Zuzalu, Vitalik Buterin’s network state open city initiative, offers more opportunities for ongoing learning.
Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, has disclosed that he must resolve at least two significant issues—governance and membership—in order to render his “popup city” or “network states” concept feasible.
On September 22, Vitalik Buterin presented the theory behind “network states” at the Network State Conference 2024 in Singapore. This movement involves the consolidation of online communities to establish physical communities and pursue political autonomy.
The mathematician contemplated his experiment, Zuzalu, which entailed the arrival of 200 individuals from the Ethereum community, crypto executives, biotech entrepreneurs, and scientific researchers in Montenegro from March to May 2023.
The objective was for individuals to collaborate in order to address collective issues, such as human longevity.
“For 60 days, gather these individuals, attempt to emulate a metropolis, and then observe the results,” stated Buterin.
He stated that the experience was enjoyable, as it included healthful dining, frigid plunges, and a significant amount of yoga, and that the human element was essential. Nevertheless, he went on to state that the imminent next step was ambiguous, and the governance issues persisted.
Buterin clarified that these states have the ability to establish their own regulations that are beneficial to their citizens and to reject overregulation that impedes progress, as is evident in the West. Nevertheless, he stated that the experiment did not provide a distinct indication of how to proceed with their implementation.
According to him, Popup cities are a novel medium that enables individuals to “do science fiction” and anticipate ten steps in advance. Nevertheless, he emphasized that productive relationships between network states are necessary, as tribalism, as it is currently prevalent on social media, is “zero-sum and unproductive.”
Vitalik concluded that temporary cities possess “product market fit,” but “we must address governance and membership more.”
“The path beyond this point is contingent upon the objective,” he stated before concluding: “We should all be working together more, despite the fact that we have varying objectives, and we should carefully consider how to do so.”
Balaji Srinivasan conceived the concept of network states, which Buterin elaborated on in 2022. Network states are proposed as a potential successor to libertarianism, as they integrate elements of individualism with community values.
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