Somewhere, three layers deep inside the gear is a setting that’s toggled to the left or the right. It’s not easy to find. You have to think like a systems engineer, and how many of us think like systems engineers? If you’re persistent, you’ll find it. If you’re frustrated, you won’t. This is a reality. Modern life UI/UX. If there’s an issue, you’ll need to start with the settings.

We’re rewiring. Life is becoming a setting. It starts default all-on. As we grow, certain settings change without our knowing. System updates happen, and buried in the terms of use that we didn’t read, the universe has the ability (and autonomy) to make those changes without consent. If you’re present, you’ll recognize those changes immediately. But who’s present these days?

If you have the skills, you’ll be able to navigate life’s settings to correct your preferences - if not, well, you slowly grow to deal with them as part of a longer adaptation model. In many ways, you start to become the product of the world around you. You have control over it until you realize you’re not paying attention.

Awareness is the patch that fixes the glitch.

Thankfully, life also comes with privacy settings. If we didn’t read the terms of use, we should definitely relate to privacy settings. Big tech loves your privacy, specifically, the trillions of dollars they make selling and sharing it. Once again, the gears allow you to toggle, but the terms of use are almost always default set to all-on. It’s buried, three layers deep inside the legalese - generally set to opt-out rather than opt-in. It’s your responsibility to know this. You’d know if you read the terms of service for life. You didn’t. Neither did I.

It was TL;DR and I needed the app.

Web3.0 wrote a letter to Web2 a few weeks ago. They’re still waiting to hear back. I’m sure they’re busy, but they’ll be patient. After all, web3.0 builders are learning all sorts of new things in the meantime. Tools that will start to address and fix so many of our settings, privacy, and UX/UI of life issues.

Here’s the letter - they’ll write back…I know they will.

Dear Web2.0,

We want our data back. In fact, not only do we want it back, we want ownership over it again. You see, we never really agreed to this type of relationship - it just sort of got out of hand.

After thinking about it for a while, my friends over at Toluna asked 10,500 of their friends “What factors of the current internet and software landscape are you most unsatisfied about?”

The top 5 answers:

• It’s not safe for children

• It’s full of shitty ads

• Hackers everywhere

• Malicious software and viruses

• Full of misinformation

This is the internet and apps landscape we built. Warts and all.

It’s not you, it’s me.

You see, there is a better way. I’m seeking self-sovereign ID, blockchain validation, smart contracts that can’t be changed without notice, decentralized storage, and disintermediated peer-to-peer financial transactions. I’ve grown up and learned from my mistakes. My future without you is more independent, more transparent, and more secure.

There won’t be second chances here. I’ve made up my mind and my kid’s future depends upon this. We’ve already started building, and we’re having a great time learning how to be part of the solution.

Forever thankful for the lessons,

Web3.0.

It takes a minute to comprehend all this, but like anything complex - a little reading, some questions to the network, and general curiosity solve that. It’s all there - laid out just like the settings. We either take the time to learn these things as we go, or we let them pass and someone else learns them. Awareness is essential.

One thing history has taught us though…..there are those who build the machines, and those who work for the people who built the machines. Modern society is shaped by it and order demands it. It’s hard to recognize the product when you become the product.

Stay curious. Promote awareness. Know your settings. Ask for help.