AI

Welcome to Web3

Back in the 1990s, we were dialing up and waiting on snail mail to avoid paying for every minute of access to the world wide web. This early version of the internet was built by developers and primarily delivered content in one direction. Websites were static and really only available for people to read. This read-only experience can be thought of as web1.

By 2005, most business owners had computers and had started to see the value of having a website. The ability to read content on the internet remained, but an option to write into cyberspace introduced dynamic websites where content could be updated. Bulletin boards, e-commerce, and social media also emerged. With the expanding capability to read and write online, anyone could share content without knowing how to code. This stage of the internet with read+write can be thought of as web2.

Within web2, supercomputers landed in our hands. This social integration with machines accelerated access worldwide and ushered in our connected era.

While such affinity allows us all to do more with less, immense power (and liability) was earned by big tech companies that controlled the world’s data. A dependency on convenience fed these web2 giants, which offered free access in exchange for more data. Big tech boomed through 2020, but trust wilted as humans became the product.

Investors demanding profit from big tech shifted ideals away from attraction and more toward extraction.

Tech giants became gatekeepers and left a stalling world of users feeling dispensable and disenfranchised. The internet had linked our planet, but power had become centralized.

Web3 is an umbrella term that describes the future of how we will continue to connect, communicate, and collaborate online. Guided by principles that suggest the internet is best when it’s decentralized, web3 technologies strive to be transparent, distributed, permissionless, proportionate, and verifiable. If web1 was read-only and web2 was read+write, web3 can be thought of as read+write+own.

What does it mean to own your online experience? Instead of another profile controlled by an individual company, we now traverse cyberspace with our own digital backpacks. Your digital assets are personalized, verified, and shared within any online environment, but privacy, content, and audience remain contained. As we move throughout the internet, our digital presence sticks with us instead of being lost on yet another centralized server. Enhanced cyber hygiene is needed when we own more of the experience online, but this paradigm shift returns ownership to the people who make cyberspace special.

As with anything new, this frontier brought fear, confusion, bad actors, and strange projects that felt like a prank. The challenges of building into the unknown suppressed mainstream growth, but this is how adoption curves work. Onboarding remained wonky, good ideas failed, AI burst back onto the scene, and the world had gotten comfortable with web2. Considerable progress came from traditional tools, and the growing pains of web3 led to an intermediate stage. Web2.5 was needed to move people through new layers of understanding. It took time, but winners made the experience feel like web2, with sufficiently decentralized technologies under the hood.

Over time, experimentation has led to more platforms that allow users to retain ownership as they move throughout cyberspace. Whether this is the first time you’ve heard of web3 or you’re a crusader leading the charge, pour another cup of curiosity and let’s introduce a few common terms that will make this nerdy narrative more approachable.

Decentralization – Sufficiently transitioning from single authorities to proportionately deliver verifiable ownership, access, control, transparency, communication, and governance to many stakeholders.

Blockchains – Decentralized immutable systems that record transactions with transparent logs on a dynamic ledger. There are private and public blockchains with different interfacing layers. Transaction fees cover the costs of the computing, electricity, and verification required to interact onchain.

DeFi – Acronym for decentralized finance, which weaves cryptocurrency into the existing financial industry.

Cryptology – The study of code. Within this context, cryptology supports security through cryptography. A theoretical debate is how this form of digital security will hold as quantum computing continues to mature.

Cryptocurrency – Mechanized money. Fungible assets used to support economies and immutable transactions between stakeholders online. In 2026, there are countless cryptocurrencies that total ~$4T in market capitalization, with Bitcoin maintaining the largest market cap (~$2T).

Smart Contract – Code-based agreement that establishes terms for how a transaction is executed for stakeholders involved. Like a bridge from a blockchain to digital assets, smart contracts also frame automated governance, arbitration procedures, and more.

Dapp – Acronym for decentralized application. Like other apps, but a Dapp lives on a decentralized network that uses wallets (versus profiles on a corporate network) to combine the user interface with an individual smart contract, which connects to dynamic data onchain.

NFT – Acronym for non-fungible tokens. NFTs are digital assets that represent ownership. Each NFT has a smart contract that then connects it to a blockchain. These smart contracts apply, transfer, and track digital signatures and verifiable ownership. Non-fungible means something is unique and cannot be replaced. In contrast, cryptocurrencies are fungible, as they are mutually interchangeable.

Extra Shot

The Roasted Reflections NFT Collection will always represent a neat technological experiment from 2020. It resulted in the creation of creative tokens owned by savvy/supportive true fans, who then unlocked front row seats and networked ownership with others. Studious, but fun stuff!

Minting – The process of locking a cryptographic asset (such as an NFT) into a blockchain. Transaction fees may be required, and blockchain hashing tracks the provenance for everything onchain. Lazy minting is when a digital asset is not fully minted until a transaction occurs.

Digital Wallet – A software tool to access the web3 world. Wallets store digital assets (ex: NFTs), interact with dapps, and host public/private keys. The wallet’s unique address is a hexadecimal string that refers to locations on a network, which are generated from the wallet’s private keys. This secures data transfers, cryptocurrency transactions, and digital signatures. A wallet address can be shared like a public email address, while private keys and seed phrases should always remain private.

Airdrop – Giveaways sent to digital wallets. Airdrops provide a creative way for people to share assets with each other, with senders paying the transaction fees. Be skeptical of an airdrop from unknown sources. Like clicking links or opening attachments in emailed spam, there are poisonous airdrops that can force access to your digital wallet when a malicious item is transferred. To be safe, if an unrecognized airdrop lands in your digital wallet, leave it alone.

Rugged – When digital property is lost or stolen, often malicious but not always deliberate. Being rugged is a bad thing, but it’s wild in experimental environments. Have fun in the rabbit holes, but exploration is done at your own risk. Be diligent with digital hygiene and tread lightly to stay safe in any digital realm.

DAO – Acronym for decentralized autonomous organization. These member-owned groups operate through code with less hierarchy. DAOs often share treasuries and governance, with projects defined by a collective goal.

Metaverse – Interoperable environments where users can interact from anywhere, with augmented and virtual reality ushering in more immersive experiences.

Protocol Networks – Open systems, like email, the web, and RSS that are funded and controlled but not owned by software developers or network stakeholders. In contrast, corporate networks are owned and controlled by companies instead of communities.

Zero-Knowledge Proof – In cryptography, a zero-knowledge proof is a protocol in which one party (the prover) can convince another party (the verifier) that a given statement is true—without conveying to the verifier any information beyond the mere fact of that statement’s truth. The logic in zero-knowledge proofs is that it becomes trivial to prove possession of the relevant information simply by revealing it; the hard part is to prove this possession without revealing this information (or any aspect of it whatsoever).

Tokenomics – The study of how digital assets create incentivized value within social economic frameworks.

As jargon alarms sound, remember, prevailing concepts are still being built. There are fewer industry standards, terms are not fully authenticated, and regulation is far from perfect. As web3 concepts move through different adoption life cycles, early adopters will continue to bake terms that help translate the ways in which different technologies work together.

Amid such efflorescent activity, it’s helpful to remember that much of the new jargon describes existing ideas that are being enhanced with advancing technology.

Money, for instance, is the oldest story humans have used to exchange value, yet this form of currency has evolved and will continue to do so. Secure access to a shared database is old hat for web2 wizards. We lived in Sim City long before the metaverse; everyone has flight and concert tickets landing in their phone’s digital wallet; and communities always thrive when they are sufficiently decentralized and still brewed from within. This does not thwart the magic of web3. It makes emerging technologies easier to adopt.

Brewed From Within
#76 📖 Technology

V2.0 – 100% HUMAN

By Ben McDougal, ago

Time Trappers

Storytelling enhanced with trapped time defines our civilization. Voices were first translated into writings to stretch the impact. Humanity continued to bring the past to life with audio, photos, and then video. We’re now adding telepathic communication and other weird ingredients to the technology soup that’s made to trap time. Leaders who leverage these tools are time trappers who wield an ability to appreciate life experiences more actively.

To test your time-trapping skills, grab a device and look through your own creative content. Whether it’s writings, audio, photos, video, or other types of art, go back to see what you’ve captured this week. Now, be kind and rewind. Revisit this day last year, two years ago, five years ago, and ten years ago. Embrace nostalgia, then consider the quantity, quality, and variety of content you’ve created.

Avoid distractions and stay in the moment, but if you’d like to enhance your time-trapping capability, think of fun ways to create more organized content.

This may be journaling, recording a podcast series, dedicating a day to taking an exorbitant number of photos, or editing a video from individual clips. As content comes together, organize it, and then push past fear by shipping the art. Creation, organization, and sharing will prevent everything from going numb within a device. The value in doing this can be seen as we write into physical notebooks or treasure a healthy bookshelf and when music lovers choose vinyl over endless streaming or a live theater performance over a TV show. Exertion from those generous enough to create, organize, and ship their art makes thoughtful time trapping more demanding but also more fulfilling as we extend time.

We are already cyborgs, and biotech will further augment the way we seamlessly capture, organize, and share our realities. Until we autonomously enhance our bandwidth, telling a story, writing, recording audio, taking photos, or shooting video will still take manual effort. Let’s mitigate the risk of AI and optimized efficiency. But might the elbow grease required to set each time trap make our personal creations more memorable? Yes! Even as future tools add ease, ingenuity and creativity will remain an essential currency that adds heartfelt context to trapped time.

Without a thesis, care enough to habitually go beyond what’s expected. When premium human time and ambitious initiative become a fundamental part of your creative practice, you’ll be a time trapper who stays in-tune, organized, and inspired with timeless purpose.

Brewed From Within
#72 📖 Technology

By Ben McDougal, ago

Replicants

Technologists and futurists have long imagined interacting with replicants. We’ve seen them in the movies. There’s no single definition for what a replicant might be, but it’s not C-3PO from Star Wars. Our replicants will be an artificially intelligent, bioengineered entity that has consciousness rooted in the human (or machine) it originated from.

This humanoid will index everything the originator ever created, map the complexity of their network, understand internalized versus externalized thoughts, have empathy for how the author matured over time, and gain contextual insight from storytelling to form a foundational identity. This identity would find purpose from a digitized consciousness, maintain essential rules, feel a mirrored personality, act the same even when nobody was watching, and stay updated without an altered foundation.

Extra Shot

Days feel long, but years fly by.

Replication should remain a choice, but capacity to interact with our past and future is expanding. Think of how we take photos. Look at the media being captured at any concert. We already use the moment to remember the past. We speak to holograms, watch animals play video games with their brain, grow synthetic realities, and experiment with infinity through the math and physics of big and small.

As the bandwidth of technology reaches escape velocity, what’s stopping us from pressing the record button to store every angle from every moment? At that speed, how can the linear evolution of humanity’s intelligence fuse with the exponential trajectory of machine learning? Even when it’s possible, do humans want such a reflective future?

Thinking about futuristic interactions can summon a desire to amend the way we spend time. Would you live your life differently knowing future generations may interact with your replicant? Therein lies why most of us don’t like the idea of such a daunting, forward-focused souvenir. If we’re always performative, authenticity is lost. Consistency, which most want in business, becomes a drag, and choosing less randomness, never breaking the rules, and pretending life is show would result in mental distortion and altered actions.

Constant attention is less fun, and making mistakes keeps us wild, but might we be less careless if the plan was to leave a replicant behind? This exercise might be less about technology and, instead, using replication as motivation to fully appreciate how every byte counts.

Brewed From Within
#86 📖 Technology

By Ben McDougal, ago

Playforce

The expectation of top talent has evolved. People crave a connection to time that delivers a sense of purpose and belonging. When work feels like play, the lively environment invites people to take on bigger challenges. To support the future of work, today’s students, educational organizations, employees, and employers must adapt together.

When we think about work that feels like play, it’s not just pinball all day. The definition of “fun” is to spend time doing an enjoyable activity and to feel engaged. When a team has fun with satisfying work that matters, the group’s true potential is unlocked, and individuals are more likely to become indispensable. This leads to more generosity, laughter, caring, scientific questions, learning, gift-giving, and mapmakers eager to go beyond what’s expected.

EXTRA SHOT

This contribution was written by Elizabeth Tweedale. Elizabeth is a founder who is passionate about technology education, AI, and preparing children for the future.

In addition to more flexibility and fair compensation, employees want greater autonomy. Employees want the freedom to be creative and to find purpose in the way they spend their time. When this balance is achieved, people are happy, and the sense of satisfaction they feel allows them to do their best work. This culture leads not only to more innovative productivity but also to lasting retention. It’s an oxymoron, but a playforce earns this lasting retention through a shared freedom to believe in the mission, people, target market, service/product potential, and timing.

Too often, attempts to optimize employees’ work-life balance stems from a flawed assumption that we must create boundaries to differentiate our life and our work. The idea of a “work-life balance” is a corporate illusion not suitable for the entrepreneurial lifestyle.

The neon future of work creates an experience where life and work coexist as one. This is possible when labor looks like work to others but feels like play to us. This activates a culture where retention is natural due to a genuine interest in a shared direction. This type of playforce environment welcomes anyone to leave when a quest is no longer the best opportunity for their life. This bizarre freedom is balanced because it’s shared by leaders who assume positive intent but can also make moves when an employee no longer aligns with the time. This mutual admiration transforms a team that shares a creative way of being.

As today’s workforce is transformed into tomorrow’s playforce, let’s consider the difference between work that feels like play, versus work with proverbial playgrounds nearby. When fun activities serve as a distraction, the facade of fun will wear off.

It’s also important to remember that what’s fun for one person could be more of a chore for others. Personality assessments and ongoing coopetition help leaders sense team dynamics. Acting professionally does not mean dimming one’s honest personality. We want people to be themselves.As professional comfort is paired with an eagerness to make things better, people can focus.

If the future of work is play, we must activate children with creativity, involvement, and adaptability. The future is their playground, and no permission is needed to contribute. Education can be about delivering access to culture, skills, tools, and purpose. When children connect, play, and learn with passion, they engage not because they have to but because they’re having fun. This supportive sandbox empowers students to win the game of education and then go beyond it. As students grow, Playforce Principles help them understand superpowers and build beside evolving interests.

This translates into employers and employees who enjoy significant roles that feel tailored for what they’re best at. Together, we can change the equation and make work our lifestyle, setting us free to have fun while making an impactful and lasting difference.

Brewed From Within
#56 📖 Leadership

By Ben McDougal, ago