[Music]
and we're here to talk about memes um
our presentation Is MeMe Craft um
narrative Dynamics in crypto so what we
want to talk about um of course like
coming to Devcon um you know at least
for me it's been a little bit
overwhelming it's been definitely a good
thing I love seeing all my friends um a
lot of my friends though I know through
the internet and of course being on the
internet the way that we often relate to
each other is through memes um and so
memes has been memes are basically very
fundamental to the creation of culture
in crypto um but kind of the thing that
we wanted to talk about on top of not
just saying that memes are awesome and
great but also to like dig a bit deeper
into what they are and what kind of um
Powers they can project so we want to
talk about some uh analytical Frameworks
to help us understand and um have a
deeper understanding of memes their use
and um the power that they can have
without us necessarily knowing it and so
just very quickly to remind ourselves
the origins of memes it comes actually
from Richard Dawkins um I don't know if
you remember the time in the 2010s when
everyone was having their atheist phase
that came from Richard Dawkins book uh
The God Delusion um but before he was an
atheist um or he might have been an
Atheist then I don't know he was a
biologist um who studied genetics and
what he was looking into um in the 70s
was kind of the ways in which cultural
information is spread through imitation
um and this is what he termed memes so
he used basically the the kind of
structure of the word Gene and combined
it with the Greek word memma and created
memes in the
1970s um and so he conceived of this as
a parallel to biological genes in which
there is a kind of like natural
selection of which types of bits of
cultural information exists and which
ones survive um and he he refers to it
as a as a unit of cultural information I
think is interesting um and so what I
want to kind of like unpack a little bit
on that is that I think this this term
as a unit of cultural information is a
little bit
misleading um oh wrong button um and
that I would actually argue that memes
are bundles there are like packages of
information with different layers of
meaning vocabulary actions in which put
all together the more you can pack
inside of a meme usually the more
powerful it is the more that it like
resonates with someone as some sort of
action meaning vocabul that they use
that they resonate so memes are not
discret objects they you can still use
the word unit but a unit of cultural
information is usually uh cultural
information being the Richer it is the
more powerful it is um is a combination
of all these different things and so um
the meme really hits if you can just get
all this information and um in just like
a single image for example at least when
we're talking about um the context of
internet memes um and so I think what's
also
on top of this interesting to note is
that memes um have a kind of like uh
they can be like doubly as good if you
can also get very um uh what's the word
like meta about uh a particular topic um
and so we can see like you know in the
in the crypto world you know bitcoiners
be like I'm in it for the technology
like this is something that has several
layers of meaning that like transcend
not just the image itself as being funny
because the guy is wearing jewelry but
it's also because I think it it um
unconsciously or subconsciously elicits
this kind of like character of a person
this archetype of a person that exists
in which they live inside of a system of
capitalism in which they need to project
a particular uh ideology in order to
justify their accumulation of capital um
and the rest of these are plenty of
different examples um I really like this
one my parents in their 20s I bet he'll
grow up to do great things me I trade
meme coins full-time I think kind of you
know elicits the the kind of like right
observation of like Financial nihilism
in the world and how people are kind of
trading meme coins fulltime to make
money um so it is like several layers of
different types of contexts and meanings
in which like make a meme something that
is that is quite powerful um and so I'll
leave it to I believe Beth to give us
some analytical tools to understand this
a bit more um hi so uh yeah andk
thinking through this um I thought it
was really interesting you know as a
person who's often responsible for
managing social media on Twitter and
being way too immersed in crypto Twitter
than is maybe good for my mental health
um I think it's really interesting to
really see how people are um so often
like frantically coalescing around the
specific moment as like this is the time
that we're going to make this thing
happen to go to the moon or now you know
if we um make enough mimetic Force then
we'll push you know push ourselves into
the next uh bull market Etc and so I
think it's really interesting to think
of um Walter benz's concept of a y site
um which is this idea of like um right
now is this particular moment that has
transformative potential within it and
exist in a context of unfolding moments
um that we are all experiencing together
and shaping a shared reality and inner
subjectivity so um yeah finding uh our
friends in light Sage capitalism um as
we try to figure out how to navigate all
of this together and also want to wanted
to make the point that a lot of the
Frameworks that we're thinking about
here uh are drawing on Concepts from you
know a 100 years ago when people were
originally thinking about these um kind
of structuralist terminologies but
history is repeating itself or rhyming
you know with um like greater Vigor all
the time so I think it's really
interesting to think and um in terms of
some of these patterns um yep how do you
do this the green button
top oh uh yeah so just um to go a little
bit deeper in Concepts from Walter
Benjamin I might butcher uh these German
words for my German friends that I see
sitting in the audience um but uh um uh
versus uh ER libes is uh two um ways of
categorizing experience that I think are
super useful for thinking about um what
is it that we are experiencing together
through these mimetic structures that um
yeah that we're co-creating basically so
my understanding of it is that umong is
uh the kind of Ted knowledge lived
experience that you have whether you are
um you know a node validator yourself
deeply involved in um you know coding
infrastructure deeply involved in doing
the the work that I do in terms of
setting up um events um and doing you
know Community weaving across the space
uh the knowledge that you come to
understand through gossip networks and
through um just seeing patterns uh
repeating over time versus um the uh air
lebes which is more the experience that
you have from you know reading through
crypto Twitter um hearing about um you
know stuff that is happening on the news
is it filter's a perception of what's
going on in crypto or you know just
watching the markets and not thinking
about the greater depths that's
happening underneath but I think that in
our space especially and you know at
this particular moment in space and time
that we're at at Devcon it's really
interesting to think about the
relationship between these two things
because in order to have the full
context of the lived experience um and
gain that tasic knowledge in a deep and
U meaningful way then you also you know
need to have this more surf level noise
that you're navigating to get the full
picture so I think that the way that um
mimetic uh forces work in our space is
really interesting in looping these two
together and just to give some examples
of what I mean by that um I think uh
starter packs for example are mimetic um
you know memetic form that um where you
know you look at this or and it's like
um you know i' maybe you know either
deeply understand what each of these
things are are and it's hilarious or
don't understand what they are but then
you start to understand that they move
together in um you know a conceptual uh
bundle as joshu was saying and so I
think um memes uh ability as an art form
to link um Concepts and create uh an
aesthetic um container is super
interesting um similarly um in terms of
what we are saying about memes that um
you know form on top of each other with
these levels meaning um I found this in
my screenshots yesterday and I was like
that is very true um like it's
interesting you know to understand what
this is saying you have to understand
the meme in the first place understand
the uh structures behind tarot and then
also this idea of like a um a cyclical a
linear bit cyclical flow through ordered
information that is can contained not
only in the reactions that are happening
in that Meme but also what a Tarot
spread might look like there so and I
think you know this idea of information
being conveyed in a spread obviously you
know applies to uh looking at markets
Etc as well um and Josh can talk about
this one yes I just wanted to when we
were discussing this give a a really
practical example of how this manifests
itself in crypto in which then we begin
to identify as a part of crypto culture
and I think the one of the like easiest
ones are the first ones that a lot of
people get exposed to is this concept of
hodling holding holding your crypto um
which of course has its own history I
won't get into but um the way that it
happens is that you know you buy crypto
uh you hold it uh you read about hling
um of course crypto is very volatile so
the market is going up and down when it
goes down you begin to like oh my gosh
should I sell should I sell you don't
sell you keep it you huddle and then you
are reminded that you huddled when the
market is down because you go to crypto
um forums and whatever else you're like
oh I huddle I took part in crypto
culture and now I can identify very
quickly with other people in crypto
culture the the feedback loop is quite
short um and so this short feedback loop
is what then hooks you inside of crypto
culture and now you are a crypt bro
welcome yeah and to lead into our next
point there also the um the power of you
know naming a particular Behavior so you
know before it's like okay well I'm
choosing not to sell my coins but then
as you become deeper embedded in the
ecosystem you learned there was a name
for what I did it's hodling and that
makes me a hodler um so and the last
example that I wanted to give I um
thought that it was really interesting
to see um this concept of finite and
infinite games you know a big crowd
pleaser in general in our space but I
feel like it is getting brought up more
and more frequently in this Con uh this
conference in particular which I think
is really fantastic as a way for framing
um the World building that we do
together and and capturing the evolving
landscape so um uh like yesterday I was
attending a talk where um I had directly
brought it up and I was really happy to
hear that that was a um explicit thought
process behind the concept of the
infinite Garden that we are all
cultivating um so uh leading into that
it was a nerd point that I liked um that
um it's a great way of framing as well
of it consigns language game so as we
were just talking about with these
different um ways of framing um uh
construction of identity construction of
behavior understanding of the System
Dynamics that you're operating in and um
the narratives that uh we're
constructing through how we um convey
information through words and images um
I just you know I think this is really
interesting these are some of you know
the examples that he gave um whether
we're using language to report an event
um you know uh pretend to do something
switch between languages all of these
different ways that we um engage with
our world as mediated by language are um
ways that we are constructing a reality
and also that we're conveying
information between one another in a way
that creates uh inner subjectivity and
shared perception um so uh yeah so kind
of my first point uh with I guess how
that leads into how we can think about
how we are um operating in a meme
apparatus uh the rules constraints and
outcomes of language games are
continually evolving in a feedback loop
of shaping and being shaped by cultural
norms and behaviors of their players um
and talk so yeah so some of the um memes
that we all know and maybe love um I
think going a little bit chronologically
on the evolution of memes a little bit
uh it first starts off you know being
entangled in crypto culture um in which
we have this early proliferation of of
memes about taking an action related to
market dynamics right we we uh we huddle
is the the one uh example that I gave
earlier but also sometimes we get
wrecked um sometimes you know we have
Diamond hands or we have paper hands
because we sold we see the the the
movement of the market and prices go to
the Moon um or we get uh uh you know rug
pulled with this not your keys not your
crypto I think is something that is uh
also another kind of related to tcid
experience of holding your keys in
crypto or being on a centralized
exchange and being warned about it um
digital gold being a type of invest
investment narrative um this is kind of
like where where it starts um and these
memes themselves uh in total may move
capital in a particular direction but
it's kind of like broadly in crypto and
it's related to like the actions that
you are taking in response to market
dynamics but I think what's been
interesting to kind of see is that with
the introduction of ethereum is that now
um the memes have become much more
sophisticated right we've had this
Cambrian explosion of different uh
mechanisms that are now available to us
all these Financial Primitives which
have elicited immense flows of capital
into specific projects and applications
so um you know Infamous one was 33 um
where people just kind of let's all
collaborate together into a p scheme um
or wagy retrop pgf quadratic funding all
of these different terms are used to
solicit investment or movement of
capital into a particular place um so
it's not only whereas hodling and
getting wreck and going to the moon was
about like crypto broadly now we're
getting like we are turning in on
ourselves and creating this Loop
concentric Loop inside to where we are
now directing Capital within the crypto
ecosystem in VAR places based on the
movement of memes and um and their
proliferation and now we have reached in
the recent kind of um events in the
United States with the election to the
point where memes are being uh used by
people with a lot of influence like Elon
Musk um and so that these flows of
capital are capitalizing on their
Investments of taking part in meme
culture like uh uh Elon mus did in order
to influence government policy directly
so Elon Musk simply talked about Doge
over and over again over the years in
order to in ingratiate himself over time
and through his power and influence and
um having so many followers and having
so much money and owning Twitter he was
able to become a part of the meme to the
point to where he can now post about the
department of government efficiency or
Doge as a way to probably my guess is
bring forth U um a lot of cuts into
government programs and who knows what
else is going to come out of that um but
so now he is we have this situation
where big capital is very much a part of
the of meme creation and meme spread and
the uh spread of narrative and this is
something that we should all take into
account and and and be aware
of um and yeah that gets into uh the
final point that uh you know thinking
about the flow of um these different um
mic Frameworks and how they very
directly impact human behavior Market
behavior um those behaviors then have
impact on the client uh on the the
climate and uh all you know all of our
ability in the space to have stable work
and all of these uh effects that happen
and so I think it's really important in
our space to think about uh explicitly
how to memes harness identity inner
subjectivity and ideology to create
reinforce and reproduce dynamics of
power and
control um so just you know to bring up
to um white guys from 50 years ago um
then uh I think it's really useful to
think about um From fuko's perspective
this um control that is uh is mediated
through societies based on access to
knowledge and this um feedback loop
between uh having greater knowledge you
know information asymmetry by Design
understanding uh a deeper awareness of
patterns that are happening um and very
actively directing the
discourse um so that certain um certain
Concepts gain power and start uh
directing Capital as Josh was mentioning
and also changing Behavior at scale and
I think it's also really important to
remember in our space which uh
narratives are being pushed and for who
and why so for example we if everyone is
ascribing to this ideology around
decentralization um thinking critically
about is this something that is being
used for an extractive purpose even
though it's something that on a surface
level we are all um agreeing with in a
friendly way and that gets to uh my
final point about in web 3 or in crypto
we are often uh reconstructing Ing and
reproducing in our emergent way um
existing um methods of control through
um you know apparatuses of the state and
of capital um that maybe you know as
I've heard a lot in different people's
talks that they may be left you know the
traditional world to escape these things
or recreate them in their own image and
I think it's really important to think
about what are the ideological
apparatuses that we are reproducing so
our final point is to meme safely be
aware of information asymmetry be aware
of what um flows of power and control
you are participating in and also send
us some dank memes if you see any uh and
if you want to mention our last point oh
yeah and then if you like if you like
the things that we've said and our words
we have a lot more words um we started a
Sci-Fi called catabasis where we are
exploring some of the some of the common
themes in the crypto world so yeah thank
you and there's a QR code in case you
want to in case you want to go look it
up
now thank
you all right thank you so much Beth and
Joshua we have had a few questions come
in during your talk so let's start with
the first one besides being perennially
online on crypto Twitter how do you stay
on top of crypto
memes do you want do
that um
so yeah I mean I definitely recommend
pacing yourself if you're going to be
parentally online on crypto Twitter
because it can it can take a toll on
your mental health and your soul but um
I think for me it's mainly about kind of
the the larger Point here is by having
context about the kind of like larger
Trends and things that are happening
within the economy I think it gives a
better insight into what memes are being
pushed and why they're being pushed
and trying to understand like who are
the the main players in pushing that
Meme so it's not I don't think it's just
about staying on top of memes but it's
about staying on top of like where are
the expectations of the flow of capital
in order to understand like is this a
meme that I should take part in or is
this a meme that is simply actually
reinforcing my subjugation to um various
forces so what I'd say
oh okay um so I think with regards to
Jin Z I mean for me the um yeah as an
elder in relation to gen z uh I like my
perception of you guys or them is that
um folks that are entering the workforce
for the first time and starting to
mature are going through you know their
version of when we were like doggos and
BuzzFeed and like you know how like what
are the ways and which you dissociate
and which are the ways that you choose
to process existing uh under capitalism
so I would say I like the j z um like
absurdism that is coming through things
I'm a bit concerned about like how a lot
of people are embracing um uh yeah
Andrew Tate type stuff and how that is
proliferating among that generation and
it's something I'm curious to understand
more about so if you have some Alpha
leaks about why Jin Z are turning into
to uh Trad Folks at a high rate please
let me know um yeah maybe I would just
warn against like being um naively
optimistic about uh going into the
workforce I would say um and trying to
have a larger view of the movement of
capital so that you can protect yourself
in the long term um from like what is
inevitably going to come in a market is
that there is going to be a downturn
there will be a bare Market um and so
yeah just to be aware of those things
all right the next question is do you
own any meme coins but I think maybe
more importantly what we can also talk
about is what are your thoughts on Meme
coins especially in relation to
everything that you've
discussed maybe I can take that one so I
mean um not a financial advisor I have a
I think I have a very small investment
in meme coins just because it's it's
it's a way to help me keep track of them
um but yeah and we didn't we wanted to
add meme coins into the presentation but
it became it was starting to get a
little bit too long but um I think when
it comes to meme coins for me what is
even more like crazy about them is that
they are they are not just meme coins
they are like financialized memes they
are memes in which like flows of capital
are moving in and out based on the
appearance of memes maybe in the media
or elsewhere so and I think this has
been quite fundamental to I think the
recent the you know the the accumulation
of power and capital by Elon Musk lately
um and in the previous years um and also
now I think that that strategy is
proliferating throughout I think what
people are I think underestimating about
Elon Musk and how he's been able to um
basically take hold of the narrative
through his not just purchase of Twitter
but also just having a big account and
just simply being um yeah doing more or
less whatever he wants is that he is
able to not only make money for himself
but make money for his acolytes or make
money for the people who follow him is
that if you are someone who simply
follows Elon Musk and just like follows
what he says and like following his
mention of Doge and you buy uh doge
coins whenever he mentions Doge and then
you make money off of it then you're
going to love the guy you're going to
follow him into battle because he is the
guy that like made you rich or he's a
guy who is like making you money um when
you're broke so yeah okay thank you so
much Joshua and Beth let's put our hands
together for them