The High Level Concepts

i go into more details of the "lore" that is guiding the product building in a separate section docid\ odz29hvxtqqss1abaxizl here i want to write with more clarity around the governing principles and primitives creating engaged irl communities while connecting with people online is great, i'm taking a contrarian view that it will be irl communities, connections and relationships that create greater value on the one hand, especially after the panedemic, people may consider it obvious but actions and reality belie the truth engagement irl is hard to do "community organizers" put in a ton of effort to put together meetups, volunteer gatherings, events, rallies after speaking to several who do this, it felt off and archaic i couldn't and still haven't yet put my finger on it but i feel that the design space is to marry "digital mechanics" with irl interaction why will irl matter? pure digital interaction or intermediated physical interaction will ultimately be taken over by machines for example, if the interaction is purely digital, whether through a digital deliverable (art work, code review) or an interaction (chatting via text or, for all we know, a zoom call), it can likely be done by a computer not a human being and it will be done better a video based initial screening interview, product discovery and demo, even a basic therapy session, can be done or will soon be done with a computer powered by existing ai models and animated graphics these will likely be better in certain dimensions accuracy and reliability of data, scheduling availability, maybe even less interpersonal friction services that don't really need direct human interaction, such as butchering meat, preparing salad or basic fast foods, delivering the food in some situations can already be done by robots the manufacturing sector, which includes manual labor that remains largely hidden from the end consumer, is already seeing encroachment by robotics and ai if we rely on digital intermediation (we communicate with someone through a computer) and continue a preference for convenience and lower cost in physical delivery of goods and services, computers will be able to address more and more of those interactions while this is largely better for companies which capture the efficiency gains through profits or more marketshare through lower costs, it's worth asking what is meaningful and valuable for humans? proof of irl one thought is that irl reduces (although doesn't eliminate) the fraud, scamming, spoofing, and catfishing that occurs online if reducing counterparty risk remains important, it's possible irl has value in that regard however, smart contracts which allow trustless transactions, verifiable identities, and on chain histories may actually make trust through irl less important this is the case if we want to interact purely digitally if i want to make sure a good or service or contract is transacted fairly by another party, cryptographically proving identity, collateral, and transactions along with decentralized, secure execution makes sense irl verification is less reliable so is there utility for proving a meeting occured in irl between people or at a specific event or gathering? i think so but still thinking it through i think it only matters if people care about human interaction and know what is critical the people who treat the interactions transactionally and focus on efficiency will not see such value they will always value zoom above in person zoom is a great supplement, i use it often but i've also met people who, even if we are starting a company together and are 3 minutes apart walking distance, still prefer zoom (didn't work for a number of reasons, this being a meaningful sign)