The core concept that I've been thinking of over the past few days, as I get more exposed to block-chain, its implementations and the emerging technologies, is that it's implementation is partially a product of its design (the way the environment is set up to distribute 'value' to users and stakeholders and the corresponding level of 'power' that these people have), but primarily the community that it attracts.
At the inception of a great idea, the crowd that will be attracted will be those that believe in it's future and can envision it's impact and benefits in the time to come. As the system evolves it's strength is initially determined by those that are powering it (the great minds that conceived the idea, the developers that help the evolution of the source code, and mind you both parties need to continue to do that for the platform to achieve greatness and maintain it) and it's value is enhanced by the users that begin to adopt it.
But as time goes by, and a great idea becomes a great product, it goes mainstream and attracts people from all over the world. It's adaptation changes. It begins to mirror basic human values and morals. When a system is scaled up, there needs to be some sort of power source that regulates and empowers it. There needs to be a governing body that moderates issues and helps prevent bottlenecks. Note that I do not mention centralized or decentralized when I say power source and governing body. I am just saying that it needs to exist.
As a system scales larger and larger I think that even those systems that were designed decentralized begin to centralize. And the reflection of the dominant human morals and values begin to show much more than before.
The solution to this is a global revolution in spiritual growth. If human's as a species migrated towards self reflection and ascend in their level of consciousness as a collective, and come to realize that collective growth is much more potent that scattered individual growth, then and then only will any well implemented and large scale system be truly successful by any ethical and moral standards.
The status quo of human morality is like broken shards of glass, all they can be used for are gashing flesh and bleeding life, bring those shards of glass together and fit the curves and edges together and a blurry picture begins to emerge. Work on it as a collective to glue the pieces and polish the surface and we can start seeing the blue in the sky and the beauty of our own images. It's a colossal task, one that I hope mankind can achieve. But it all starts with our own small broken piece of glass.
Philosophy aside, I think that when people are educated to understand the power of emerging technologies (and especially those with a non technical background), we can start taking a step in a positive direction. As time goes by we can perfect which platform/system gets the architecture right. But unless we educate, we can not change the fundamental nature of human beings.
Basically, anarchy doesn't work.
Steemit is a test case in anarchy and shows the ultimate end, with large share holders controlling over smaller ones.
Whomever has the biggest stick, makes the rules.
Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed response. I do agree with a lot of what you said, including that it would be a great change to see people having extensive knowledge over the many technologies that life in the modern era demands we use. But my question to you is, what about those who cannot learn? Either through a simply lack of desire to trouble themselves with the effort, or perhaps due to a limited mental capacity, there will inevitably be those that will never understand some of the complex tools that we use in the modern day, and I would be surprised if the most intelligent person on this planet was able to learn the intricacies of every technology used by the average man in one life time.
I would call it progress when we are able to trust in the technology that society presents to us, without having to worry whether it is serving an ulterior agenda to that which we have been told. In this world, however, this is a thought that any who are paying attention would think when hearing of a new piece of tech to be released.
Also, I do agree that for the purposes of order, some centralization, at least in terms of communication, would have to exist. I have no problem with this. I am by no means an anarchist, but I believe that the power in society should be transparent, not obfuscated as we see in the world today.
I agree with what you are saying. I personally enjoy learning the intricacies of something that grabs my attention, so I follow that approach, and luckily I have some exposure to technical knowledge that helps me understand how things work under the hood better than those that are non technical. Someone else with more tech knowledge than me would know even better.
But I also believe that people without a technical background can understand how things work, and if they somehow gained that knowledge it would benefit them in using it better (which is not necessarily what happens, because there are those who understand a system and naturally begin to manipulate it to their individual gain).
As for the people who are not at all interested in learning more about tech but just use it and are simply happy using it, which I may incorrectly assume is the vast majority of people, there is nothing wrong with that. But we may find that the usage of the technology begins to deviate from its intended purpose.
My point being , I'd like to operate with the hope that if people of all backgrounds are educated to the workings of a platform (inner intricate details or just a broader picture, whichever suits their learning style), it would encourage a more positive application of the technology. But that is ideal, and we can see in reality what happens when knowledge is misused (with the current state of steemit).
I agree with your measure of progress. A system where people adopt the technology and platform without having to worry about ulterior motives. I wish to be alive in an era when humanity moves towards that direction. Designing such technology is up to brilliant inventors, helping it evolve is up to the community that supports it. But unless there's a fundamental shift in societies obsession with self interest, even the most ideal and constructive of environments can be tainted with insidious organisms. And to change that I feel that people need to change at an individual level and then come together as a collective.
Can I ask what level of technical expertise you are on in regards to blockchain technology? I have none at all, though I have just started to learn, but this is going to be a very long process and the chance for me to develop my many, many ideas will surely be gone.
I have been thinking about getting a few similar-thinking minds together, each with differing skillsets, and sharing my ideas, and then expanding on them together and hopefully bringing some of them into fruition.
Would you be interested in something like that? I share in your perspective, and after much consideration, I have decided that the most important factor when pursuing projects with others is that you have a shared ideology. So I would like to start surrounding myself with such people, especially ones who are interested in creating something profound while the opportunity is still available.
I am a novice programmer (have been learning for just above a year now, so just the bare bones). My level of technical expertise is not very high. But I have basic understanding of the structure of various programming languages, and also basics of algorithms and data structures. So that helps me peek and prod at block chain technologies. And I read a lot to try and piece together parts of the puzzle. If you're interested in learning, go to the coursera website (it's a website that offers a lot of MOOCs, massive open online courses) and search up cryptocurrencies/blockchain. I'm doing one called Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies, which is offered by Princeton University. They are free of cost.
I would love to work with like minded people on something that would help bring a product into fruition. I think that's an excellent idea. But at the same time the disclaimer I have is that I am also a learner at this time, I am no expert!
But I think collaboration is an excellent idea. And I agree with you on coming together with like minded people and creating something fruitful! I enjoy your posts and would love to chat with you more on this.
Do you have discord? I will invite you to server, though this idea is very, very fresh, so I haven't made one yet, and have only spoken to one other person about my plans to create something.
Yes I do have discord. I'd love to contribute, and see where it goes from there.
I'll be in touch tomorrow once I have created a server. Still have a few things I want to finish up tonight. Do your best to enjoy the rest of your day/night and I will speak to you tomorrow.