Most of us don’t think cryptocurrency is very pragmatic. Even the adorable crypto-based cats in the game CryptoKitties failed to drag bitcoin and other such currencies into that zone where a new technology catches on and changes the world.
Why? Because crypto remains too far outside of what’s known as the “adjacent possible.”
I first encountered the concept of the adjacent possible in Steven Johnson’s book Where Good Ideas Come From. As Johnson describes it, the adjacent possible is a narrow, magical realm of innovation that sits between the space occupied by proven technologies and the space populated by ideas that are too far out. It’s where you find innovations that aren’t yet possible, but are hovering right next to possible, thus the term adjacent possible.