I am an Economist, history nut, Web3 and Tech enthusiast, and lover of emergent order. Welcome to Escaping Zero!
The Network is the Notes, not the Song - The Blockchain is the Building Blocks, not the Building.
In the realm of creativity and innovation, distinguishing between the components that make up a whole and the whole itself poses a philosophical conundrum. How do the pieces and whole fit together? Not literally, but figuratively. There is clearly something emergent, such that the whole is greater than the parts. The song is more than just a collection of notes. But where does one end and the other begin? This analogy sheds light on an overlooked aspect of innovation: the balance between prov...
The Network is the Notes, not the Song - The Blockchain is the Building Blocks, not the Building.
In the realm of creativity and innovation, distinguishing between the components that make up a whole and the whole itself poses a philosophical conundrum. How do the pieces and whole fit together? Not literally, but figuratively. There is clearly something emergent, such that the whole is greater than the parts. The song is more than just a collection of notes. But where does one end and the other begin? This analogy sheds light on an overlooked aspect of innovation: the balance between prov...
Quadratically Funding Dominant Assurance Contracts: A Path to Public Goods at Scale
TLDRDominant Assurance Contracts as a way to finance public goods, particularly in the context of Web3, have been discussed but as of yet they have not been tried. Quadratic Funding is a powerful tool to fund public goods but has a critical shortcoming. I propose a two-phased strategy for raising funds for public goods that require a set amount for their successful realization by merging these two methods. It is believed that such a combination will address several pressing challenges associa...
Quadratically Funding Dominant Assurance Contracts: A Path to Public Goods at Scale
TLDRDominant Assurance Contracts as a way to finance public goods, particularly in the context of Web3, have been discussed but as of yet they have not been tried. Quadratic Funding is a powerful tool to fund public goods but has a critical shortcoming. I propose a two-phased strategy for raising funds for public goods that require a set amount for their successful realization by merging these two methods. It is believed that such a combination will address several pressing challenges associa...
The Economics of Authenticity
Economics, like physics, has a few fundamental principles upon which it builds. One is simple, supply and demand determine prices. The more people demand, everything else held constant, the price goes up. The more people supply, keeping other factors constant, the price goes down, and vice versa. It is not simple and sometimes impossible to apply this principle to non-tangible and abstract things. Take, for example, love or friendship. In this light, the value of art in terms of demand and su...
The Economics of Authenticity
Economics, like physics, has a few fundamental principles upon which it builds. One is simple, supply and demand determine prices. The more people demand, everything else held constant, the price goes up. The more people supply, keeping other factors constant, the price goes down, and vice versa. It is not simple and sometimes impossible to apply this principle to non-tangible and abstract things. Take, for example, love or friendship. In this light, the value of art in terms of demand and su...
Is a War with the Machines (AI) Inevitable?
The following are some musings about AI in the context of international relations theories (IR). IR studies how nations interact with other nations. If we think of AI as a new nation (of sorts), what are the options for how we would relate? The short answer is that war is not the logical outcome, given a critical condition. ____________________________________________ Unless you've been living under a rock, you're probably aware of the growing concerns about the potentially catastro...
Is a War with the Machines (AI) Inevitable?
The following are some musings about AI in the context of international relations theories (IR). IR studies how nations interact with other nations. If we think of AI as a new nation (of sorts), what are the options for how we would relate? The short answer is that war is not the logical outcome, given a critical condition. ____________________________________________ Unless you've been living under a rock, you're probably aware of the growing concerns about the potentially catastro...
Making DAOs Credibly Decentralized
There is a parallel to be drawn between blockchains and DAOs. DAOs are built on blockchains, but they don't reach consensus in the same manner, nor should they. Blockchains strive for "credible neutrality." Meaning, no one should be able to take over a blockchain like Ethereum; no single individual can control it or force an illegitimate transaction to be recorded, nor can anyone censor someone else's use of the protocol. DAOs are organizations that operate on "credibly neutral" pro...
Making DAOs Credibly Decentralized
There is a parallel to be drawn between blockchains and DAOs. DAOs are built on blockchains, but they don't reach consensus in the same manner, nor should they. Blockchains strive for "credible neutrality." Meaning, no one should be able to take over a blockchain like Ethereum; no single individual can control it or force an illegitimate transaction to be recorded, nor can anyone censor someone else's use of the protocol. DAOs are organizations that operate on "credibly neutral" pro...
