Joke: Why did the Ethereum blockchain finally decide to go to therapy? Because it kept having existential crises! One minute it's trying to be the 'world computer,' running complex smart contracts and powering the decentralized future, and the next it's hyperventilating because a simple NFT transaction costs more in gas than the NFT itself. Its therapist finally suggested, Maybe just focus on one thing at a time, or at least get better at splitting the bill with those Layer 2 solutions.

This joke highlights the ongoing humorous tension within the Ethereum ecosystem. On one hand, Ethereum's grand vision is to be the world computer, a decentralized platform capable of running complex applications dApps, smart contracts, and facilitating a new era of digital finance DeFi and ownership NFTs. This represents its immense potential and transformative power. On the other hand, the joke pokes fun at one of its most persistent and often frustrating challenges: gas fees. Gas is the computational effort required to execute operations on the Ethereum network, and users pay for this effort in Ether ETH. When network demand is high, gas prices soar, making even simple transactions expensive. The humor comes from the stark contrast between Ethereum's lofty aspirations and the practical, sometimes prohibitive, cost of actually using it, especially for smaller transactions. The therapist's advice to split the bill cleverly alludes to the emergence and importance of Layer 2 scaling solutions (like Arbitrum, Optimism, zkSync), which process transactions off the main Ethereum chain to reduce costs and increase speed, acting as vital partners in Ethereum's journey to achieve its world computer status.