How do you outline “identification” in Web3? It’s a query that opens up a can of metaverse worms. Is your on-line persona a mirrored image of your true self? Or is it merely a personality that you simply’ve created in lieu of your actual character? Contemplating the convenience by means of which customers can disguise their IRL existence behind a cartoon PFP, it may be troublesome to belief that others are being their real selves from behind a display screen.
But, issues get extra sophisticated once we start to think about digital identification as one thing separate from real-life, “meatspace” identification. Maybe that is the rationale the Soulbound Tokens really feel so dystopian in idea. In actuality, identification is dynamic and subjective to every particular person’s sense of self. However at any given time, a person is probably going to supply a unique account of their identification, attributable to their mindset, current state of affairs, and present bodily setting.
All in all, identification is a tough idea to understand. That is very true in a realm (like Web3 and the NFT area) the place nameless and pseudonymous people typically reign. Do these within the metaverse actually perceive who they’re? One creator is looking for out. “Are you who you might be? Or are you who you suppose you might be? Or are you who they suppose you might be,” is what multidisciplinary artist Snuffy is now asking these in Web3.
Snuffy, identification, and psychological well being
The best way we, as a society, strategy and perceive psychological well being, has modified drastically prior to now few many years. Whereas some cite a lack of knowledge as one of many causes that earlier generations (Gen X and prior) grew up with a “conceal, don’t really feel” perspective, in 2022, psychological well-being is a sizzling subject. With the coed psychological well being disaster and the skyrocketing demand for medicine offering gas to the dialogue surrounding accessibility to psychological well being providers, it’s no shock that some people think about their psychological well-being (or psychological sickness) to be part of their identification.
But, to Snuffy, actual identify Julius Margulies, psychological well being and identification have all the time gone hand in hand. For the higher a part of his profession as a tattoo artist, he has been melding identification, psychological well being (typically trauma), and the written phrase to create a singular catalog of bodily and digital artwork. By asking his purchasers to put in writing a narrative a few private expertise, he gathers info and interprets written testimonials into one-of-a-kind artworks that he then tattoos on his purchasers. However now, Margulies is hoping to take this cathartic consumer expertise a step additional into Web3 and make it accessible to anybody.
“By way of analyzing my observe of tattooing individuals and interacting with them, I’ve discovered that individuals view the tattoo as remedy. However in actuality, them writing me their story is the remedy,” Margulies mentioned in an interview with nft now. “By way of that course of, they establish themselves in what’s normally a traumatic expertise. So I spotted that my distinctive worth to my purchasers is self-discovery. From there, I assumed, ‘Okay, I’ve this lengthy consumer waitlist, and I solely have two fingers. How can I give this expertise of self-discovery to as many individuals as doable in a single shot?’”
Together with his new mission Wanting In, Margulies is aiming to present the Web3 and NFT communities extra perception into themselves. Simply as Myers–Briggs sorts have develop into a preferred device for people to narrate to one another over the previous decade or so, Margulies has tapped into the Huge 5 character traits, making a gamified NFT expertise so as to add to the pattern of self-discovery.
The purpose of “Wanting In”
Whereas Margulies doesn’t declare to be a psychiatrist or licensed psychological well being skilled, he’s let his personal experiences with, and huge analysis about psychological sickness, plus his aforementioned steady position as a form of tattoo therapist, affect his newest endeavor. In recognizing the malleable nature of identification in Web3, he hopes that individuals can take pause and take part in some self-reflection, using his new mission as a information.
With Wanting In, customers can participate in a casual, sliding scale take a look at meant to supply a fundamental understanding of the place they exist inside the scope of the Huge 5 character traits: extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism. The take a look at won’t, in any manner, present a analysis or an official evaluation of the consumer’s character, however exists to supply a tentative sense of self, accompanied by a collage of artwork created by Margulies that seeks to meld character traits collectively as a visible reflection of a consumer’s take a look at final result.
The take a look at additionally exists as a enjoyable mode of connection between customers and their shut associates/communities. As a result of after a consumer finishes their take a look at and sees their outcomes, they’re inspired to have their shut friends take the identical take a look at, answering questions as they relate to the character of the consumer, to match the consumer’s conception of their very own character with that of people who know them greatest. Therefore the query, “Are you who you might be? Or are you who they suppose you might be?”
“Most individuals, once I proposed this [question], they notice, ‘I suppose I’m a mix of each who I believe I’m and the way I’m perceived by others,’” mentioned Margulies. “So we constructed this suggestions loop for individuals to actually be sincere with themselves. To see who they’re and the way they’re perceived by others. After which you may really see that the way in which that your shut circle perceives you is both the identical or totally different than the way you understand your self.”
Whereas Wanting In — sensible contracted by Transient Labs — is ready to launch on December 15 at LookingIn.nyc, and customers can enroll now, particulars surrounding pricing have but to be launched. However Margulies says these curious about taking part gained’t have to fret about token gating or excessive mint costs which can be typically related to large-scale NFT tasks. In contemplating the rising psychological well being disaster in Web3, he desires this mission to be a casual, communal, and lighthearted manner for all to have the ability to “look inward.”
“I’d love for this mission to be adopted in by the plenty, and I’m pricing it in an accessible manner. I need as many individuals as doable to be taught a bit extra about themselves and to seek out consolation in speaking about issues like melancholy and psychological sickness which can be perhaps thought of taboo to speak about,” mentioned Margulies. “Actually, I believe only for the nice of humankind, self-awareness, even for like 5 minutes, could make the world a greater place.”
