This Monday, June 20th, Collision's conference had its opening night. Two prominent people discussed two important topics, crypto (with regards to Bill Gates' view) and Roe v Wade. Dapper Labs CEO Roham Gharegozlou discussed the first, and internationally recognized writer Margaret Atwood discussed the second. Here's the essence of what they believe and said during the popular event.
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Roham Gharegozlou Responds to Bill Gates' View
of NFTs
Dapper Labs CEO Roham Gharegozlou spoke with
the Cut's Lindsay Peoples on Centre Stage at Toronto's Collision conference of
more than 35,000-person about the future of NFTs. He was responding to Bill
Gates' opinion of NFTs shared a few days back, in which he said that they were
a sham and even referred to the Greater Fool theory. Roham said he believed
that people who criticize this technology jump to conclusions because they don't
understand it completely. He also admitted that the technology was in the toddler
phase yet.
Gharegozlou said, "It's very typical that
people who built a lot of value and created a lot of value in previous
technology shifts tend to miss the future technology shifts. In some ways, it's
because of the perception that they have – the worldview that they have – and
in some ways, it's because they're jumping to conclusions based on incomplete information.
They don't have the time to really go deep and see, at the ground level, what's
happening."
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He continued, "So Bill Gates himself
missed the wave in mobile, missed the wave in social media, and this is because
he created that first wave and enabled all of the following to exist. With all
due respect, I don't worry too much about people that don't see the future. I
spend a lot of time with people that do see the future – because those are the
people that do build the future."
Gharegozlou also stated that several leaders in
the technology sector are quitting web 2.0 as they prefer the development of Web3
as "a new way to write software in a way that is more open; more transparent;
more suitable to the world we live in – a way to build software that respects
our rights as users."
The young CEO noted that transparency gained by
using Web3 will help developers in building digital products that will have the
same high quality as the products available online currently but were created "in
an open way; in an interoperable, decentralized way."
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Highlighting the role of other technologies
created on the blockchain, like crypto wallets, Roham stated that they could
help people take greater ownership of their place in society. He concluded, "Once
we put crypto wallets in every pocket, which is basically every person
empowered to create, share and participate in value economies around the world."
Margaret Atwood Spoke on Overturning of Roe v
Wade Verdict and Climate Change
Another important highlight of the opening
night of the Collision conference was the opinion shared by one of the globally
renowned writers, Margaret Atwood, regarding the controversial leaked memo from
the US Supreme Court that revolves around Roe v Wade. She warned about where
society could be headed if Roe v Wade were overturned.
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Margaret, who is the author of more than 50
books of fiction, poetry, critical essays, and graphic novels and has been
published in more than 45 countries, said, "This leaked opinion on Roe v
Wade was based on originalism – that is, it should be the original US constitution.
The original US constitution did not include votes for women. So, if you're an
originalist, and you're a female Republican voter, I'd think twice about that."
The author of The Testaments – a co-winner of
the 2019 Booker Prize- also said, "The kids are scared already. We have to
go from scaring the kids to scaring the politicians."
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Margaret talked about climate change too. She
said she is optimistic about humanity's ability to overcome the challenge but
added that there is a lack of political will. She stated, "Right now, we've
got the knowledge, we've got the equipment; it's the willpower we're missing at
the political level."
The Canadian novelist also stressed that young
people are aware of environmental challenges, but leaders still need to rise to
the occasion. She concluded, "The kids are scared already. We have to go
from scaring the kids to scaring the politicians."
Even Yung Wu, the CEO of MaRS Discovery
District, who was speaking alongside Margaret, echoed her optimism on the
ability of tech to make a positive environmental impact. He said, "This is
a time for small groups of committed people to do special things."
About Collision
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For two years in a row, Collision – North
America's fastest-growing technology event – moved online. Making the pivot to
host thousands of attendees online was referred to by the Sunday Times as a "pretty
big experiment." Now, Collision is returning in person to host the largest
international event in Toronto in more than two years, with 35,000-plus
attendees anticipated at Collision in the Enercare Centre from June 20-23,
2022.
About Web Summit
Forbes says Web Summit is "the best tech
conference on the planet." Bloomberg calls it "Davos for geeks";
Politico "the Olympics of tech"; the Guardian "Glastonbury for geeks."
In the words of Sky News, Web Summit is "the world's most influential tech
event," and the Telegraph calls it the "planet's best tech conference."
Want to keep up with the key happenings at the Collision
Conference? Check out this link.
To view the entire Speaker List, click here.