does not make it true.
        saboot 4y ago
        I agree

norswap 4y ago

I hope he succeeds at making something great. However, I'd have one criticism of this (which I've had of other projects including some I've been associated with), and it's that if you're trying to make something radically different than what exists (be that in society, or in the blockchain or metaverse worlds), then it's a bit weird to structure your venture in exactly the same ways as these other things. Besides Stephenson's word, there is nothing in the presentation that suggests that this is any different from the other initiatives out there. If ousting commercial interests is a goal, shouldn't this be structured in a much more decentralized way rather than having a corporate startup with a bunch of investors? I'm sure Stephenson doesn't need the money, and I'm sure that would inspire a bunch of hackers to contribute much more than the current structure.

jonnycomputer 4y ago

For the link, I got a 403 with the following message: Connection denied by IP2Location Country Blocker Please contact web administrator for assistance. what's up with that?