If you have kids, you invariably hear something like this: “Hey dad, where did cars come from”? You can replace the word ‘car’ with nearly anything else, and the core question really becomes “Where do ideas come from”? We have a lot of names for where ideas come from - inspiration or the muse come readily to mind. But what about the ether?
Ether was the term used by the Greeks to describe the mysterious force that binds the universe together, a layer of magic over the otherwise material world that makes up the essence of the universe, the realm of the gods. When ether surfaced in English usage, it referred to things existing beyond the reach of mortals and earth. In more recent times, ether was the invisible medium that enabled sound and light to travel through the atmosphere, meaning ether was a means of communication. That theory has left us, but colloquially, we often refer to ideas as being “pulled from the ether”. In this sense, the ether is a sort of collective consciousness, an invisible plain where ideas live, just waiting to be grabbed and communicated to the world.
From Ether to Ethereum
If you’re a brilliant math whiz poking around at blockchain technology, you gotta get your inspiration from somewhere. It may be possible that Vitalik Buterin, the author of the Ethereum White Paper and co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain, just pulled his idea for a blockchain that functioned like a computer out of the ether. But what if that’s not true? What if the inspiration for Ethereum instead came from a television show from the 1980s called She-Ra: Princess of Power? What about the 2018 reboot called She-RA and the Princesses of Power? Can Vitalik time travel?
I first wondered about She-Ra’s connection to Ethereum while cooking dinner, and hearing the cartoon in the background. I could have sworn I heard a reference to Etheria? I’m like “Kids, rewind”! Sure enough, Etheria, as it turns out, is the planet on which She-Ra takes place. Now there are two She-Ras. My kids watch the newer one, which debuted four years after the Ethereum network went live, but I remembered She-Ra from when I was a kid, as part of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Vitalik was born nine years after the series debuted, but I had to wonder, could it be true that he took his cues from the older She-Ra, or did Vitalik time travel to 2018 to seek inspiration for Ethereum? Short answer - maybe both, but he definitely time traveled.
Similarities of She-Ra to Ethereum
I had watched enough She-Ra shows in the background to immediately identify a few similarities. One of the central tenets of the show is the fight against an all-consuming centralized power. In She-Ra, the show focuses on a band of freedom-seeking rebels, led by Adora (She-Ra) who fight against a centralized power structure known as the Evil Horde. The Evil Horde, not surprisingly, seeks to take over the world and make it in its image, all in the name of peace. While this is basically the plot of all major bad guy cartoons, I had a feeling there was a little more to it.
An Etherium Mine!
When I started poking around the internet to see if She-Ra had anything to do with Ethereum, one of the first things I discovered is that there’s an Etherium mine in She-Ra! From this mine come the materials upon which a more advanced civilization can rise. But, no surprise, the Evil Horde discovers the mine, and realizes they can use Etherium to power its machines. The Evil Horde takes over the mine, turns the inhabitants into forced laborers, installs robot guards, and mines Etherium until it runs out. This does not make the Horde happy, but you may be overjoyed to know that She-Ra and her team eventually frees folks from the mine, beginning the Great Rebellion.
Now the Etherium mine is an easy analog to play with, as Ethereum used, until last September, a proof-of-work consensus mechanism that depended on the ‘mining’ of ether to secure the network. What else does She-Ra and Ethereum have in common? Well to be honest, with the old series, not as much, and it wasn’t until I started looking into the similarities between the two that I realized the reboot debuted after Ethereum. But facts don’t stop a good theory, so I went stretching for a few more analogs to play with, and came to the conclusion that Vitalik must be a time traveler.
Vitalik and She-Ra Love Unicorns!
And from the reboot. Spitting images lol!
Similar Aesthetics
Unless you just jumped down the rabbit hole, you undoubtedly know that Ethereum’s aesthetics are rooted in a pastel color palette, largely pink, purple, and green. Just take a look at the Ethereum Foundation’s home page.
And from the She-Ra reboot.
Diamond-Shaped Imagery
Of course we all know that Ethereum’s main symbol or icon is the 3D diamond:
But did you also know that diamond shapes play a huge part in She-Ra, from the diamond-shaped heart of Etheria…
…to Mara’s space ship?
Rainbows!
Vitalik is known for wearing crazy T-shirts, and among his amazing collection are shirts with rainbows. This one with a llama-corn, plus rainbows and UFOs is classic:
The reboot has been praised for embracing diversity, and rainbow symbology is not uncommon. While we can’t say that Vitalik is making a social statement, still, rainbows.
There are a few other themes to tease out:
The Power of an Idea
The original She-Ra series focuses on Princess Adora, the twin sister of He-Man, who discovers her destiny as She-Ra when she finds a magical sword that transforms her into a powerful warrior. The sword helped Adora transform, but later she had the idea that the sword wasn’t what transformed her; it was a belief in the idea that she didn’t need the sword to transform - the power was already in her. Ethereum's inception also comes from an idea, as founder Vitalik Buterin envisioned a blockchain-based computing platform that would transform the world. Both She-Ra and Ethereum originate from a transformative moment or idea that has far-reaching consequences.
Embracing a Call to Action
In She-Ra, Adora is called to action when she learns of her destiny as She-Ra and decides to lead the Great Rebellion against the Evil Horde. Similarly, Vitalik Buterin recognized the limitations of existing blockchain technology and initiated the development of Ethereum to address those limitations. Both Adora and Vitalik embrace their call to action and take the lead in driving change.
The Power of Decentralized Networks
She-Ra, the alter ego of Princess Adora, and her allies form the Great Rebellion to fight against the Evil Horde. The Rebellion, comprising various characters with unique abilities, is a decentralized alliance working collaboratively to combat a common enemy. Similarly, Ethereum is a decentralized network made up of numerous nodes, developers, and users cooperating to maintain security, develop the platform, and create decentralized applications.
Empowerment
In the original She-Ra, Adora's transformation into She-Ra signifies her journey of self-discovery and empowerment, allowing her to rise against the Horde's oppression. Ethereum's blockchain technology parallels this notion by empowering individuals and businesses with a decentralized platform for creating applications and transferring value without intermediaries. Both She-Ra and Ethereum symbolize the power of harnessing unique abilities or technologies to challenge established ideologies and create more open and inclusive systems.
Regenerative Systems
At the end of She-Ra (Spoiler Alert) Adora and her frens in the Rebellion destroy the Evil Horde, turning a landscape that was devoid of life into a thriving, verdant ecosystem. Subtext: there’s inherent power and beauty in decentralized, open, inclusive systems. Similarly, within Ethereum exists a movement called regenerative finance (or regenerative cryptoeconomics) that seeks to use blockchain-based systems to help restore and regenerate earth’s natural systems, whether air, soil, or water, creating a world of shared abundance and prosperity.
Vitalik Is a Master of the Universe
We could go on and on, but you get the point. Whether Vitalik watched the original, time traveled for the reboot, or just grabbed all of this from the ether is immaterial. The important part: we too can tap into the ether to imagine new systems, synthesize seemingly disparate ideas, and create something the world has never seen. We can’t all be Vitalik, but we can all use the ether.
Hiro Kennelly is a writer, editor, and coordinator at BanklessDAO, an Associate at Bankless Consulting, and is helping to build a grants-focused organization at DAOpunks.
