Will you heed the warning from NFT scammers? — In 2021, believers in the old technology of blockchain finally succeeded in gaining the attention they long craved, with mainstream awareness of NFTs (non-fungible tokens). Yet, from the beginning, NFT marketers have made conspicuous displays of the dishonesty at the heart of their projects. The graphics attached to many NFTs…

Let’s not rush into the metaverse. It still doesn’t exist. — As we near the end of 2021, hype about Web3 is thick in the air. …

A Manifesto of an Unreal Man — Facts are facts. The truth is another matter. The fact is that I am a man. The truth is that I am not a man. According to comedian Dave Chappelle, the fact is that I don’t even exist. I can’t blame Chappelle for this confusion. …

What’s at risk as we lose our way inside the broken liminal pathways of shared space? — We are living in a time of displacement. Trends of remote work and social isolation, fueled by digital tools designed to optimize the efficiency of commercial interactions, were only amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. …

What it means when Trump grabs and shakes us — It’s a rare expression of political consensus: Everyone seems to agree that to watch the first debate of the 2020 US presidential general campaign was an emotionally disturbing experience. Rather than engaging in a reasonable and thoughtful debate with his opponent, Joe Biden, Donald Trump badgered, bullied, and blustered almost…

Tales of post-human digital utopias are gone. What will replace them? — The following is adapted from part of a conversation with Aditi Khorana, Lisa Gill, and Virginie Glaenzer as part of the Pass The Mic series from AcornOak. It seems ages ago that our stories about future seemed to be dictated by digital technology. Ray Kurzweil promised us The Singularity. Rana…

Summary of the Business in the Time of Coronavirus study, uncovering the disorientation warping the fabric of reality in commerce — This article summarizes one of the findings of the Business in the Time of Coronavirus study…so why does it feature a video of a turbulent stream? For the last two months, I’ve been conducting research into the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the culture of business. The study…

For the subjective study of Business in the Time of Coronavirus — Note: This article is also available as a supplemental episode of the Beyond Back to Normal podcast. Rashmir Balasubramaniam, one of the people I interviewed for this research, said to me: “There’s nothing overly complex, I think, in the tools and the methods, and sometimes one of the problems, I…

A Subjective Eye on Business Culture in the Time of Coronavirus — (This article is also available as an audio supplemental to the Beyond Back to Normal podcast.) I spent the first month of the COVID-19 shutdown conducting a qualitative study of the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the culture of business. …