Thinking in Absolutes

In a nutshell, Web 3.0 is the decentralization of the internet. Web 2.0 companies like Google and Facebook are massive centralized organizations that collect data on its users and captures most of the value. Web 3.0 is about creating apps on a decentralized architecture where users own their data and content.

In Web3 communities, in almost seems as if centralized is bad and decentralized is good. I fell into this thinking trap too. But thinking in absolutes is a fallacy. Centralization isn’t inherently bad nor is decentralization inherently good. Both have their pros and cons.

Centralized apps are able to collect data on users and create a custom experience for end users. But on the other hand, centralized platforms have ad-based revenue models a la the attention economy where companies like Facebook are incentivized to keep you on their newsfeed.

Decentralized apps allow users to have true ownership over their content and capture most of their value. But if users also own their data can Web3 platforms provide the same killer experience for end users as Web2 platforms?

Thinking in absolutes translates to more than just centralized/decentralized. For example, many conflicts were started by painting a group of people as bad. In most cases, in much more complicated than that.