We all agree that our networks, contacts and connections have immeasurable value, right?

So let's agree that the conversation about the elephant 🐘 in the room is already overdue?!

Let's get back to basics.

Throughout our 10,000 recorded years of history, we as a species have always functioned according to a centralized paradigm. This was the way humans found to thrive in a competitive and hostile environment.

From Sumerians to North Americans present day , “Humanity 1.0 - pre-modernity” was organized socially, politically and economically in a centralized way ran by a handful of people and organizations directed by them.

These systems were never designed to change and improve the way we organize and coordinate ourselves, on the contrary. These are systems created by centralizing agents to maintain the power dynamics that serves them.

However, let's not forget that nothing in our ecosystems, nothing on the planet is centralized. In fact, it is the opposite, a delicate inter-dependence balance between all living beings.

The first question I ask myself arises: from right angles to organizational structures why most human models do not follow the principles and frameworks presented by nature around us?

Well, throughout history, each time a new technology spreads, it is quickly colonized by the few, reducing the participation of the many.

This, not by chance, was and still is the path of the internet phenomenon. It was first developed by Tim Berners-Lee to be open to anyone and everyone. At least it should be for those few who knew how to code and had the means to access it. Like all technologies, it was expensive at first, leaving many behind.

It was the early days and no one really understood the full potential of this powerful tool. This first phase is now called Web 1.0, read-only simple pages with no multimedia support, only hyperlinks.

Over time, access costs have dropped exponentially. By correlating the time-cost curve with the famous Moore's Law - computing capacity doubles every 18 months - the internet, in 20 years, has spread to 4.5 billion humans across the planet.

This mass adoption turned Humanity 1.0 into what I call “Mechanic Humanity 2.0”. We will talk about the details of this concept later on.

The internet has opened a door to a new hyper-connected world allowing information and knowledge to spread without geographic, social or cultural barriers.

After a few years and economic bubbles 🫧 the tool we created started to create us. We have reached a level of development where interactions on the web have become increasingly simple to the point where almost everyone can join the creator economy, now known as Web 2.0.

Our virtuality has become a super important part of our reality. It was simply impossible to remember the time when we did not have this practicality.

However, the products and services created have positioned themselves as free but hiding the way they monetize their business. Surveillance Capitalism arose. Middleman seizes our data and preferences without consent to influence our behavior for commercial and sometimes even political purposes.

Social platforms have robotized people with their algorithms. A race with no finish line, infinite scrolling to keep us stuck and addicted to superficial content, likes and followers.

The transition from one web to the other was once again colonized by big greedy corporations that on the one hand pushed the development of the internet while, as usual in the modern human economic system, kept the cake all to themselves leaving crumbs for us, the people.

Information, knowledge and choices are held back by the controlling hands of our digital networks. Tech giants decide what you and I can see and share.

It couldn't get any worse. We not only got left out of the party, but they also capture our personal data, spy on us, label our behavior and turn us into products to sell us in batches for political and commercial institutions.

At the same time, there was a bit of noise, statements, complains and movements emerging at the edges of the human family that have helped to open my eyes. It was the first time I really understood that I wasn't using a product, but being the used product. It was the last straw.

Before that, I never really understood my friends who refused to participate in social media. It's now crystal clear just how much damage these so-called "services" are doing and why a handful of people refused to participate in this fucked up hype.

Now, here's the tipping point.

Once again, another great transformation is taking place. Some of us are moving away from these coercive asymmetrical systems to join and co-create a new one called Web 3.0, the “Humanity of Alchemists 3.0”

Decentralization is the buzzword. This decentralization is happening for the first time at scale. With everything digitized, it was only a matter of time before money and value became not just digitized, but decentralized.

Like all previous cycles, Alchemists 3.0 are now back in the garage deconstructing the standard 10.000 year old paradigm by recombining and creating new tools. New behaviors and demands are emerging and making room for a self-sovereign virtually “uncolonizable” technology that has enormous potential to bring us the ability to cut out the middleman.

Now we can be the owners and custodians not only of our personal data, but also of all our assets and also the networks we participate in. We can freely and globally exchange values and information in general at significantly lower costs, without paying with our privacy and without being subject to policies and decisions that we do not participate in.

This is only possible because the web3 movement is handling back control of our web presence, ownership of the internet and its governance to their original owners, the people.

The transition is still a little premature. For most it is still difficult to understand and to participate, but just like any other transition to something new, this was already expected. Many of us are already building workarounds for a better and funnier web3 experience in regard the tools and ecosystem as a whole.

It is also interesting to note that this new web is not only a financial network but is gaining social applications, forming autonomous and decentralized movements and creating the TAZ - Temporary Autonomous Zones.

Dominators have always known that where there is domination, there is resistance to domination.

I like to understand what is happening as an insurgency, as a rebellion against the colonization and exploitation mentality.

As never before, our collectivity can grow so strong that finally a window for freedom and collaboration is opening to replace competition, domination and colonization.

It's finally time to get back on track, unite our peers, emulate nature's behavior, bond with each other and with the planet itself to ignite this movement for self-sovereignty. We now have an astonishing opportunity to coordinate and govern ourselves without the coercion of intermediaries.

This emerging new paradigm points to an entirely new concept of togetherness that must transform innovation and its negative externalities into a regenerative way to gather, create and distribute value.

If you still can't envision the shift in power dynamics from “power over” to “power with”, the good news is that information is just one connection away.

Those who are building these tools are onboarding people in droves so that together we can regain our autonomy and prosperous future.

Our future is at stake and our web presence has become too important for us not to own it. It is now time to choose between remaining as colonized slaves where tech giants control and mediate our activities or to fork into a parallel timeline where we are sovereign beings, owners and controllers of our digital presence, assets and privacy.

Follow your rebellious instincts, put energy into the alternative, and claim ownership of the networks we can no longer live without.

Self-sovereignty is one choice away. Take hold of your web presence and Be the change.

Oh, and don't forget that change usually does not serve the winning side. Those in charge and in power are not really interested in changing the game they are winning.