- Works
- 6
- Views
- 152
- Likes
- 804
- Updated
Generative Art
Crypto Renaissance
The European Renaissance
Crypto Renaissance
The Spark (Technology)
The pendulum of history, according to Josh, swings between aggregation and distribution. Are we experiencing a pendulum swing now? Is the Internet the Printing Press of the information age? Will Blockchain Technology be the revolutionary piece of fintech that Double-Entry Bookkeeping was?
D
E
C
A
Watch Now!
Two pieces of technology, the Printing Press and Double-Entry Bookkeeping, laid the foundation for a massive societal revolution that launched Europe into modernity. The late Middle Ages were increasingly hierarchical, in which value & information were held by an oligarchic feudal system. The Printing Press was a communication technology that decentralized access to information, such that Martin Luther was able to use it to spark the Protestant Reformation. Double-Entry Bookkeeping was an ancient practice rediscovered in Italy around 1300, and this financial technology catapulted the Medici family into a flourishing age of art, culture, and redistribution.
What does it mean for society when there are massive infrastructural changes to these things? The progress of civilization, on a macro scale, inevitably boils down to how we view, understand, create, and distribute communication and commerce. The European Renaissance, beginning in the 15th Century, is a fascinating example of a society undergoing fundamental changes in its relationship with value and information.
Are we at the start of the next Renaissance?