Redefining boundaries in the Infinite Garden by Aya Miyaguchi | Devcon SEA

[Music] hello everyone Sor car um I'm very excited we're finally here in Southeast Asia my name is a amaguchi from the Ean Foundation so ether permissionless value has enabled many people to participate in all different layers whether you're part of the protocol L&D layer twos applications or community building and education while there is so much happening like Josh just shared a lot of things PE I'm often asked what I'm most excited about I am excited etherum is more ready you saw this on the video too there are more than 8,000 monthly active contributors by far the largest in the space um to the to the platform development more than 100 Community hubs across six continent not yet in antactica but um that now eam is um consuming a lot less energy after the merge more than 99 9% plus scaling solution yes that's very great thank you thank you I like this energy um scaling Solutions have made transactions a lot cheaper and faster and the cost is actually less than one uh less than 1 cent if you look at the cost for uh on the layer twos layer twos uh you guys are doing amazing job advancements with programable cryptography are Ena play in a way that wasn't possible a few years ago it is easier for wallets to provide better ux now more than ever building on ethereum is not only for idealistic reason so ethereum is more ready to build a better Humanity I will give you only one example decentralized ID the city of B Vos isus has finished on boarding 150,000 of its citizen to quar ID and the ID system built on etherum layer too by next year uh four other cities in Argentina and two cities in Mexico will follow suit that's this is a yes I should mention thater to zik sync congratulations and also the country of bhutan's the ID system is migrating to eum's main net currently successfully deployed on test net and up until the last few years it was not the obvious choice for these places to choose now the infrastructure is ready but why do you choose eum among many other things there are many ways to answer this but if I have to put it in very simply ethereum is built for the long term all the values We Care credible neutrality open source open participation decentralization could interfere with quick Pless quick growth quick Pless that we could blog about in the short term that does not mean you cannot execute with these values we saw the phenomenal execution of the merge in 20 um 2022 but the exec usion is much much harder and that that's the tradeoff ethereum chooses to make always all to be built for the long term by the people of the ecosystem that we all hope to also last for the long term if we keep making the right decisions by really committing to those values these values become the deep and strong roots that enables the longlasting resilient ecosystem and when I say long lasting we are looking at the the time when you and I do not exist even with all the longevity supplements and method that you are trying and while ethereum is built for the long term there is a word I want to see beyond that infinite Garden is the vision that I've been introducing through the Isam Foundation to the bler communities infinite symbolize the concept of infinite games we want to Foster a close enter ecosystem whether you're part of nonprofit for-profit public or private sectors we are part of a collective ongoing game the goal isn't for one player to dominate the and end the game that would make the game finite but rather to keep the game going why I choose the word Garden there are several reasons and today i' like to explain by sharing this fascinating wisdom that I learn from the region of Southeast Asia first I will start with a quiz imagine I give you a piece of paper that has this drawing of an island this may not look like an island I actually drew it with a pencil uh I say there are four kingdoms on this island Kingdom A B C D and I I ask you I give you a pencil and I ask you to draw the full areas of Kingdoms Kingdom a b c d how would you do it did you imagine something like this or this but you probably did not think of this mandalas you might have seen this type of visual before mandala in Sanskrit means a circle is a ritual and spiritual symbol inspired by Eastern religion like Hinduism Buddhism gism and Shinto now mandalas like this are often used for healing practices or meditation but in South East Asia Mandara has an additional meaning if refers to a system of governance that was common from ancient times through the early modern time Mandara refers to the circles of power that coexisted without clear boundaries power is strong at the center and ambiguous and blurry at the edges some mandot overlapped while other area remained beyond the reach of any Circle for example the kingdom of aay aaya in the current Thailand and Lan in the current Laos for example shared overlapping sphere of power and influence people in this overlapping space sometimes had duties to both kingdoms but they were not necessarily oppressed by competing influences instead they benefited from their dual affiliation gaining access to Opportunities Rich cultural exchanges and religious freedom the mandala this mandala structure endured over 1,500 years the concept of mandal inspires Us in different ways first Vis soall and sere Inspire us to think beyond the boundaries while many of us might have tendency to think in squares or with clear boundaries open and overlapping spaces with circles and spheres reflect more fluid and interconnected uh interactions today all former Mandela kingdoms are governed by states with clear boundaries but things on the internet for example still operate in spheres of influence like mandalas and I like to share um two specific like wisdom from mandala that contributed to their long longevity sync criticism this is the word it seems like even English native speakers don't really know uh it's a did you know well I I clearly did not know but um but I heard this is also not really common is a concept of acceptance merging and blending of religions cultures and practices which was uen into the mandala system of governance and cultural influence no single culture of or religion was imposed across the entire area instead there was an acceptance of various belief creating a fusion of Hinduism Buddhism indigenous practices and later Islam and another wisdom despite their distinct political structures and diverse ethnic groups the Mandara kingdoms shared core values and cultural practices these shared values are often deeply rooted in religion governance trade and diplomacy which help Foster a common identity across these otherwise independent kingdoms and monasteries and trade routes acted as decentralized hub for shared learning and values that United different region sorry different regions without central control so how do we adapt this wisdom to our ecosystem I want to share the story of the eum foundation describe as an an example if we think of EF as one Circle it does not act as a singular Center force that observe of or control all other circles within the ecosystem it La is its law is not to make itself the center but to nurture initiatives and teams that embody the same principle all blowing the values of etherum to split across a distributed Network in this way it acts more like a monastery fostering growth and collaboration rather than a castle with a single King I will share the story of EF Journey this is how the EF originally was the etherum ecosystem was equivalent to the eum foundation when it started and I'm adding this Orange to uh show the Highlight the space that shares value so please remember all is valued this is when the ecosystem began to grow with circles of talents and teams outside of the es also contributing to ethereum I join ethereum and the E also around this time this is what people might think it's a typical way for an organization to grow the foundation observing all the circles in hiring all the talents inside the organization to grow the EF kingdom is is is observing all the energy outside becoming a bigger Circle in this scenario the orange area of shared Valu still stays confined within the foundation or another misconception we often hear since we have a guiding principle of subtraction at thef people often think by executing on the philosophy of sub subtraction the EF is shrinking and then o of shared values is also becoming smaller but this is the wrong way to view it in fact what is actually happening is something like this the EF is nurturing and an expanding ecosystem to the elen area of shared values grows beyond EF direct Beyond EF Direct Control the philosophy of subtraction does help create more space for collaboration and Innovation allowing these values to split naturally across the entire ecosystem rather than being limited by one single entity one concrete example of our action is this the Y has been working on creating other institutions with both CF members or people outside we've supported the launch of organizations such as xero Park D nomic Foundation Al beat and more recently argot Collective and geod work which are working to be independent zooming in on this Dynamic Z Zer spark for for instance is communed to advancing progammable cryptography expanding eum's boundaries with its sphere of influence in this way ideas in this our space also have spheres of influence and we do not want to limit the potential by EF owning them all so whether organization is inside EF or outside matters Less in this context what truly matters is the ideas from these institutions are pushing the boundaries sharing values bler to the bler space and what's great is that in etherum the EF is not the only organization um not the only entity expanding its community and ideas while sharing these core values other teams and organizations and contributing to this effort each adding their unique perspective and energy to the collective ecosystem I see the potential of eum and all the thing Beyond it as exponentially vast due to the countless future circles that can be created whether or not the if is directly involved this is the resilience of eum with many organizations and their ideas growing their suffuse of influence and some blending and merging the ecosystem remains diverse and colorful yet they're all interconnected by shared Roots the foundational values of ethum it represent the true innovation of the ecosystem connecting ideas and eort uh efforts in a way that has never been done this is why I call it a garden Gardens are continuously glowing evolving and changing underneath the surface underneath the soil there loots microbes fungi interconnected coexisting without clear boundaries sharing information and nurturing diversity is critical because biodiversity is in the only way for all of them to survive They're all playing a long infinite game together now going back to this idea Thinking Beyond the time of our existence which one of these scenarios do you think it last longer one big circle observing all other circles or nurturing other circles and sharing values I hope the answer is clear now um imagine an ecosystem where every Circle has the freedom to grow expand and innovate sharing the same powerful values that's how we built something truly remarkable longlasting and that is the end of my talk I hope you can discover these values throughout this Deon week and also notice the circles around you thank you very much