89 - The Metaverse, NFTs & Gamification - A theological perspective w/ Atlas Talisman

This week on the Marina Perry Podcast, Marina is joined by Atlas Talisman, a game designer living in Tokyo, to discuss harnessing energy. He grew up in South Africa and studied creative arts throughout his life. He moved to Australia in his early teens where he really broadened his creative focus and worked as a creative consultant for many different industries. 

 

He set out to grab all of these different “creative play” things he was doing, pull them together in some way, and trust the hive mind to create some sort of symbiotic relationship between them. The approach opened a lot of doors for him in so many different industries that he otherwise wouldn’t have gotten to be a part of. Now, he tells trans-media stories and brings culture and art into the electronic space.

 

There is an artificial structure in society which forces the unnatural. And we can create metrics of success, put money into marketing, and use brute force to make sure that we adhere to things which are actually against our natural way of being. For Atlas, gamifying something means highlighting what’s already there, not making something new. It’s turning the spotlight onto things that are already present, and giving you an interface to help you interact with and challenge what’s artificial. 

 

Everyone wants to be a king or queen rather than understanding the group enrichment of symbiotic living where you give to the system that gives to you. We live in a world where everyone is addicted to control and giving others what they think they want to hear. The gaming industry is able to challenge those mindsets within us and explore the relationship between enslavement and freedom. There’s definitely a darkside to the web and gaming, but there’s a powerful leverage point there as well that can take us to the new era in society. 

 

The facade of power and success is crumbling, and artificial intelligence is just adding another voice to that conversation. We have trust that there’s good and bad, and that there will be a syntropic evolution to it. NFT, or Non-Fungible Token, is more than graphic art. It’s a standard of Smart Contract, and is traceable through the digital world. It’s programming code that cannot be duplicated and can change the way we handle medical records, voting, and more.  

 

Atlas suggests starting with participation. Getting involved with gaming and technology will connect you to the culture and community in the tech space. Don’t wait until Apple or Google give you the opportunity, but get involved now. Get a twitcher account, and attend “Ask Me Anything” events with developers at the forefront of the space. 

What You Will Learn:

 

1. Background on Atlas Talisman and his journey to trans-media storytelling.
2. How gaming and storytelling can bring the next age of society.
3. NFT and the future of the gaming space.