The Inspiration

FoBlock is an answer to a question. The question: how will these things be?

We saw the potential of blockchain technology, and then asked, “how will the fruits of this potential be  available and  beneficial to all members of society?”

You may have observed as of the time of reading this manifesto that blockchain technology is an esoteric subject/activity; unconsciously cordoned off from the layman. Not that a layman cannot find himself in that space. But that one must actively pursue to enter the space as a layman to enjoy its promises and benefits. It is like an exclusive club – only the inside men speak its language and reap its exclusive benefits. This ought not to be so.

But then, historically, we have seen how starting from a small set of enthusiasts in the first and second generations of the web, the impact of the web spread, touching and affecting even the semi-literate. When that – the worldwide reach – happened, it was befitting to call it a success. We are still far off from achieving this with web3, but it is something we are prepared to do. That is why Foblock came to be.

We at Foblock, are putting everything in place – within a community – to foster the blockchain with the aim that everyone should enjoy the benefits of web3 without being a member of an exclusive WAGMI club or DAO.

In other words, we want to foster the blockchain to a point where an everyday person can use web3 products smoothly without hassle in their lives. Foblock is a community with the vision to render blockchain technology less esoteric, less exclusive, and easy to use for the regular Joe.

Considering that using web2 products (e.g Twitter, Facebook) feels more like play than work, we have a high standard to beat with web3 – to make using web3 products as easy, seamless, playful, pleasurable, leisurely, and less laborious as the products of web2 before it.

The Method

Web3, has for some time now, been a hot topic in tech. By observing the historical trail of how the world reacts to novelty, innovation, and genius, it is no surprise that web3 has received a fairly warm welcome. Warm because it has not met with total acceptance; it has faced its good share of resistance, skepticism, and outright demonization just as it has been with its technological ancestors.

Among the controversies web3 faces are the genuine problems of enthusiastic hypes, cultic jamboree, blind investments, unproven trust, and blatant skepticism about their real-use cases. The biggest problem however that joins all these problems together is the issue that skeptics and enthusiasts have always managed to blow past one another, hardly giving each other a listening ear, and shouting from their respective Rehoboths.

However at Foblock,  we are building a community where skeptics, enthusiasts, and the tepid to the blockchain can be friends of the Blockchain.

Enthusiasts are easy to get as friends. Skeptics are not so easy. The tepid or apathetic are the hardest to bring around as they have no interest at all – neither positive nor negative. But it is even harder to bring them together in one place to advance a common goal which is fostering the blockchain. Yet, we realise that if we can gather people who are positively interested, negatively interested, and non-interested, we will have put together an accurate representation of our society that can shape the future of the blockchain.

Our methods are hardly technical; they are human. That is why Foblock is a community-Led project where web3 products are built, tested, and perfected for human use. After all, technology is made for humans, not humans for technology.

We want to avoid the mistake and help builders and engineers avoid the mistake of creating solutions for problems that do not exist. How delightful and stress-free will it be to get your product validation from the beginning? You will save time, money, and energy,  with a certified community hungry for your project should you get the validation.

The Community

The name FoBlock is full for Friends of Blockchain (Technology). It is a community-led project – a community of friends – committed to advancing the blockchain. It comprises visionaries who are willing to do all it takes to foster the blockchain. However, we do it with a focus on merging observations of the good sides with the criticisms of blockchain technology.

We refuse to be carried away by the optimism and hype involved with this budding technology. We wish to work with both its strengths and limitations.

FoBlock is not only a community; it is a vision that seeks to enable people to operate within this budding space.

The vision is to become an authority. By authority, we seek to bring people into a space that prioritises simplicity, cutting through technical jargon, and building community-led products that enhance the blockchain. We wish to approach web 3 from first principles. We are open to unique thinkers; people who are resolute and original in perspective. To men of depth, rigour, and conviction. FoBlock integrates dutiful skeptics, coherent enthusiasts, and the uniquely indifferent.

There is no need to hype the potential of web3 as a technology. As Nassim Taleb said, “We only judge a technology by how it solves problems, not by what technological attributes it has.”1 Our aim is to discover, empower, and establish – even though serendipitously, good uses of the blockchain.

There is also no need to decry web2 as broken. We can do so much with web3 without looking upon it as the Lord and Saviour of all things digital.

Trajectory, Openness, and Serendipity

How many technologies before now lived up to their telos – their intended design? After all, the ARPANET – our own dear internet – was the brainchild of a military design. Not much e-commerce was conceived in it.

We don’t always achieve what we set out for from the beginning. Detours happen in the course of evolution that produces better outcomes than the intended design. A quick look at some of our existing technologies shows us this.

“After the ARPANET was functioning, the computer scientists using it realized that assisting human communication was a major fundamental advance that the ARPANET made possible.

"The ARPA theme is that the promise offered by the computer as a communication medium between people, dwarfs into relative insignificance the historical beginnings of the computer as an arithmetic engine.”2

Even the computer – that great host of the internet – began as an arithmetic engine. How can we then tell what web3 will be?

“It is not proper to think of networks as connecting computers. Rather, they connect people using computers to mediate. The great success of the internet is not technical, but in human impact. Electronic mail may not be a wonderful advance in Computer Science, but it is a whole new way for people to communicate. The continued growth of the Internet is a technical challenge to all of us, but we must never loose sight of where we came from, the great change we have worked on the larger computer community, and the great potential we have for future change."3

We have no doubts that the technical features of web3 will sort themselves out; there are smart people who will perfect it. But the humanity therein is what we strive to make flourish and blossom. How can we use web3 to its optimum? How can we foster adoption in a society that is indifferent knowing that as of now, all the buzz we have is happening at the fringes? It is only when we find it useful – useful enough for it to penetrate our lives, blend in to become invisible – that we know we have the technology. For now, we have promises and potential.

Technology is not awesome because it is disruptive. Technology is at its best when it is invisible. For now, blockchain technology is in its infantile-disruptive phase. Hence, it is still not a great technology.

Nevertheless, we shall invest in potential. We must move. It is only by moving that we produce real energy – energy intense enough to shift the world.

A Contradiction

There is a contradiction here: we are a community that you should trust to validate a trustless technology. Isn’t it? Well, not so.

Blockchain technology yes is trustless. “Trustless” means that you don't have to trust a third party: a bank, a person, or any intermediary that could operate between you and your cryptocurrency transactions or holdings.4 But we are not urging you to trust us with your transactions. Far from it. What we wish to do is to build a bridge for the naturally skeptical or cynical to travel from useless trustlessness to using a technology that promises useful trustlessness.

Our community members are our first line of product testers.

Most of the web3 projects are engineering-led. To foster adoption however, we must shift our thinking. We should, going forward, focus on tractable human needs and opportunities to deliver value; to increase customer empathy and drive innovation. Semantics are less important than outcomes, we must be willing to bend the rules.

Our community is a ready validation team that provides accurate and detailed feedback. We have a ready user-research team available for builders to check in and get an accurate word on their project. There will be a standard review system, voting systems, rating systems, and product stamps of approval and verification that will allow engineers and users to examine products hitch-free.

Community Members and Standard

Our community comprises impeccable thinkers; holistic, intelligent, curious, and passionate about something (not necessarily the blockchain). They must be passionate about living, improving life, and improving the world we live in.

Our members are people who live on both sides of manufacturing - production, and consumption. They must be builders who understand product building or have attempted creation even if they failed. They must be people with feet on the ground, brows in the dust, and hands in the engine. They must understand what it means to produce and create. They will as well be healthy consumers so that they can speak from a consumer's perspective. Summarily, their intelligence is not mere verbalism but practical cognitive empathy; men and women of understanding with gusto to move the world.

One Last Bit

Foblock is anchored on learning; including learning from history. And historically, inventors always had patrons who fund their work. This affords the inventors a relative peace of mind that enables them to give their best to their projects and produce good things for mankind

Hence, at Foblock —a type of accelerator if you so choose– we will invest in promising web3 projects to give founders and innovators relative peace of mind to focus on their projects.

Lastly, for every Pop and Mom who can not delve into the mystical workings of web3, it is important that Foblock fosters projects that allows them to use blockchain products easily. And the question we want you to answer as an engineer on every of your product is this: will the common man find this product easy to use?

When we tell you to trust us as we become an authority, it is not a flimsy request. It is a matter of having skin or risk in the game. As the maestro said “Don’t tell me what you think, tell me what you have in your portfolio.”5

Our Vision: In Summary

How can we foster web3 adoption??

• By bringing fresh perspectives into the space: We will provide complete, not one-sided perspectives, into the blockchain space.

• By fostering the essence of the human spirit into engineering products: We will ensure that every project we sponsor does the ethical thing of making technology for man and not man for technology. We are in the service of men; not fancy tools.

• By  spotlighting promising projects: We will take it upon ourselves to show the entire world projects that genuinely solve a human problem. We will refuse to spotlight projects that are fancy tools and aggrandizements of engineers and hype clubs.

• By Investing in promising projects: We will put our money where our ethics are. We will invest in projects that aim to–genuinely–solve human problems rather than in projects that are nothing more than the self-aggrandizement of engineers.

Conclusion

We are Friends of the blockchain. We are enthusiasts, skeptics, and the apathetic coming together to foster the blockchain. We are fostering the adoption of blockchain technology from the secludes and fringes to the mainstream. We insist and emphasize on the ease-of-use of blockchain tools and services. We will finance good projects–where “good” means projects that solve real problems. We are fostering the adoption of the blockchain from WAGMI clubs to curious dads and moms. We are Foblock.

FootNotes

1. Nicholas Nassim Taleb, Bitcoin Blackpaper.

2. Behind the Net: The Untold History of the ARPANET and Computer Science By Michael Hauben.

3. Behind the Net: The Untold History of the ARPANET and Computer Science By Michael Hauben.

4. What Does Trustless Mean?

5. Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life.