Reimagining Layer 0: New Worlds and Ancient Philosophies by Dev Lewis | Devcon SEA

[Music] [Music] thank you so much hello everybody and welcome to Devcon welcome to Bangkok uh before I start uh we're going to do something a bit different I think many of us have just had lunch we've sort of been easing into this air conditioned closed space so if you like I welcome you to stand up for just a few seconds and just stretch and just stretch that body and you can stretch all the way up you can go in your toes if you like left right yeah there's a lot of talk a lot of talk about the future what's important and sometimes it's important to get back to our bodies and let's together just take three deep breaths and just ground into the space so you can breathe in and breathe out breathe in breathe out and breathe in and out and invite you to take your seat again thank you for breathing with me thank you for breathing all together um the title of this talk is layer zero uh reimagining and thinking about ancient Phil philosophies to build build new worlds uh my name is Dave um yes that's my name and no I'm not a Dev um and I represent different spaces thinking about technology and how we can Align Technology more towards our planet and human values um so I've had this question a lot a lot of people asked me so what I mean by layer zero and I want to start off actually I've been inspired by the layer Zero from the web3 and the crypto space you know we have layer ones and we've talked about this morning we heard from a about her vision of the infinite Garden uh about decentralization about open source the cipher Funk moment all of these values that align ethereum all of these values that bring us together to build decentralized Tech to build these new worlds and that's amazing that's amazing that we have this technology that allows us to do this to build stable coins to to build the kinds of tech that we can self- custody and really uh take ownership um and so these provide the values of layer zero of layer of the infinite Garden um where with layer zero U is going deeper going into the invisible layer that human layer um the values that really make us as beings make us as a civilization and make up us as a planet and this these values that we embody is ultimately what's diffused into the technology and what's created so trauma we all grew up in different parts of the world and we've all suffered through all kinds of violence from childhood from some of us have grown up in Conflict zones uh today many of us live in areas where there is war and violence uh belief systems our ideas of who we are what do we want what makes us happy all of these things that drive us to get more money to find Fame to find recognition these things that are driving us invisible ways and this human layer this layer zero is really critical because without this everything that we want to build these Dows the network States ethereum itself will face challenges and will fa and and will struggle to to really grow um there's a beautiful quote uh from J Krishna Muti a world is a reflection of our inner Minds um and so it's our minds how we think how we imagine what we think about ourselves and the world that we want to build this ultimately is refle Ed outside of us each one of us in a decentralized fashion contributing to this world that we all live in and what happens when we don't have very clean Minds right uh you know we're all living we've all we've all been through this and it doesn't matter web3 web 2 technology space in general the economy in general these are the kinds of the cultures that our societies and the culture of our time really value um and you know we like to place a lot of blame on the individual but the individuals are products of the cultures that we cre create and they were're part of free Basics again web 2 web 3 doesn't really make a difference right uh we have we're building these technology systems we're supposedly trying to create aote connected world yeah we're doing in ways that are ultimately centralizing and ultimately monopolizing power and ultimately pulling away from um from these human values there beautiful blog web 3 is going great that just captures the many many scams that you know are part of this industry and we can't ignore that uh you know the dgen cultures that are part of it and that can be celebrated and that's great and we should celebrate all cultures a plurality of cultures as we heard from uh Audrey Tang just just a moment ago yet we have have to also be real that if we want to transcend these problems we really have to bring our reflection back into what is it that we continue to create these problems um we're living today in a unbalanced Dark Forest World um many of you may have read the three body problem science fiction series that looks at how uh the theory that like our world is ultimately governed by fear where we're encouraged to be silent not be open and the world that we're living today is a reflection again of our inner minds and so these are our inner Minds that we have to contend with that we have to make peace with war violence our environment turning around us for those of us in Thailand we just went through one of the largest floods in recorded history many of you coming from all over the world exper experiencing your own disasters your own uh problems and there's been a lot of research uh over the last 10 years to actually show how many of the problems in our digital spaces the very problems that web 3 itself the idea of three being different from two was created the idea being of owning or is is because it's trying to transcend these problems yet as this research is showing as the problems are systemic the problems are deeply rooted into our political systems into our into e iic systems into our very systems of being um Tim Woo's book master switch talks about how all of media when it started right from fax to the telegram up to the internet has started decentralized has started open but ultimately Market forces capture multi Market forces State forces create a centralization and so as we're sitting today in this ethereum space in this web three space we have to be aware that we are against the very forces that actually animate our being the forces that actually create centralization is not out there it is not a dark evil force trying to centralize it is all part of us and we are part of these systems and so if we want to transcend if we want to create this decentralized infinite Garden we really need to bring more awareness to what makes us our own minds and makes our own beings and um in uh there's a wonderful essay on cryptos 3 body problem uh which brings about um again this notion that that if crypto is to survive crypto needs to contact with cultures more full-bodied than crypto itself and so the next phase must require protocols Beyond just incentives and smart contracts we need to integrate with this human layer with the layer zero we need to integrate with this level this layer of values and it's through these layer values that we can start to move um one of a framework of change known as the causal layer analysis popular for thinking about transformational change also highlights this that for the most powerful and meaningful change to happen we have to go deep under what we see tends to be just the tip of the iceberg we want to go deep into the level of World Views the the philosophies that govern us the myths and the metals what is it that makes us alive what is it that drives us what is it that makes life alive how do we understand these um and so this is where uh uh sort of coming to in terms of thinking of okay how do we build these new Worlds how do we build this infinite garden and um layer zero sitting right down there so we all standing here in Thailand in Southeast Asia we we heard this morning as well on the kind of values of the mandala value that I shared as well around circles and how that has played a role in this region um Asian philosophies particularly two philosophies I want to bring about bring up here on Buddhism and DSM have been a GPS for layer zero navigation in Asia for thousands of years they've helped people understand themselves they've helped people create societies that are ultimately very linked to human values and to human flourishing and uh these systems have existed um and I think they they're very interesting for us to look at today especially as we build decentralized Tech and thinking again about decentralizing power and creating more openness um because all these philosophies and particularly Buddhism DM they emphasize that there is only one problem it's really simple it's disconnection disconnection from each other and disconnection from the web of life around us and it is in the state of disconnection that we act from fear that we Act without feeling Comfort without grounding it is from this disconnection that we fight and we look for to towards violence and so the only way towards really recreating new worlds is to reconnect and to move away from the state of disconnection um there is research emerging now that has been looking at the different cosmologies of technology and understanding that technology itself can be understood from many different philosophies and worldviews um we don't have time today to go deep into any of these works but I'll mention a few key ideas that I think can be useful for us to Think Through uh one of them is from the idea of Cosmo Technics and Cosmo Technologies in China um which is really looking at how technology itself and the fundamental ethical principle of everything in our world is to keep us more aligned with nature and with our true nature and so even the role of technology is to keep us in balance with each other and in balance with nature and Technology itself is fundamentally just as part of nature as all of us it contains matter it contains um minerals it contains nature and part of all of us and this idea that we exist as separate selves each of us individual disconnect from each other our minds and bodies disconnected itself is something that's only really been a notion for the last 3 to 400 years uh for thousands of years this idea that of disconnection itself uh was never there um in in Chinese Cosmo Technics yuk a scholar brings up this idea of Da and she as a way to think about how we can um think about technology and our relationship with it um very quickly the idea of the da is the universe the OS the web of life that everything exists within um and Chi is a concept of uh tra is concept of technology tracing back mostly to confusion principles this idea of how technology plays a role in aligning our society to be more aligned with life and today our technology is disconnected from the Dao today our technology is disconnected from this web of life and so we have today a world where we are living with a very disconnected space and so the idea or the framing is to think about is how do we how do we reconnect um how do we reconnect technology to the universe how do we reconnect technology to the DA and these are seemingly initially very difficult to to grasp and and fathom but there are ways where we can start thinking about it what does it mean to connect technology to the cosmos to the Dao um here there's another concept from DA's cosmology thinking about intelligence and what is the source of intelligence and how can we get intelligence from this Web of Life um in in this cosmology there's two types of knowledge there's conscious knowledge which is this everyday awareness of life um essentially I'm using conscious knowledge right now to speak in words and you are hearing me in words and Concepts and we are engaging in this space and our world today is completely built on conscious knowledge in ways um the other form is real knowledge which is uh an immediate knowing uh inherent in all human beings that's not the product of knowledge um other ways you can think about is wisdom uh you may have heard things like trust your gut uh creativity these these flow that comes in from a place deeper a much Place deeper than the mind and the rational mind and so our world today is um is very much unbalanced towards conscious knowledge and quite unbalanced and not enough real knowledge and so according to cos this cosmology we want to be right in that Center that Fusion that beautiful Fusion that is not one or the other you are still living here in this material plane that we can see and interact and hear yet we are able to draw on this wisdom from this Web of Life from which we can start to create completely new ways of economies new ways of exchanging information new ways of exchanging value that today seem radical that today seem unimaginable yet we are able to draw on this power um because let's face it we've all been uh you know trained on this Dark Forest world of information we've all been trained from institutions and systems the very institutions and systems that this crypto world seems to want to to to take to take on seems to want to transform seems to want to change yet we are part of these systems and so we have to undo our very programming the very conditioning of our mind in order to transcend these very systems that we want to change and so for me I see spirituality is very embodied form of decentralization each of us have to do the proof of work uh we've got to do the Mind training we've got to do the healing we've got to do the heart opening no one is going to do it for you even though we as a collective can all support each other we each need to do that work um each of us are interconnected nodes in this Web of Life there is no one bigger stronger than the other we are all part of this web of life together and so we all support each other and we can all connect to each other and if we want to create this infinite Garden we have to feel that we can't get the Power from Just this space of disconnection we have to reconnect to this web of life we have to pull this energy that exists all around us that we're supported from from this universe and use this information use this energy to guide us in ways that can really transform and push paradigms that seem unimaginable today but in the next moment it's possible um a couple projects that I think are interesting um Pagoda is a network within the ethereum space um of Asian Southeast Asian and East Asian uh Community Builders which I'm a part of and we've been trying to build how do we take these practices of um Asian philosophy into embodied practice how do we build technology while also better reconnecting to life around us to each other what does it mean to practice what does it mean to do that work that I mentioned the proof of work together and how do we start to build from there and um so a reflection question that I'd like to sort of post to you is how does the crypto World make you feel connected to life uh and there's you may find different answers for yourself and and it's it's wonderful to think about is how what are the ways that the technology that I use the crypto that I use make me feel more fulfilled more content and what are the ways that it makes me feel more disconnected what are the ways where it makes me feel more alienated more frustrated more angry and through these Reflections we can start to think we can start to have conversations around what is it that we're building how is it that is actually improving or changing or making me feel more connected and perhaps start to make changes in our own lives and in the decisions we make many of you here are Builders might be investors users consumers husbands daughters sons all of you play roles many identities in your lives and how can we start to use technology to ways that make us more connected to this Web of Life um perhaps we can start to then think about what it means to BU a metaverse um in Buddhism meta is love and kindness uh this idea that we can build this metaverse which is infused with love and kindness and respect for life around us which can go beyond just empty words buzzword if you will our world is no short of Buzz words but again it's going back to this embodied practice of how can I every day moment to moment start to think about um what is it that I'm Who Am I who is it that I'm helping how am I being being more kind to people around me and what kind of energy do I feel when I actually help people in different ways and how can I start to feel into that energy even more um so some of the projects that I'm I'm building today that are hoping to sort of create this alignment between uh spirituality and technology and crypto um light Forest is a project I've created um working with the kernel community at the start of the year towards thinking about how do we bring more light into how we regenerate how do we start to do these inner journeys of healing yet also start to imagine create radically new technology systems um with the gcx in shangai where I'm based uh create we creating a culture of conscious stewardship uh towards more connection to have digital Nomads like many of us here today be more connected to the Earth to the land the soil that we're touching to be more connected to communities around us yet be yet be hyperconnected to the to the world and have the sense of global Consciousness because we are living in a unique moment where we truly have this Global identity um and so how do we harness This Global identity in a space while also being feeling extremely local and grounded into the Earth and pagota which I just mentioned what we're thinking about how do we rewi web 3 um how do we bring Asian values and a protocol of being that all of us can bring into our daily lives bring into our practice and start to really build these new worlds um so I would love to uh you know continue these conversations with all of you um all of you are doing a no doubt really amazing beautiful work uh I think all of you are motivated towards creating these new spaces towards creating new systems and I think we are at this time right now when I think the future of spirituality and the future of this is is no longer centralized it's not about going to a temple or a church or it's not about going to one leader it's actually about feeling into the power that we all have and learning how to harness that and through that we can start to guide this regeneration and building this infinite Garden uh that ethereum and many other communities here want to build um so with that I'll end uh with this uh one of my favorite quotes uh from a Buddhist monk tikn Natan um we hear a lot about the future uh often times these in these spaces it's completely future driven but sometimes it's important to ground in the present and to feel that if we in every moment can be truly grounded to be truly present and make each moment that we're in better to make focus on this moment and what you can act the future itself will emerge as a reflection of that so I'll leave you with that thank you very much and I think we have a couple moments for [Applause] questions amazing thank you so much leis for all all this knowledge and okay who's ready to asking questions I haven't seen any question yet on the on the Cure place we can have conversations whether this form of technology is keeping us more connected or disconnected I think I see a question there a hand raised that okay we have a raised hand here just one second they are coming to you um hi um I really enjoy your your talk um what I would like to know it's you recommend some books or papers maybe to I mean to deep I mean to dive into this uh kind of topics yeah um there's there's a lot um if you want to be on more academic side some of the books that I flashed in my slides and I can sort of share that with you after as well uh talk about the systemic issues um I think from technology front Chinese Cosmo Technics by UK is a great very philosophical conceptualization uh but from a more practical sense uh in terms of practices um there are books from tikn Natan the monk that I flashed um from um other Scholars as well who are who have sort of uh on the sort of practice in being uh but there's a lot and um also on my website light forest. World um I have some resources there as well um so I'm happy to share more with you and anyone here thank you and the website is light forest. World hi Dave hi um matali here my question for you was that you know our relationship with money the way money looks feels Etc has changed over time like at some point we had living money therefore there was a more spiritual connection to it um and we've reached a point point where money is no more that tangible like the spiritual relationship we have with it has definitely changed it's moving into a more individual World um how do you think say cryptocurrency uh or the web 3 world in itself could um what could be different concepts of money that take people back to the spiritual feeling of it or the community feeling of it yeah thanks for that question malali it's it's it's a question that I struggle with um the subject of money is definitely something that I struggle with personally as well what is my relationship with money and what is it that I want from it um I think the area that I'm finding interesting to explore is the space of community currencies um and this idea of how can we create systems that allow us to keep the value within the community um and so if cryptocurrencies can come in in ways that we can allow to create value and Share value Within our communities um and ways where communities themselves so Village to Village or City to city as able to transact within with that context that they share without having to go into this large homogeneous system that is the US dollar or that is some national currency I think that can be something that can perhaps be quite different and perhaps allow us to yeah to Share value within communities differently um but I think perhaps even further than that paradigm shift might be necessary for us to really capture that spiritual connection but I think in the more immediate to near term uh and I know there are people experimenting with you know radical ideas of community currencies um and and how crypto can play a role in that which I think might be the more immediate neot term uh use case thank you for that amazing we have time for one more question yeah hey uh great talk thanks I'm curious to hear more about this dig cnx uh project I'm just um the concept of like connecting digital Nomads with local folks seems really interesting I'm just wondering how did you go about like connecting those two worlds bringing those two worlds did you see participation from actual local folks in changai and what did that look like yeah um another good question a big challenge that we have um so with digx we created this about two years ago which was to create a community that went across web 3 and you know digital rights activists uh academics journalists across the board um we actually with the popup City you know initiative that happened in October we started a project called Cosmo local changai and the idea was there is to really create spaces where we could bring together you know local people with global Nomads but also create Nomads encourage a culture of you know understanding local cultures and practices that are there I think it's hard uh for many reasons linguistic uh cultural there's also a certain energy of chai the sort of saai saai you know that that CH culture which kind of clashes with this heavy hitter crypto Global you know digital Nomad you know going and so I think it'll be a multi-year process probably uh but I think people there are slivers of people who are interested in a more deeper connection with nature and I think we're hoping to be in that Lial space where even small groups of people can start to connect and we can sort of start to create that culture of of conscious stewardship I'm happy to chat after if you're you know coming to changma or base there often there thank you awesome thank you so much leou please give him a real big Applause thank you thank you everyone thank you so much