One of the accounts I follow, @anwenbaumeister posted a great overview on pre-Columbian Mayan and Inca worldviews and technology. One thing stood out from this post to both me and my good friend, @jimitations:
Agricultural technologies are formed from a civilization’s worldview, and on the other hand ideologies are created and reinforced by such agricultural technologies. Behind the functionality of a field and of a hoe lie a civilization’s worldview imposed in its environment.
In fact, @jimitations made this comment:
I'm wondering if this will be true of the blockchain technology. Will it actually make our society's worldview more open and honest?
Technology has had a tendency, over the ages, to provide more ways for people to keep secrets than to reveal those secrets. A few notable exceptions stand out, such as the camera, in helping to keep other people "honest," but until the advent of blockchain, accounting practices were absolutely rife with errors, both accidental and deliberate.
So, will the very existence of blockchain technology alter our society's worldview toward something more open, transparent, and maybe even honest? Are we in the vanguard of a mindset that views the act of deception as less and less viable?
In the case of banks, some people may think this question is moot. Blockchain is less likely to make banks honest as it is to make them obsolete. Mike Gault wrote, in TechCrunch that, "Banks today make huge profits on financial transactions. If transfers suddenly became instantaneous and worry-free, who would pay a bank to facilitate them?" If a system-wide overhaul to blockchain were to happen, banks may simply go the way of the dinosaur.
But what about the rest of us? How will the mere existence of blockchain in our world affect the way our kids mature into adults? I've already made the comment, right here on Steemit, that I wished there was a blockchain record of my conversations with my kids, to prove that yes, they did say their homework would be done by 8. On Steemit, @derekareith is envisioning a world of incentivized education using blockchain technology. How will blockchain affect copyright infringement? Identity fraud? Resumes? If @anwenbaumeister is right, simply living and working in an environment where blockchain exists and affects the behavior of some of us, may influence the behavior of most of us.
It's a huge question that goes to the very nature of good and evil, truth and lie, and the free will that has always seemed necessary. Our ability to choose truth is the one thing that makes our honesty meaningful. But if honesty is now being forced on us, will that change us for the better or for the worse? Ironically, the same question can be asked about the effects of totalitarian, centralized control. So will blockchain make us more honest? Or just more creative in pursuing technologies of rebellion?
Let this trend! I love the questions you're asking and the depth of thought.
Personally, I expect the block chain will make us both more honest and more creative in pursuing technologies of rebellion. I won't go into why as that would be a whole post of it's own, but I really appreciate this level of discussion. Well done, Stephanie!
Sounds good - I'd like to see that post! Please write it! (and thank you)
What a world, where decent people would be rewarded and positively geared instead of driven by the wrong intentions and encouraged by the evil banks for their profit only. I notice that Steem means value, ironic when you combine it with this article which is correct in saying that honesty is based on your personal integrity which I think is based on your self esteem and true inner desires. I think the word value is going to begin to have a new meaning for humanity and is just the change society needs. I look forward to a more honest society. I think it would sort out ALOT!!! Great article!
Me too. :) Thanks.
I often wondered the same about honesty and blockchains. Thanks for putting the thought out there :)
Thanks for reading!
Great thought. It seems that with the progression of technology, humanity is losing a good deal of empathy. I'm not sure we can reverse that but I do think increasing accountability would help our society as a whole.
I agree.
Those who make it a habit of coming from a place of honesty and integrity, have no fear of blockchains. Good brain stimulating post. Upvoted and followed
Thank you!