# Best of paragraph.xyz/@cryptonao on Kiwi News Page: https://news.kiwistand.com/source/paragraph.xyz/@cryptonao 16 stories by @cryptonao on Paragraph have been shared on Kiwi News since 11 April 2024, with 56 upvotes and 14 comments in total. The latest was shared on 1 September 2025. They are listed below, most upvoted first. Summaries are AI summaries of the linked article. ## 1. The Concept of Nouns - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/The-Concept-of-Nouns?index=0x6724de7acb7fc18f72c7abc46043119405b757b909e3d95a94dc62e40cd74e90b68b52a1 - Source: https://paragraph.xyz/@cryptonao/the-concept-of-nouns - Shared 1 November 2024, 12 upvotes, 1 comment A playful dialogue set at a crypto conference asks whether Nouns DAO, named after a grammatical concept, holds together as a coherent organization. Steve, Mark and Isa debate whether the group is still active after a fork over an endangered frog species and a move of its communications to Farcaster, and Steve cites its funding of e-sports players, a movie festival, and a Nouns cafe and deli. Isa quotes a book's claim that ideology is the glue holding decentralized organizations together, while Jojo, an NFT holder, says some proposals aim to drain funds and that the group has lost its earlier grassroots image. ## 2. Cogs in the Crypto Machine - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Cogs-in-the-Crypto-Machine?index=0x684486edd94a9085c286b3d2770227975166792931752c3408f725423c4eeff794827256 - Source: https://paragraph.com/@cryptonao/cogs-in-the-crypto-machine - Shared 7 June 2025, 5 upvotes, 5 comments The author, who spoke at a crypto event under the title "Marx for Crypto Bros," argues that crypto has adopted the same growth-at-all-costs playbook as Big Tech, turning users into addicted, mindless "cogs" through frictionless design, automation, gamification and incentives. Drawing on Marx's concept of alienation, the piece identifies three forms in crypto: alienation from the industry's original values, from one another (illustrated by a debate over tokenizing a screenshot of a woman from a dating app on Zora or pump.fun), and from human dignity. It closes with advice for humanist builders: avoid enslaving users to the product, offer real user agency, and respect user dignity. ## 3. Airports - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Airports?index=0x663c994a11a03a51678ea03c6c56526fe23c070953d99f639d731ae82e5547cddc60436c - Source: https://paragraph.xyz/@cryptonao/airports - Shared 9 May 2024, 5 upvotes, 0 comments The author, writing from an airport on a trip to a conference, says airports have lost their appeal and that the constant flying to crypto conferences and hackathons is hard to justify. They cite the ETH Hackathon schedule, which drew outrage for lacking so-called "third-world" countries, home to most of the world's population, especially its young. Drawing on Peter Bichsel's book about boredom, they describe airports as sterile places where everything feels obvious, and they say they have committed to not flying anywhere this year in favor of train travel within Germany. ## 4. Pathétique - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Pathetique?index=0x66e8b9f5721247947903b7ac648833b83d9e76e07a78ad329504c131bd11288e5d703241 - Source: https://paragraph.xyz/@cryptonao/pathetique - Shared 16 September 2024, 4 upvotes, 2 comments The Pathétique Symphony fits the root of its name, the Greek path, meaning experience or suffer, by finding meaning in suffering. Tchaikovsky wrote to Glazunow in 1890 of a hopeless, final weariness with life, and D.H. Gutzman describes the finale as a quiet acceptance of the void, with no cannons or victory marches. The composer died a few days after the premiere; the official cause was cholera, though suicide and a forced suicide to avoid exposure of his homosexuality have been proposed, and the circumstances remain unclear. ## 5. More data won't fix you - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/More-data-wont-fix-you?index=0x66a8001c00ca47a015fd557bac9dd62bc7916e8221f23792d633b96807beaed83c086e29 - Source: https://paragraph.xyz/@cryptonao/dataism - Shared 29 July 2024, 4 upvotes, 2 comments The essay argues that reducing people, books, walks and experiences to data points diminishes human judgment and identity. It describes dating apps reducing people to templates of height, hobbies and politics, and a reader being measured by book count when what matters is what they do while reading. It cites Yuval Noah Harari's warning about dataism, David Brooks's 2013 Op-Ed "The Philosophy of Data," and a Finnish study in which participants changed their statements to fit data that contradicted their experience. It concludes that people should keep asking who they are and trust their own interpretation rather than the machine's. ## 6. The perils of quantification - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/The-perils-of-quantification?index=0x689e33052e8ec149fccda10ba004349f57c363ef13201b408f34ffdc03d5da2293cf8edc - Source: https://paragraph.com/@cryptonao/quantification?referrer=0xee324c588ceF1BF1c1360883E4318834af66366d - Shared 14 August 2025, 4 upvotes, 0 comments The author, writing about their own dismissal, argues that crypto projects and corporations reduce people and success to measurable numbers, and that this "crypto positivism" dehumanizes participants and ignores meaning. They cite Comte, who held that science would quantify everything, and say the obsession with growth metrics such as follower counts, token price and total value locked crowds out questions of whether anyone learned something or felt connected. Citing Vernake, they argue the meaning crisis has more to do with other humans than with numbers, and that real community rests on a sense of obligation rather than transactions. ## 7. Taste can't be bought - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Taste-cant-be-bought?index=0x66f26e931c7d4d1866257dbe2fec6026c45f71c45da95f5cc754622c5105b84eaba3c4b3 - Source: https://paragraph.xyz/@cryptonao/taste - Shared 24 September 2024, 4 upvotes, 0 comments Taste cannot be bought or outsourced, and the author argues that it is built through personal engagement, like love, rather than by following algorithmic recommendations or brand signaling. Taste is described as an accumulation of individual preferences that is not rational, so people cannot resolve arguments about it. The author cites a film scene in which a record producer warns that playlists trap listeners in their own preferences, and quotes Claire Dederer and Erich Fromm on art and love being matters of feeling and commitment. The author concludes that Silicon Valley should not be trusted to shape taste. ## 8. Abstracting Meaning Away (AMA) - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Abstracting-Meaning-Away-AMA?index=0x6656f8a92b9133ca83ccf9bafb161bd5d13e9fd00c54496f16e260da6598567660cffcbd - Source: https://paragraph.xyz/@cryptonao/ama - Shared 29 May 2024, 3 upvotes, 2 comments This essay, written as a reflection on a dAppcon talk by NEAR founder Illia, argues that the shift toward user-owned AI and personalized feeds may worsen the fragmentation and echo chambers of online life. The author questions whether cryptographic signing and community notes can establish trust, and notes that personalized AI feeds could deepen confirmation bias. Citing Jonathan Haidt and Miya Perry, the author describes a public split into hostile bubbles and loss of shared meaning, and suggests a "Hand Made Web" of human-curated content as an alternative. ## 9. Trust less - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Trust-less?index=0x67bf0fc08354cc4557625bdd16c53ada2f8a2ea030738917d7a907ae439f7721dc2e2608 - Source: https://paragraph.xyz/@cryptonao/trust-less - Shared 26 February 2025, 3 upvotes, 0 comments The author argues that crypto's trustless ideal and its money-first culture encourage a cynical view of people, and that this view becomes self-fulfilling. Citing a study on economics students who act more selfishly because they assume others do not play fair, the author suggests crypto's focus on greed and FOMO has similar effects. The author also argues that paying volunteers or community members with tokens undermines their intrinsic motivation, and concludes that the industry should aim for positive-sum games and treat people as more than anonymous masses. ## 10. Be more authentic - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Be-more-authentic?index=0x68b6009734e2904e0ae58eb49e0bac9528cd32724e296f7500383fddead231e99555b178 - Source: https://paragraph.com/@cryptonao/authentic - Shared 1 September 2025, 2 upvotes, 2 comments The essay argues that the call to "be more authentic" is incoherent on social media, where platforms reward conformity, curated niches and engagement, so that people end up collapsing their selves into what is easily validated. It cites the short-lived app Be Real, which users modified once retakes were allowed, and influencers whose personalities centre on consumption. Drawing on Kierkegaard's finite and infinite poles, the author warns that this collapse risks despair, and the piece concludes that resisting it requires recognizing our own complicity. ## 11. Life is not daijoubu - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Life-is-not-daijoubu?index=0x681b5f6897bbd535380f062985f88d84c0e011a6ade8c2b53339dd1f148b1acacc8f9f25 - Source: https://paragraph.com/@cryptonao/essence - Shared 7 May 2025, 2 upvotes, 0 comments The author argues that crypto and tech product design reduce people to data points, wallets and engagement metrics, and calls for building products that serve people in their wholeness. The piece cites Yuval Harari's criticism of data-ism, Byung-Chul Han's critique of transparency, and Marx and Engels' description of factory workers as a "crippled monstrosity." It also criticizes a Zuckerberg video promoting AI companions to address loneliness, quoting his claim that "the average American has 3 friends, but has demand for 15." It describes a crypto token created from a screenshot of a woman from a dating app without her consent, and concludes that the industry should be humanist. ## 12. On Owning things - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/On-Owning-things?index=0x66e0beba435e6ccd8d61e9ef025ceb708a950f4594a2ee238bad8b9f184634ebe66f0cdf - Source: https://paragraph.xyz/@cryptonao/owning-things - Shared 10 September 2024, 2 upvotes, 0 comments The author argues that removing friction from consumption has turned people from owners into users, and that owning physical things creates meaning, memory and a sense of safety that streaming and subscriptions do not. The piece contrasts deleting an Amazon account, which felt fine, with giving away over 40 books when moving, which felt bad. It describes objects such as books, cassette tapes and postcards as portals to memories and rituals, and says that ownership invites re-use and offers a more haptic experience than a screen. The author states that this is not a call to hoard, but that inconvenience may pave the way for deeper enjoyment. ## 13. Some Meditations on Reading I - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Some-Meditations-on-Reading-I?index=0x66bb37164d996d9767734d737a7bdb46e46162bc9a5b70935026a39cfe732d1ece013c1c - Source: https://paragraph.xyz/@cryptonao/reading-i - Shared 13 August 2024, 2 upvotes, 0 comments The author argues that reading should not be treated as a self-improvement metric measured by how many books one finishes, and that people who say they lack time for books already have the answer in their own priorities and habits. The post contends that fiction teaches as much as nonfiction, citing Carlos Ruiz Zafón's The Angel's Game and a Kierkegaard quote on despair. It also argues that books are not too expensive, noting that public libraries, flea markets and free book shelves offer low-cost access, and that a friend's complaint about a 34-euro hardcover and 15-euro paperback reflected a shift in perceived value tied to Amazon and subscription services. The author reports that the siblings running a large German bookstore chain saw people continue buying books despite higher prices. ## 14. Staring into the Abyss - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Staring-into-the-Abyss?index=0x661831e8ea499b8724cd3e6233cf7dc10ab2ac6ae48ee5211edd8c98b9738c32a2e3e14d - Source: https://paragraph.xyz/@cryptonao/staring-into-the-abyss - Shared 11 April 2024, 2 upvotes, 0 comments The author, a crypto insider writing after Polynya's departure from the industry, argues that crypto has achieved little of its original goals while giving people room to display a lack of decency, citing fascist memecoins on Solana as one symptom. The essay contends that code cannot replace social norms and institutions, using the Mango Market hacker, who was jailed by state force rather than by community condemnation, as an example. It also argues that crypto conferences rarely engage with the local cultures of their host cities, and it ends by saying the author will keep working in the industry while encouraging conversations about values. ## 15. Effortless - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Effortless?index=0x676162a249d7a7e6febef5f8cecf3f6356bfb58eea0e16fe52080c8aad408288942e18ae - Source: https://paragraph.xyz/@cryptonao/effortless - Shared 17 December 2024, 1 upvote, 0 comments The author argues that the effortless-looking mastery of musicians is the product of discipline and hours of practice, and that friction and difficulty are valuable rather than something to eliminate. Citing Yehudi Menuhin's remark that great artists combine enthusiasm with maximum discipline, the piece contrasts a player's years of practice with a pre-programmed piano that plays Chopin's Nocturnes at the press of one key. It also draws on Nicholas Carr's view in The Glass Cage that friction can deepen our awareness, and on Julian Bream's comment that he finds it stimulating to work hard before new music comes within reach. ## 16. Postcards - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Postcards?index=0x66fdabc1f31a7be824fde995773ad90e73f8bd1dbec2bd511a7c55643f65c41375cd0405 - Source: https://paragraph.xyz/@cryptonao/postcards - Shared 2 October 2024, 1 upvote, 0 comments The author argues that postcards remain worth sending despite digital alternatives, saying they offer proof of presence that a shared photo or POAP cannot, and that their value lies in showing someone they are thought of. Naomiii writes that postcards force slower, more deliberate writing, since there is no copy-paste and limited space, and that they work well as travel rituals and as a way to keep artworks and memories nearby. The piece also notes that postcards sold in museums and bookshops still exist, and that the writer has used custom postcards instead of business cards at conferences.