I spent a few hours talking with colleagues about some Blockchain subjects, but I am confident that I convinced them of nothing. While they do see the benefits in the technology, they struggled to see how it relates to improved governance and a better economic system. The governance is definitely not my area and I was unable to adequately explain myself, but when it comes to economy I do have some ideas.
What I find when I talk about these things is that people have this idea that it should be a quick fix to be viable, flip a switch and everything is okay. It came up several times that "you can't just destroy governments..."
I think even most people in crypto expect some kind of fast result, but how I see it, this is a long process of development that runs alongside the current models, often working in tandem. Even if all the technology was available and scalable, the largest hurdle is changing the behavioural mindset enough to make the shift. Most won't.
I see Blockchain technology and the crypto scene as a type of side chain to the current processes that over time begin to replace one function after another. At some point, the traditional systems become increasingly irrelevant, inefficient and more volatile and eventually more mass is on the Blockchain and through the uptake, transparency and efficiency - the switch will be made.
I believe that rather than a short and violent war, the change will be slow and many small battles won will add up to push centralised systems into obscurity. It will take decades, before the real value will be realized.
One of the arguments met was that people are products of their environment and even with transparency and data, will still act based on the structure they know. This is true, yet here we are, slowly changing out personal paradigms. What about our children - will they choose to remain in the traditional or, embrace the new economy? And, the friends of our children? Not only does a distributed network spread value and information, it also influences behaviour, and can create new cultures that are a little bit freer, a little more responsible.
Blockchain is not a quick fix for the ills of the world, but slowly through different forms of distribution, trust and collaboration, it informs increasingly better and shifts our thinking on the world, and our place in it.
As I said tonight, there is no centralised culture in history that has survived time, yet here we all are. We are already decentralised by nature, spread to reduce risk and increase our ability to adapt. The Blockchain aids our natural processes, the ones that have got us through 2 million years of evolution.
The Blockchain is just another tool. How we use it is quite literally - up to us.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
(posted from phone, watching over my daughter)