Memecraft: Effectively Communicating Crypto Concepts | Devcon SEA

[Music] and we're here to talk about memes um our presentation Is MeMe Craft um narrative Dynamics in crypto so what we want to talk about um of course like coming to Devcon um you know at least for me it's been a little bit overwhelming it's been definitely a good thing I love seeing all my friends um a lot of my friends though I know through the internet and of course being on the internet the way that we often relate to each other is through memes um and so memes has been memes are basically very fundamental to the creation of culture in crypto um but kind of the thing that we wanted to talk about on top of not just saying that memes are awesome and great but also to like dig a bit deeper into what they are and what kind of um Powers they can project so we want to talk about some uh analytical Frameworks to help us understand and um have a deeper understanding of memes their use and um the power that they can have without us necessarily knowing it and so just very quickly to remind ourselves the origins of memes it comes actually from Richard Dawkins um I don't know if you remember the time in the 2010s when everyone was having their atheist phase that came from Richard Dawkins book uh The God Delusion um but before he was an atheist um or he might have been an Atheist then I don't know he was a biologist um who studied genetics and what he was looking into um in the 70s was kind of the ways in which cultural information is spread through imitation um and this is what he termed memes so he used basically the the kind of structure of the word Gene and combined it with the Greek word memma and created memes in the 1970s um and so he conceived of this as a parallel to biological genes in which there is a kind of like natural selection of which types of bits of cultural information exists and which ones survive um and he he refers to it as a as a unit of cultural information I think is interesting um and so what I want to kind of like unpack a little bit on that is that I think this this term as a unit of cultural information is a little bit misleading um oh wrong button um and that I would actually argue that memes are bundles there are like packages of information with different layers of meaning vocabulary actions in which put all together the more you can pack inside of a meme usually the more powerful it is the more that it like resonates with someone as some sort of action meaning vocabul that they use that they resonate so memes are not discret objects they you can still use the word unit but a unit of cultural information is usually uh cultural information being the Richer it is the more powerful it is um is a combination of all these different things and so um the meme really hits if you can just get all this information and um in just like a single image for example at least when we're talking about um the context of internet memes um and so I think what's also on top of this interesting to note is that memes um have a kind of like uh they can be like doubly as good if you can also get very um uh what's the word like meta about uh a particular topic um and so we can see like you know in the in the crypto world you know bitcoiners be like I'm in it for the technology like this is something that has several layers of meaning that like transcend not just the image itself as being funny because the guy is wearing jewelry but it's also because I think it it um unconsciously or subconsciously elicits this kind of like character of a person this archetype of a person that exists in which they live inside of a system of capitalism in which they need to project a particular uh ideology in order to justify their accumulation of capital um and the rest of these are plenty of different examples um I really like this one my parents in their 20s I bet he'll grow up to do great things me I trade meme coins full-time I think kind of you know elicits the the kind of like right observation of like Financial nihilism in the world and how people are kind of trading meme coins fulltime to make money um so it is like several layers of different types of contexts and meanings in which like make a meme something that is that is quite powerful um and so I'll leave it to I believe Beth to give us some analytical tools to understand this a bit more um hi so uh yeah andk thinking through this um I thought it was really interesting you know as a person who's often responsible for managing social media on Twitter and being way too immersed in crypto Twitter than is maybe good for my mental health um I think it's really interesting to really see how people are um so often like frantically coalescing around the specific moment as like this is the time that we're going to make this thing happen to go to the moon or now you know if we um make enough mimetic Force then we'll push you know push ourselves into the next uh bull market Etc and so I think it's really interesting to think of um Walter benz's concept of a y site um which is this idea of like um right now is this particular moment that has transformative potential within it and exist in a context of unfolding moments um that we are all experiencing together and shaping a shared reality and inner subjectivity so um yeah finding uh our friends in light Sage capitalism um as we try to figure out how to navigate all of this together and also want to wanted to make the point that a lot of the Frameworks that we're thinking about here uh are drawing on Concepts from you know a 100 years ago when people were originally thinking about these um kind of structuralist terminologies but history is repeating itself or rhyming you know with um like greater Vigor all the time so I think it's really interesting to think and um in terms of some of these patterns um yep how do you do this the green button top oh uh yeah so just um to go a little bit deeper in Concepts from Walter Benjamin I might butcher uh these German words for my German friends that I see sitting in the audience um but uh um uh versus uh ER libes is uh two um ways of categorizing experience that I think are super useful for thinking about um what is it that we are experiencing together through these mimetic structures that um yeah that we're co-creating basically so my understanding of it is that umong is uh the kind of Ted knowledge lived experience that you have whether you are um you know a node validator yourself deeply involved in um you know coding infrastructure deeply involved in doing the the work that I do in terms of setting up um events um and doing you know Community weaving across the space uh the knowledge that you come to understand through gossip networks and through um just seeing patterns uh repeating over time versus um the uh air lebes which is more the experience that you have from you know reading through crypto Twitter um hearing about um you know stuff that is happening on the news is it filter's a perception of what's going on in crypto or you know just watching the markets and not thinking about the greater depths that's happening underneath but I think that in our space especially and you know at this particular moment in space and time that we're at at Devcon it's really interesting to think about the relationship between these two things because in order to have the full context of the lived experience um and gain that tasic knowledge in a deep and U meaningful way then you also you know need to have this more surf level noise that you're navigating to get the full picture so I think that the way that um mimetic uh forces work in our space is really interesting in looping these two together and just to give some examples of what I mean by that um I think uh starter packs for example are mimetic um you know memetic form that um where you know you look at this or and it's like um you know i' maybe you know either deeply understand what each of these things are are and it's hilarious or don't understand what they are but then you start to understand that they move together in um you know a conceptual uh bundle as joshu was saying and so I think um memes uh ability as an art form to link um Concepts and create uh an aesthetic um container is super interesting um similarly um in terms of what we are saying about memes that um you know form on top of each other with these levels meaning um I found this in my screenshots yesterday and I was like that is very true um like it's interesting you know to understand what this is saying you have to understand the meme in the first place understand the uh structures behind tarot and then also this idea of like a um a cyclical a linear bit cyclical flow through ordered information that is can contained not only in the reactions that are happening in that Meme but also what a Tarot spread might look like there so and I think you know this idea of information being conveyed in a spread obviously you know applies to uh looking at markets Etc as well um and Josh can talk about this one yes I just wanted to when we were discussing this give a a really practical example of how this manifests itself in crypto in which then we begin to identify as a part of crypto culture and I think the one of the like easiest ones are the first ones that a lot of people get exposed to is this concept of hodling holding holding your crypto um which of course has its own history I won't get into but um the way that it happens is that you know you buy crypto uh you hold it uh you read about hling um of course crypto is very volatile so the market is going up and down when it goes down you begin to like oh my gosh should I sell should I sell you don't sell you keep it you huddle and then you are reminded that you huddled when the market is down because you go to crypto um forums and whatever else you're like oh I huddle I took part in crypto culture and now I can identify very quickly with other people in crypto culture the the feedback loop is quite short um and so this short feedback loop is what then hooks you inside of crypto culture and now you are a crypt bro welcome yeah and to lead into our next point there also the um the power of you know naming a particular Behavior so you know before it's like okay well I'm choosing not to sell my coins but then as you become deeper embedded in the ecosystem you learned there was a name for what I did it's hodling and that makes me a hodler um so and the last example that I wanted to give I um thought that it was really interesting to see um this concept of finite and infinite games you know a big crowd pleaser in general in our space but I feel like it is getting brought up more and more frequently in this Con uh this conference in particular which I think is really fantastic as a way for framing um the World building that we do together and and capturing the evolving landscape so um uh like yesterday I was attending a talk where um I had directly brought it up and I was really happy to hear that that was a um explicit thought process behind the concept of the infinite Garden that we are all cultivating um so uh leading into that it was a nerd point that I liked um that um it's a great way of framing as well of it consigns language game so as we were just talking about with these different um ways of framing um uh construction of identity construction of behavior understanding of the System Dynamics that you're operating in and um the narratives that uh we're constructing through how we um convey information through words and images um I just you know I think this is really interesting these are some of you know the examples that he gave um whether we're using language to report an event um you know uh pretend to do something switch between languages all of these different ways that we um engage with our world as mediated by language are um ways that we are constructing a reality and also that we're conveying information between one another in a way that creates uh inner subjectivity and shared perception um so uh yeah so kind of my first point uh with I guess how that leads into how we can think about how we are um operating in a meme apparatus uh the rules constraints and outcomes of language games are continually evolving in a feedback loop of shaping and being shaped by cultural norms and behaviors of their players um and talk so yeah so some of the um memes that we all know and maybe love um I think going a little bit chronologically on the evolution of memes a little bit uh it first starts off you know being entangled in crypto culture um in which we have this early proliferation of of memes about taking an action related to market dynamics right we we uh we huddle is the the one uh example that I gave earlier but also sometimes we get wrecked um sometimes you know we have Diamond hands or we have paper hands because we sold we see the the the movement of the market and prices go to the Moon um or we get uh uh you know rug pulled with this not your keys not your crypto I think is something that is uh also another kind of related to tcid experience of holding your keys in crypto or being on a centralized exchange and being warned about it um digital gold being a type of invest investment narrative um this is kind of like where where it starts um and these memes themselves uh in total may move capital in a particular direction but it's kind of like broadly in crypto and it's related to like the actions that you are taking in response to market dynamics but I think what's been interesting to kind of see is that with the introduction of ethereum is that now um the memes have become much more sophisticated right we've had this Cambrian explosion of different uh mechanisms that are now available to us all these Financial Primitives which have elicited immense flows of capital into specific projects and applications so um you know Infamous one was 33 um where people just kind of let's all collaborate together into a p scheme um or wagy retrop pgf quadratic funding all of these different terms are used to solicit investment or movement of capital into a particular place um so it's not only whereas hodling and getting wreck and going to the moon was about like crypto broadly now we're getting like we are turning in on ourselves and creating this Loop concentric Loop inside to where we are now directing Capital within the crypto ecosystem in VAR places based on the movement of memes and um and their proliferation and now we have reached in the recent kind of um events in the United States with the election to the point where memes are being uh used by people with a lot of influence like Elon Musk um and so that these flows of capital are capitalizing on their Investments of taking part in meme culture like uh uh Elon mus did in order to influence government policy directly so Elon Musk simply talked about Doge over and over again over the years in order to in ingratiate himself over time and through his power and influence and um having so many followers and having so much money and owning Twitter he was able to become a part of the meme to the point to where he can now post about the department of government efficiency or Doge as a way to probably my guess is bring forth U um a lot of cuts into government programs and who knows what else is going to come out of that um but so now he is we have this situation where big capital is very much a part of the of meme creation and meme spread and the uh spread of narrative and this is something that we should all take into account and and and be aware of um and yeah that gets into uh the final point that uh you know thinking about the flow of um these different um mic Frameworks and how they very directly impact human behavior Market behavior um those behaviors then have impact on the client uh on the the climate and uh all you know all of our ability in the space to have stable work and all of these uh effects that happen and so I think it's really important in our space to think about uh explicitly how to memes harness identity inner subjectivity and ideology to create reinforce and reproduce dynamics of power and control um so just you know to bring up to um white guys from 50 years ago um then uh I think it's really useful to think about um From fuko's perspective this um control that is uh is mediated through societies based on access to knowledge and this um feedback loop between uh having greater knowledge you know information asymmetry by Design understanding uh a deeper awareness of patterns that are happening um and very actively directing the discourse um so that certain um certain Concepts gain power and start uh directing Capital as Josh was mentioning and also changing Behavior at scale and I think it's also really important to remember in our space which uh narratives are being pushed and for who and why so for example we if everyone is ascribing to this ideology around decentralization um thinking critically about is this something that is being used for an extractive purpose even though it's something that on a surface level we are all um agreeing with in a friendly way and that gets to uh my final point about in web 3 or in crypto we are often uh reconstructing Ing and reproducing in our emergent way um existing um methods of control through um you know apparatuses of the state and of capital um that maybe you know as I've heard a lot in different people's talks that they may be left you know the traditional world to escape these things or recreate them in their own image and I think it's really important to think about what are the ideological apparatuses that we are reproducing so our final point is to meme safely be aware of information asymmetry be aware of what um flows of power and control you are participating in and also send us some dank memes if you see any uh and if you want to mention our last point oh yeah and then if you like if you like the things that we've said and our words we have a lot more words um we started a Sci-Fi called catabasis where we are exploring some of the some of the common themes in the crypto world so yeah thank you and there's a QR code in case you want to in case you want to go look it up now thank you all right thank you so much Beth and Joshua we have had a few questions come in during your talk so let's start with the first one besides being perennially online on crypto Twitter how do you stay on top of crypto memes do you want do that um so yeah I mean I definitely recommend pacing yourself if you're going to be parentally online on crypto Twitter because it can it can take a toll on your mental health and your soul but um I think for me it's mainly about kind of the the larger Point here is by having context about the kind of like larger Trends and things that are happening within the economy I think it gives a better insight into what memes are being pushed and why they're being pushed and trying to understand like who are the the main players in pushing that Meme so it's not I don't think it's just about staying on top of memes but it's about staying on top of like where are the expectations of the flow of capital in order to understand like is this a meme that I should take part in or is this a meme that is simply actually reinforcing my subjugation to um various forces so what I'd say oh okay um so I think with regards to Jin Z I mean for me the um yeah as an elder in relation to gen z uh I like my perception of you guys or them is that um folks that are entering the workforce for the first time and starting to mature are going through you know their version of when we were like doggos and BuzzFeed and like you know how like what are the ways and which you dissociate and which are the ways that you choose to process existing uh under capitalism so I would say I like the j z um like absurdism that is coming through things I'm a bit concerned about like how a lot of people are embracing um uh yeah Andrew Tate type stuff and how that is proliferating among that generation and it's something I'm curious to understand more about so if you have some Alpha leaks about why Jin Z are turning into to uh Trad Folks at a high rate please let me know um yeah maybe I would just warn against like being um naively optimistic about uh going into the workforce I would say um and trying to have a larger view of the movement of capital so that you can protect yourself in the long term um from like what is inevitably going to come in a market is that there is going to be a downturn there will be a bare Market um and so yeah just to be aware of those things all right the next question is do you own any meme coins but I think maybe more importantly what we can also talk about is what are your thoughts on Meme coins especially in relation to everything that you've discussed maybe I can take that one so I mean um not a financial advisor I have a I think I have a very small investment in meme coins just because it's it's it's a way to help me keep track of them um but yeah and we didn't we wanted to add meme coins into the presentation but it became it was starting to get a little bit too long but um I think when it comes to meme coins for me what is even more like crazy about them is that they are they are not just meme coins they are like financialized memes they are memes in which like flows of capital are moving in and out based on the appearance of memes maybe in the media or elsewhere so and I think this has been quite fundamental to I think the recent the you know the the accumulation of power and capital by Elon Musk lately um and in the previous years um and also now I think that that strategy is proliferating throughout I think what people are I think underestimating about Elon Musk and how he's been able to um basically take hold of the narrative through his not just purchase of Twitter but also just having a big account and just simply being um yeah doing more or less whatever he wants is that he is able to not only make money for himself but make money for his acolytes or make money for the people who follow him is that if you are someone who simply follows Elon Musk and just like follows what he says and like following his mention of Doge and you buy uh doge coins whenever he mentions Doge and then you make money off of it then you're going to love the guy you're going to follow him into battle because he is the guy that like made you rich or he's a guy who is like making you money um when you're broke so yeah okay thank you so much Joshua and Beth let's put our hands together for them