Today, we visited an indoor playground, where Smallsteps met with a friend to run around for a few hours out of the rain and my wife and I got to talk with the father over a cup or two of coffee. It was really nice and definitely the kind of conversation I prefer, where we discussed the various problems facing the world and possibilities on how to improve the conditions for our kids. This isn't always an easy conversation to have, but the guy is very much switched on and open to talking about all manner of things, which we did.
What was interesting is how so many things can be improved through blockchain transparency and crypto, because it helps people take back ownership of their experience in a transparent manner. For a simple line of thought example, we spoke about what to do about the "platforms" out there (Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon) that take our data and use it to improve their financial performance, increasing their strangle hold over all. In his opinion, he thinks it is about "protecting our data" from them so they cannot leverage it, but in my opinion, it is about devaluing data so that it is available to everyone more equally, not just them.
This doesn't make data valueless, it just distributes the value of it through competition and ties that value to specific usecase values. This disempowers the platforms, because once everyone has access (for example through blockchains), it allows for tens of thousands of companies to compete with the conglomerates in their niche fields, specializing to a greater degree than the behemoth can, essentially bleeding them dry through tiny slices. Something I refer to as a death by a thousand cuts process.
But, this level of transparency is difficult for most people to understand, because they think that it means that they have to share their information with everyone, no matter what it is. But, this is not the case, or at least, this is already happening now, it is just that the "everyone" are those large platform data collectors who use it to bleed us dry. The other thing is that like the guy said today, the reason YouTube is free for him to use, is because they can use that data.
This is a common argument, but it is also not true. YouTube is not free, we are all paying for it, it is just done indirectly. Google make money by operating the service through advertising, which we are paying for through consumer spending. Just because the interface layer access is free to use, it doesn't mean it is actually free and, it doesn't mean there aren't other costs associated with that level of information distribution reach, as we have seen with all kinds of "movements" in the last decade, including the affects it has had on the democratic process.
Which also came up, where it is quite obvious to anyone with half a brain, that 1:1 voting with majority rule, doesn't actually work. It is so fundamentally flawed, that it is amazing that it was ever given the space to breathe at all. The problems with it are numerous, but I think this paragraph that @jagged posted to me in a comment today will suffice to explain.
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.”
― Alexander Fraser Tytler
The problem is, humans. We will learn to maximize ourselves quickly, no matter who we are. This maximization will eventually lead to all kinds of issues, especially since we don't worry about the cost to others while we are maximizing ourselves. Not only this, we are also very poorly skilled in so many important areas, that we are unable to make a decision of "best fit" for anything, so we will make blanket decisions for arbitrary reasons, like whether we like the candidate or not, or whether they believe in something we feel strongly about or not. We vote in our best interest, regardless of our competence and these days, it is often, who will give me the most money. But there are other reasons too.
Well, obviously there is a solution to this too, but it doesn't mean it is easy to develop, even if the solution already exists. Essentially, there needs to be staked-based voting systems incorporated, but what gets factored in as relevant stake has to be more than financial position. For instance, educational background, work experience, interests, hobbies, social and community activity and other points of relevance, that are verifiable to some degree. If all of this information was able to be gathered into a unique profile and then through a cross-referencing system, a voting questionnaire would be filled with all of the relevant weightings having an impact, each voter would have an independent say as an individual, but would also have their skills and experience taken into account.
But how to collect that information?
Well, most likely, a lot of that information already exists and is currently being collected, collated and sold for profit from that handful of companies mentioned above, for profit. If the same data they collect was available globally, instead of them building a digital Cupie Doll avatar of us to target with messaging, it could build a dynamic voter profile that grows with us, as our experiences change over time throughout our lives. Should elderly people for example be making decisions that they will never have to experience, but have heavy negative consequences on the future generations? Maybe they should have less weighting in those areas. But, those same people may have greater weighting in other aspects of the vote, because they have experiences that the young do not.
And as you can see, through this very simplified few paragraphs, how much of these things overlap and feed into each other. but, there is more to it than this also, because what is actually required is that rather than the renter mindset that we have been conditioned to have, we need to become owners of our world. The devaluation of our data in the sense of its salability by the data collectors, doesn't make it valueless, quite the opposite. Taking ownership of this data means that we are able to use it in a million ways that lay outside of the platform's self interested decisions, like using it for building stronger social networks, or improving the decisions for localized communities.
And again, there is more to it than just improving economic conditions, because once we are all owners in our world, we start to become collaborators, developers, builders and protectors of the world we are creating. We become reconnected to society, rather than disenfranchised from it. We start to take active roles forcing us to interact, discuss, problem solve and overcome, rather than sitting back passively and saying, there is nothing that can be done. We become gateways to our own future, rather than locked doors without a key.
There are so many aspects to this that I can't come close to listing them all and even touching on their considerations in a single post. However, what I want to get across is that regardless of how difficult things may be currently or how bad they get, there are still options to improve conditions, if we take ownership over our lives, rather than proxying our lives and living vicariously through the authorities. And, that "vicarious life" we are living is not a pleasant one, because we are living as they want us to live, which is as a servant that feeds the master, a cow to be milked, a tool to be used and discarded when broken, sub-human, a number that has no value, other than what we can add to their bottom line, for them to maximize themselves, using our resources.
We aren't locked out of opportunity to change this world.
We are the keys.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
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The vote weighting thing actually sounds interesting and workable, think I'd love something like that for elections XD
wonder if I would love it as much if it was implemented, and I guess good or bad implementation there will be people screaming about it
It would have to be paired with transparency of other data, like governments - which government would ever agree?
None of the current ones, which is why they're getting phased out.
Youtube is not free at all. You have watch at least two compulsory ads to watch any video. Also, they can monetize any video and generate revenue from it even if the account of uploader is not approved for their monetization program. A new slavery model.
Except if you use an adblocker. I do, and my YouTube experience is seamless. There are no advertisements at all.
Funny, isn't it? It definitely is a slavery model - who said it had been abolished?
Just disguised.
And because it is in the form of entertainment, most won't notice.
If not dumb, they should notice. Morever, as for distribution of income, Youtube takes the big slice.
Interesting thought and I agree. I hadn't thought of it that way but it makes perfect sense. If everyone knows something, nobody has more power than the next person.
100% I quit posting to YouTube when I got into 3Speak. I hear people moaning that they take 11% of the post rewards but at least you know the cost upfront.
Yes, and that's what I like about these platforms. You can have nothing and with the help of others you can build something. If it doesn't work, you can build something else. Usually for free, if you want to invest the time and effort.
Yes, and of course, some things can still be hidden, without having everything hidden. The problem is, once people agree to this, they will demand it from governments and business -they don't want that to happen.
Yeah, It is interesting when people complain, when most people will not earn anything at all elsewhere. It is part of the entitlement that seems to quickly set in.
I am hoping that there will be a renaissance for creativity in general - where people become "tradespeople" of some kind and can monetize their efforts.
Wow, there's a lot to unpack. The turning point towards the freedom of data was brilliant. There's indeed a lot to fix and some thing could be done as data becomes available to everyone. It would be for the best.
I like the explanation of democracy. I've always thought that democracy is as good as the dumbest person in the country. It is true that masses are easy to manipulate and the whole world is a mess. An utter mess. Things need to be driven toward a better path.
Breaking with the current ideas will be tough, but it's still feasible. Only if we could push aside ego and selfishness, we could start working on a better world for our species. A world that truly humane. But avarice runs rampant. Who knows if s good change will come?
The funny thing is, people think that it is not available now, that they are hidden, but they are entirely exposed to a very small group who will sell anything for profit.
If you think about the quote of what different intelligence groups discuss (people, events, ideas), most people will discuss people and drama events - which is why politicians are now celebrities, not bureaucrats. Throw in the digital manipulation and it is very easy to swing the masses.
I hold hope, but the odds are long.
It's hard to be off the grid when you have a tracking device on you almost all the time. Funny that people thinks about being safe while they do too much on their phones.
Well, media steers the attentions towards unncessry things. Drama and people's life isn't the real focus, but it's all a big circus and a big play to keep the eyes off the relevant stuff.
You definately have opened a can of thoughtful worms on this one (once again) 🤣
My recent, "tug of war", with people has been massive schisms, where I didn't even realise a schism existed.
It is amazing what some people believe these days and will fight for ardently - yet know very little about it and have zero experience with it.
Nothing is ever truly free and we know companies like Youtube are just mining our information. It reminds me of how Robinhood was selling the data it was getting and the platform wants to earn more money. Of course, we can pick our platforms but each one has their own advantages and disadvantages.
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Data is everything these days - but we can't protect ours in a practical sense, so we have to leverage it in another way.
There's nothing actually free to use because you have to render payment for such services to be used
Well, at least Facebook and Youtube are free - but that is "free" in quotations :)
Where I come from we still need to pay to get access to them
Oh really?
I know in some places the way people get "free" internet is through Facebook. It is insanity.
Yeah it's really insane
We should control our own data, most probably thought a blockchain in the future, where everyone who needs can access the digital identity if we agree to it. But then, thinking about who is guarding the guards, if we are accountable for our data, we are the ones guarding over it. There will be always players that will try to rig the game and abuse the system.
Yes, there will always be people trying to scam, but at the same time, that happens now anyway. At least this way, we would be taking some responsibility and have the chance to protect ourselves in a distributed way too, rather than having everything in the one basket.
Exactly. They are using the info anyway, so at least we will be the one in control of our personal data.
Yes, they are deceptive platforms that seize data to give it to the owners of companies who advertise for huge amounts of money. This is a very great abuse of privacy.
This kind of behavior annoys me. I specifically asked about this a few months ago from both accounts.
Which account do you want me to vote on? I am not going to vote both:
@bozz, you might want to consider this too.
Parties are the secret of people's destruction. It is like a game that takes place every four years if they achieve huge development of fields they don't care about morals issue and vice versa.
Facebook and YouTubebare are free in the sense that we are not paying to subscribe to it, but we are indirectly paying, through data comsumption, nothing that man give in this world is completely free.