Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@nmushegian
Created March 19, 2022 22:25
Show Gist options
  • Star 0 You must be signed in to star a gist
  • Fork 0 You must be signed in to fork a gist
  • Save nmushegian/7202b5817c49abf19f2502c3fe2517a6 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Save nmushegian/7202b5817c49abf19f2502c3fe2517a6 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
We have started a series of free software releases that will let people to use the decentralized web in more ways that help them, without having to buy special tokens. We will give example after example of how you can look at a token and tell if there is a simple way to build something that is more helpful by removing it or simplifying it. We will suggest a simple test to tell whether you really need to buy a token for a new invention to work properly. We will show that giving your users a true understanding of what something is gives you a competitive advantage, even if it means the user doesn't want to pay for exactly what you had in mind. We will show that we can do this while making more money than any project that follows rent-seeking strategies.
When we show people how to analyze the flow of value without needing a unit of account or reference asset, we expect some backlash.
There are many projects that accidentally create unjust systems -- that means a system where they would want the rules to be different if they were a user instead of the developer or owner of the system. If you are well-intentioned, it feels bad to get called out. You might begin with a line of reasoning like "this space is still experimental", but what you really mean to say is "I didn't intend to create a deceptive system". You don't want to open yourself to attack. If you admit your system was deceptive, someone could sue you or worse.
But the effects of your system are what they are independently of what you say, and with this technology people only gain clarity as time goes on, rather than having the records lost to time. If you balance your system, you will have shown that you are on the same team as those that attack you, and their attacks will be counterproductive. If projects have recovered from malicious attacks that destroyed most of their capital, they can recover from some stakeholders seeking recourse -- but only if the system as a whole is just. Then the project has everyone's support to continue building.
But if you keep excusing yourself while refusing to correct a system that everyone can see is taking value in an unbalanced way, everyone will withdraw their support and resources and no matter how much wealth you obtained, you will have the same experience of loss as everyone else because your wealth will start decreasing over time.
If people exploit each other over such trivial systems, it is outright unethical to build more powerful systems if they leave any levers at all.
When we build these kind of systems in a way that actually works, they grow to planetary scale with no way to contain them.
We do not want to build a panopticon where someone can flip a switch to turn off your food supply, but some people do.
I finally met some of these people in real life. They tried to cause my dog to injure herself when I didn't want to help them.
Their rules of engagement are sociopathic. They do much worse to innocent people and it is business as usual for them.
I will tell you how we can win against them.
The good news is that they can't build anything.
They depend on deception, manipulation, and coercion of builders, and each of these is easy to counter with the right knowledge.
The bad news is that the biggest obstacles are the chains we put on each other.
We will not be able to find a group of people some government could arrest to fix the problem.
We will have to rebuild a lot of systems because a lot of systems are rotten to the core and the whole thing has tangled itself up into a destructive mess.
To rebuild these system in a way that propels humanity instead of enslaves it, we will need to learn that it is impossible to control each other in a way that doesn't backfire.
When you learn to trace the chain of causality for the things that control you back to where the violence starts,
you will also notice all the places the violence cannot reach, and how people are building together there.
You will also see how violence justifies itself despite the fact that it is rarely justified.
You will notice just how many people short circuit because they cannot rationalize the violence, but still insist that there must be a net positive result.
People don't generally consider themselves to be lying thieves or violent oppressors, but through history we know better than to assume we know all the consequences of social and economic systems. Things move from "obviously not wrong" to "obviously wrong" pretty quickly. The transition phase is not stable and it resolves to the right outcome when enough people gain complete understanding. Every religion has a metaphor that explains the relationship between knowledge, choice, and consequence. Choose your own adventure.
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment