Dialogue
Send your views, using ‘Dialogue’ as the subject line, to edge@futurenet.com. Our letter of the month wins a year’s subscription to Edge.
Mona Lisas and mad hatters
All the rightly sceptical discussions of NFTs in recent Edge issues have had the unfortunate consequence of making me think more about NFTs. Specifically, why do they seem (at least to me) so completely devoid of cultural or social value? No doubt it’s partly because of the horrible ‘cryptobros’ that swarm them, the anarchocapitalist undertones, and the negative environmental consequences, but there must be something more fundamental.
Obviously I don’t have the full answer, but it seems to do with a combination of factors: effort and skill, constitution, and ultimately a preoccupation with the marketplace over the thing that’s being marketed.
Most NFTs that enjoy Internet fame seem to require little effort or skill to make. Perhaps I’d feel differently about NFTs if blockchains were flinging around Mona Lisas, but they seem like the digital equivalent of a penny arcade dispensing
