Highlights from the Other Life community this week
Become a citizen
How I Gained Creative and Financial Independence. “The Paul Millerd episode and subsequent discussion has prompted me to share my experience & perspective in hopes that some will find it helpful and encouraging…
I took the path of just trying to save as much as I could so that I could cut the strings altogether and ensure I had enough of a cushion to allow a period of sustained focus & effort, without having to worry about money. The tether that I have established for myself is linked entirely to my bank account, and there is no set “time deadline“ that I am giving myself to realize any particular milestone. So the alarm bell sounds when my savings gets down to a particular level. One month into leaving my job, I feel 100% vindicated that this was absolutely the right decision.”
By ~nospex-larsut in the imperceptible city. Read and reply in the Open Group Blog.
Earn $5k for Publishing an Essay on the Valuation of Urbit. “We’re currently looking for academics and analysts (institutional or public–serious thinkers with a blog or Substack qualify!) to write detailed analyses of valuation models for Urbit address space, the Urbit network as a whole, and/or the economic/commercial potential of such. This could be an extrapolation of current Urbit price and adoption dynamics, a historical comparison with other technologies/platforms, or an analysis of Urbit as a hedge against certain macro (economic/political/technological) dynamics.”
You should apply via the green button with a short summary of your plan, before you start working on it; they will just check that your plan meets their criteria, so you don’t waste time on something too far afield. You’ll then produce the finished product and if the panel determines that it meets their bar then you’ll get $5k.
By ~hatryx-lastud in the imperceptible city. Read and reply in the Open Group Blog.
Book Review of Ontological Design by Danial Fraga. “The text, written by AI conversation designer Daniel Fraga, is an admixture of a manifesto and Novum Organum. Five significant ideas repeat throughout the text that washes over the reader like ocean waves. First, subjectivity is the only thing Real. Second, the extended mind is the self. Third, the change in the abundance of data is a qualitative change in existence. Fourth, symbols and rituals mediate this abundance of data to certain activities called affordances. Lastly, affordances frame nothingness in an unending deferment that organizes the social cognitive system named in order of smallest to largest: Meme, Reality Tunnel, Memeplex, Noosphere. Throughout the book, Fraga frequently quotes Hegel, Nietzsche, Adorno, Deleuze, Nick Land, and Camilla Page, enveloped in the incense of Christian Atheism.”
By Thomas Jockin. Read more and reply in the imperceptible town.
Not Everyone Can Exit? On Gradual Exit via Freelancing. “I was thinking really hard about a total Exit, thinking that ‘maybe I can create my own job, that there are so many opportunities in crypto, that I am an engineer, etc.’ But in the end this Exit fever was more paralyzing than anything. I was putting energy on a too-big-for-me side project that I wouldn’t be continuing if I wasn’t planning to chase some big chunks of money. And being a husband with a 2 years old, a loan, and the situation was just about pressuring myself like a crazy…
I started figuring out a sustainable path… I am a creative person and for my side projects I know I need time to figure out what works and what doesn’t. I think I will eventually have the freelance job option with 8 months of missions.”
By ~witwep-pagwyn in the imperceptible city. Read and reply in the Open Group Blog.
