In some ways, we're getting back to the 90s and the early days of the Internet: building protocols that are open and enabling a lot of innovation on top of it.
For example, everyone knows error 404 but 402 was there also (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Status/402).
Now, the payments have materialised and are as easy as visiting someone's profile on nostr. It's called zapping or public tips but it can be used for more than tips.
Another aspect of the early Internet was the openness to innovation. Everybody could contribute, and the spirit of building, discovery and awe was there. It was a new frontier where a lot of opportunities were possible before the centralisation and silos.
A third aspect is more generic but you have a community feel on nostr. And, it's a global village at the moment that is respectful, inspiring and supportive.
The fourth one is related to the underlying principles of liberty and openness that are pretty much in question in every part of the world.
Johan Norberg's book Open: The Story of Human Progress is a wonderful explainer of this phase and its importance. A few quotes from my review:
"There are periods in history where different cultures with different religions, ethnicities and locations had rule of law, rapid economic growth and scientific progress. These upturns were often sudden, unexpected and very expansive with population and income growth...
All of them have commonalities that are the basic message of the book: people were open to new and different ideas, innovations, cultures, habits, foreigners, technologies, business models and more importantly to the uncertainty that opening up to something different and strange bring."
https://www.petrikajander.com/open-the-story-of-human-progress/
A lot of the frontiers are closed at this point. Space travel is not accessible yet. Metaverse has not really taken off. Invasive wars are a reality now that has set us back almost 100 years. Money printing and all the rest of the troubles in the economies are also making things look grim.
nostr and AI are examples of new frontiers that are exciting, full of opportunities and are shaping our future in very unpredictable ways.
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