younger me never thought to understand the almost tangible connection one could manifest with an intangible object. a video game, creative app, web browser, operating system, it's almost intuitive how they become parts of who we are—the keys that open the virtual experiences that shape us.

i didn't understand the neurological impact 'reader rabbit' would have on me when my teacher told me to play. or that my windows xp background would be ingrained in my memory forever, simultaneously a place i've been yet never visited. i didn't know social media would allow me to speak to the world but no one would hear me. that it would connect a generation yet make them feel more alone.

as a child, i would have struggled to grasp how the gradual digitization of the human experience could serve as a tool to harness our collective consciousness, and ultimately be used to create an artificial version of itself. or that a decentralized ledger would radicalize a generation of digital natives, paving the way for a true virtual economy.

back then i was just surfing the web. i've come to find out i was assimilating to a culture. expanding my consciousness within a virtual plane.