What do a book, a radio broadcast, and the human voice all have in common?
Today the answer is easy: they all contain information. But if you asked someone the same question 100 years ago, they would struggle. They would not have easily identified that these different things all share an abstract property like “information”.
Perhaps there is an analog to information hidden in the foundations of our civilization. An abstract property that once revealed, might help remake our understanding of the world, and help us answer plainly what problem blockchains are supposed to solve.
Call this property hardness .
Pre-Talk Reading: Atoms, Institutions, Blockchains — Josh Stark
Youtube Stream: https://youtube.com/live/c-HKt0XhxSE
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This feels like another solid foundational theory. I haven’t much to offer aside from a summary:
The concept of hardness is introduced: a form of stability that humans require to navigate the future.
Three basic sources are proposed: atoms (useful features of the natural world), institutions (coordination amongst humans gives access more complex assurances), blockchains (new digital tech enables transparent, trustless interactions).
The progression of privacy illustrated them well:
- atomic hardness of sound gave us confidence about who could hear us
- telephones made it technically possible to spy, but rare due to constraints on the process (atomic) and some bureaucratic hoops to jump through (institutional)
- modern web tech made it extremely easy and profitable (atomic hardness completely overcome, institutional severely reduced - regulations slow to react, low incentive and powerful opponents)
- some intermediate tech solutions, but blockchains offer powerful prospects
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