Hi Joel, what’s your take on the amount of energy needed to create NFTs. At a time when we are trying to become more sustainable so that future generations have a natural world to appreciate we’re finding more ways of consuming more energy. From what I understand mining Bitcoin takes enormous computing power and therefore energy and countries like China are building coal power stations en masse to do this. I’m not sure the world can afford either Bitcoin or NFTs when we face a climate crisis. What do you think?
Dear Rob - thanks so much for this thoughtful comment. I think the Bitcoin-energy debate is overblown. Firstly you need to consider the incentives at play - Bitcoin miners are incentivised to find the cheapest energy possible to mine their coins. In most parts of the world right now, clean energy is the cheapest and it will be in most other parts of the world soon too. Next - there has been a lot of press about this issue and everything I read neglects to compare the carbon cost of mining crypto with the carbon cost of fiat currencies and Gold. Usually the articles I read compare bitcoin mining to household electricity consumption or something else that isn't really comparable.
All this said, right now I think you are not wrong to be worried about the carbon footprint of bitcoin mining, but I think this is a short term problem and I'm hopeful renewables will become the cheapest form of energy available and that will solve the problem.
Hi Joel, totally agree that hopefully in the not too distant future renewables will provide the energy for mining bitcoin but unfortunately, particularly with our current government, there are still a lot of heads in the sand and people are still trying to open new coal mines. And of course this very thing is happening right now in China. As John Kerry, US Secretary of State, has just said, we need to get out of coal now.
I'd also love to hear your opinion of NFTs. I get that Bitcoin can potentially be worldwide digital currency in future, but the idea of blockchain digital artwork seems to be another thing all together. Particularly given the energy required to create the blockchain for each individual NFT. Am I getting this wrong? Should we be discouraging even more energy use when we can't generate the amount of power we currently need sustainably? I appreciate your insight. Best
Hey Rob - once again, I appreciate the thoughts and thanks for replying. Re: NFTs - it's a tough one. I think NFTs solve a really important problem in Art and that's scarcity of art on the internet. The internet makes it possible for art to be replicated infinity and this has had very real consequences for artists. Just look at the decimation of the music industry in the 2000s. The world needs art and artists are not performing a community service - they deserve to capture some tangible value from the huge amount of value they create. The way you're framing it sounds like we have to choose between the environment and art. I don't think that's the choice in front of us and so I think NFTs are net net a good thing. Like I said above I have faith that crypto miners will find the cheapest way for mine and I believe this will be renewables in the very near future.
As George Michael said back in the day 'You've got to have faith' and you seem to be very trusting that our governments will start to leave fossil fuels behind. I wish I could feel so trusting. But on their record so far, I think we need a lot more action. I'm not a fan of either Bitcoin or NFTs until this is addressed.
In regards to creating value for musicians and the 'decimation' of the music industry, things have really turned around now. With increasing numbers of people actually paying for music (through subscriptions) in the same way that VOD is booming, so is music. The only issue is that there are a lot more mouths to feed. Music can now be made at very high quality in any bedroom around the world. The volume of releases seems to just keep growing as more 'artists' pursue their calling. This is the issue really. Obviously the music industry can never hope to give more than a few per cent of artists a living wage. Its the nature of it. There is so much talent out there that tangible value is more difficult to create for any artist. I actually think that NFTs don't actually solve this problem at all. They're just creating another value chain.
I think artists can't enter the music industry to make money. They have to enter to create art that they feel passionate about because they actually need to do it to express themselves, and then if they work hard enough and their music is good enough and the zeitgeist strikes, they may build a fanbase that may very well be large enough to allow them to earn a living from their art. Great discussing these things with you Joel. Best...Rob
Hi Joel, what’s your take on the amount of energy needed to create NFTs. At a time when we are trying to become more sustainable so that future generations have a natural world to appreciate we’re finding more ways of consuming more energy. From what I understand mining Bitcoin takes enormous computing power and therefore energy and countries like China are building coal power stations en masse to do this. I’m not sure the world can afford either Bitcoin or NFTs when we face a climate crisis. What do you think?
Dear Rob - thanks so much for this thoughtful comment. I think the Bitcoin-energy debate is overblown. Firstly you need to consider the incentives at play - Bitcoin miners are incentivised to find the cheapest energy possible to mine their coins. In most parts of the world right now, clean energy is the cheapest and it will be in most other parts of the world soon too. Next - there has been a lot of press about this issue and everything I read neglects to compare the carbon cost of mining crypto with the carbon cost of fiat currencies and Gold. Usually the articles I read compare bitcoin mining to household electricity consumption or something else that isn't really comparable.
All this said, right now I think you are not wrong to be worried about the carbon footprint of bitcoin mining, but I think this is a short term problem and I'm hopeful renewables will become the cheapest form of energy available and that will solve the problem.
Hi Joel, totally agree that hopefully in the not too distant future renewables will provide the energy for mining bitcoin but unfortunately, particularly with our current government, there are still a lot of heads in the sand and people are still trying to open new coal mines. And of course this very thing is happening right now in China. As John Kerry, US Secretary of State, has just said, we need to get out of coal now.
I'd also love to hear your opinion of NFTs. I get that Bitcoin can potentially be worldwide digital currency in future, but the idea of blockchain digital artwork seems to be another thing all together. Particularly given the energy required to create the blockchain for each individual NFT. Am I getting this wrong? Should we be discouraging even more energy use when we can't generate the amount of power we currently need sustainably? I appreciate your insight. Best
Hey Rob - once again, I appreciate the thoughts and thanks for replying. Re: NFTs - it's a tough one. I think NFTs solve a really important problem in Art and that's scarcity of art on the internet. The internet makes it possible for art to be replicated infinity and this has had very real consequences for artists. Just look at the decimation of the music industry in the 2000s. The world needs art and artists are not performing a community service - they deserve to capture some tangible value from the huge amount of value they create. The way you're framing it sounds like we have to choose between the environment and art. I don't think that's the choice in front of us and so I think NFTs are net net a good thing. Like I said above I have faith that crypto miners will find the cheapest way for mine and I believe this will be renewables in the very near future.
As George Michael said back in the day 'You've got to have faith' and you seem to be very trusting that our governments will start to leave fossil fuels behind. I wish I could feel so trusting. But on their record so far, I think we need a lot more action. I'm not a fan of either Bitcoin or NFTs until this is addressed.
In regards to creating value for musicians and the 'decimation' of the music industry, things have really turned around now. With increasing numbers of people actually paying for music (through subscriptions) in the same way that VOD is booming, so is music. The only issue is that there are a lot more mouths to feed. Music can now be made at very high quality in any bedroom around the world. The volume of releases seems to just keep growing as more 'artists' pursue their calling. This is the issue really. Obviously the music industry can never hope to give more than a few per cent of artists a living wage. Its the nature of it. There is so much talent out there that tangible value is more difficult to create for any artist. I actually think that NFTs don't actually solve this problem at all. They're just creating another value chain.
I think artists can't enter the music industry to make money. They have to enter to create art that they feel passionate about because they actually need to do it to express themselves, and then if they work hard enough and their music is good enough and the zeitgeist strikes, they may build a fanbase that may very well be large enough to allow them to earn a living from their art. Great discussing these things with you Joel. Best...Rob
Fantastic read. Informative and unique. This not only talks about creativity, it illustrates creativity.
Thanks Kelly-ann! Appreciate the support. If you'd like me to cover anything or if you have any links you'd like to share, LMK!
Hi Joel, perhaps a little peek into the neuroscience of imagination might help educators? There is a short blog here:
https://www.imagineer.me/blog/dendrites