Blockchains, the engine behind Bitcoin, is proving to allow many revolutionary technologies. Blockchains allows humans and computers to share and control information in a way that is transparent and decentralized.
This article is intended for people who are still grappling with the magical algorithm that is allowing new ways of human interactions.
Conveying how much change Blockchains will bring to our plante is difficult. Imagine the Internet back in the late 80's. It was hard to explain to most people, and there weren't many clear uses for it yet. None the less, many people worked hard to manifest the Internet's potential, and soon the Web reshaped the way humans interact.
Blockchain is similar to the Internet because both promote Decentralization. They distribute power and information to many. This is a reversal of the centuries-long trend of Centralization; of consolidation of power into states and then super states.
Super states like the US and EU are collapsing, even if the TV pundits are continuing to pretend as if everything is normal. The Centralization proved too fragile; it was easily co-opted by an oligarchy.
There is a way out of this mess, without the dangers inherent in a traditional revolution. Traditional governments need tax revenue and belief in their legitimacy to continue to exist. Without these external sources of energy, these parasitic systems will wither and die.
This is not to say that governments do not provide important services.
We can provide many of the same government services using Blockchain.
With Blockchain powering governance, transactions become more visible so that they are much more resistant to corruption.
Bitcoin, and similar cryptocurrencies based on Blockchain, offer us a way of exchanging goods and services that is independent of a central control point. This makes corruption much more difficult. The technology at the heart of Bitcoin - the Blockchain - permits us to do more than just generate currency secure, decentralized manner.
A Blockchain is a network of distributed information; a shared ledger copied and worked on by all participating in the network. Many Blockchains reside on thousands of computers, across the world. BLOCKS of Changes to the ledger are shared and processed collectively, and once the results are verified by many computers, the BLOCK is added to the CHAIN. Each Blockchain is transparent because everybody hosting the network has a copy of all of the transactions. However, it is secure because in order to manipulate your own data, you need a complex password called a private key that can prove it was you who requested an action.
With Bitcoin, the private key allows you to transfer your Bitcoin to someone else, while a public key is an address where anyone can send Bitcoin. In future systems, a private key will be used to verify when we sign a document, or voted, or request arbitration during a dispute.
There are already groups such as BitNation that offer Identification and Notarization services based on Blockchains. Soon, reputation and dispute resolution systems will give humans an alternative to the legacy-state court system, which in the U.S. is at best financially inaccessible, and at worst a for-profit enterprise in human slavery.
Within ten years it will be as easy to create a new society - with its own currency, legislature, dispute resolution, reputation system, etc - as it is to make a Facebook group. Once that happens, why would we continue dumping tax money into systems that we know are no longer serving the greater good? Why would we continue voting for politicians that we know do not care about our well being?
We can take our power back, one decision at a time.
If you're eager for this future, check out the Decentralized Autonomous Society Facebook group. And follow this account for more detailed posts as we explore the challenges and triumphs that will come with the future of human interaction.