Welcome to 📡 reporting from RADAR. Every other week, community curators will surface the best of the best — from the cultural constellations we’re watching emerge to behind-the-scenes build updates as we embark on our journey to discover, incubate, and deliver better futures.
Wavelength is a space for updates, member articles, ponderings & wanderings, fun experiments and — of course — more signals. So subscribe below to keep up with our signature brain massaging magic, straight to your inbox. 🔮💜
Signals Spotlight
1_A Tacky Turn of Events
spotted in #aesthetics, #event-chat, #daily-signals
The debate is on: has the current climate of over-stimulation and unrest led us to grasp at whatever feels simple and familiar? Our members were spotted discussing the implications of society's turn for the tacky, bombastic and over the top, citing moments in history, artistic movements and the psychology behind our convergence on tacky.
"The 20-year nostalgia cycle, climate-change nihilism, information saturation, streaming-era content overload, and our collective Long COVID of the soul have converged in a tidal wave of tackiness."
Our first public #daily-signal showcase put it in simple terms: “People want to feel something, anything. And tacky is easy to feel — it’s loud, brash, etc.”
Good thing is, today, anything goes! With a status quo of self-expression that’s free-er than ever, you're well within your rights to be as tacky as you please. And to top it all off, taking advantage of social media allows trends and styles to evolve and devolve faster than ever.
🔮💭 Is this extravagant turn of events a response to times of crisis? What kind of movements arise once this aesthetic syncs up with the digital realm even further? You'll find us downing gin martinis while we ponder these questions.
2_Keeping Meta Out of Metahuman
spotted in #health-and-healthcare, #extended-reality, #mental-health
Rehabilitation for ailments of the body, mind and soul; accessible wellness for everyone; re-imagining what it means to be human. Can technology really keep up with everything the hype cycle believes it can achieve?
The extended reality and healthcare channels were bursting with sources straight out of a sci-fi novel, making us wonder how all of this would have been received a mere five, ten years ago. How would the early 2010s public react to hearing we're planning on using smart features on pills, or the fact that VR is currently being studied as the missing piece of the puzzle to help out people with traumatic injury?
On our side, we're pretty optimistic of what *can* be achieved; the biggest question is the who and why of the matter. If we don't start holding businesses accountable for what they put inside our bodies, we could end up living in a black mirror episode real fast. Imagine if Meta was allowed to control your health or perception of the world around you - we're all for augmenting our experiences, but not if it means handing the keys of your body to the highest bidder.
🔮💭 Dystopian as it may sound, we do have a real shot at improving every human's life through futuristic tech — if it’s done in the right way with the right intentions. Do we really want to start dealing with hacked human beings? How might we ensure these applications don't mess with our bodies the same way social media has messed with our brains?
3_The Cult of The Web
spotted in #research-help, #social-media, #spirituality
Continuing with that thread, what is up with technocrats and their platforms becoming the centerpiece of every discussion about our future? From billionaires solving the population's financial problems to the very real impacts of online life; from algorithms bleeding into the physical plane, and — apparently — a full-fledged internet adoration that borders on the religious.
This moment in time is starting to feel pivotal. We've only seen shifts in perception and belief like this a handful of times in history. And honestly, it's kind of eerie (yet exciting?) to see people from all walks of life immersed in this new paradigm. Our call on this one? We all need to touch grass every once in a while, but nothing's stopping you from finding a genuine and pure digital pasture.
If all of this is any indication, we're poised for a veritable revolution in the way we approach our connection with the cosmos, the higher beings that may be, the power within, and the role of tech in all of it.
🔮💭 ‘As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for the internet is with me.’ What will happen to our beliefs at the intersection of faith and the virtual? Would you disregard this new lens of reality as just a fad? Or are we in for an interesting (r)evolution in how people relate to their spiritual sides?
4_Can Memes Save The Planet?
spotted in #environmental
While the brunt of big tech's money is focusing on transforming our earthly experience through apps and gadgets, there's a refreshing movement rising to prominence in the conservation, eco-friendly and radically human side of things.
Leveraging the very same technology that has altered our world beyond recognition, these cyber-activism purists are setting off to take advantage of the best while discarding the worst, and seeking ways to safeguard the world’s natural beauty in the process.
From web3 nonprofits to exhaustive conservation efforts for our global cultural heritage, this is one future we really hope to see take center stage. As humanity searches for its next big step forward, we must also remember to look back at the places from which we’ve come, (re)learning how to show real gratitude for the planet that has enabled us to flourish.
🔮💭 Just how much can our cultural memes aid in the preservation of our planet? Is there really a future in ReFi? Hoping to hear back from you on this one!
The Best of The Rest
An innovative publishing format, or parcel of meat? Landlords and Land Rights. Babysitters making bank. Post-Apocalyptic Aesthetics — giving new meaning to ‘Nature is Healing.’ A TikTok zeitgeist composed of musical feuds & nepotism babies. And an AI generated children’s cartoon-cum-nightmare fuel. After which you’ll need a palate cleanser: so why not ponder what a World’s Fair 2022 might look and feel like?
Pulse Check
Focus this Week: If you spend just one hour with RADAR this week, jump into the Research Squad’s process-deck-to-end-all-process-decks and share your thoughts and builds with @keels.
Squad Updates:
In the Comms Squad…we’re cooking up a ‘lunchtime talks’ series where guest experts will deep-dive into the ‘future of’ the niche of their choosing. Think casual presentations meant to to trigger discussion, expand the mind, surprise & delight — all done outside the bubble of web3. We’re almost too excited. More to come!
Over in Research Squad…progress is the name of the game. After two Miro sessions accommodating members around the globe, we’ve landed an end-to-end research process. The next stage? Refining it. And getting ready to run!
In Incubate, the egg squad has been dreaming up the ideal ‘future-thon’ — an ideation, voting, and prototyping process that involves floating tech teams, 1:1 mentorship, idea pools, trend talks, and much, much more.
Governance has been refining our non-critical proposal process, passing our first community decision to open up public channels for #daily-signals (thanks to all the new faces who’ve joined!). Up next, the team is working on governance processes with #Research and #Incubate…all in the effort to Make Governance Fun™.
And last but not least, over in Product Squad, we’re so close to pushing our first RADAR product — the Signal Extension. Keep an eye on our Twitter over the next week or so for news! 👀
Upcoming Events: Our next Town Hall and Signals Session will be on May 9th at 10am EST/4pm CET. If you’ve been thinking about joining the community and haven’t yet, this is a good deadline to set!
Community Asks:
We’re on the lookout for Community Writers to author content for the RADAR mirror & substack. Whatever you’ve been mulling over, we’d love to hear it (especially if it’s outside web3). Drop a message in #Comms-Squad if you’re up for this and get some $SIGNAL for your signals :)
Friendly reminder that we’ve changed our signals sharing process to keep Discord cleaner, structured, and that much more inspiring. But if you can’t work out how to post, check out our handy guide here.
So much gratitude to @kairon who curated today’s signals spotlight and to everyone else who inspired this week’s 📡 reporting from radar — @k41r0n, @adina, @keels223, @EHB, @cnmone, @sam_af, @dwayne “the jock” ronson, @wordfa(fred), @nikitanikitanikita, @rrromain, @fancy, @livster, @domingo beta, @victoriafutures, and @aaren.
Not a part of RADAR just yet, but feeling the FOMO? Join us here.