GreenPill NN Ep:11 Let a Thousand Societies Bloom with Vitalik Buterin
21 snips
Jan 9, 2026 
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum and a key figure in blockchain innovation, joins Primavera De Filippi and Felix Beer to discuss the Zuzalu experiment. He delves into the challenges of forming genuine communities versus transient gatherings. Vitalik explores the importance of physical permanence for culture and governance, contrasts mission-driven versus kinship-based communities, and shares insights on decentralized networks and emerging political actors. The conversation highlights the need for community-centric designs to support lasting social ties.
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Experimenting With Temporary Cities
- Vitalik organized Zuzalu to test what a temporary city of 200 people over two months would reveal about community dynamics.
- He chose size and duration to surface sub-tribes and cultural emergence that smaller or shorter events miss.
Curate Membership Through Trusted Inviters
- Use curated invitations to shape participant fit and avoid opportunistic attention-seekers.
- Prioritize recommenders who understand their subcommunity's cultural fit for the project.
Permanence Enables Deeper Culture
- Permanence enables deeper culture and governance experiments that 40-day pop-ups cannot sustain.
- Vitalik now favors longer-lasting locations to let communities build real infrastructure and rituals.
