this post was submitted on 07 May 2024

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submitted 7 months ago by sturlabragason to c/[email protected]

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A concept which aligns nicely with Solarpunk. 🙂

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Stopped reading at blockchain technology.

[–] sturlabragason 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain is what it is

[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago (1 children)

“… it’s not secure, it’s not safe, it’s not reliable, it’s not trustworthy, it’s not even decentralized, it’s not anonymous, it’s helping destroy the planet. I haven’t found one positive use. For blockchain, it was nothing that couldn’t be done better without it.”

—Bruce Schneier, Bruce Schneier on the Crypto/Blockchain Disaster

[+] [email protected] -6 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

If you can't find a use case that it's better than something else you're being disingenuous. Stupid comment.

Even a tennis racquet with no strings is better than one with, at something. Eg being a necklace.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago (3 children)

What are you even trying to say? I am still trying to find something actually useful where blockchain is necessary that doesn't spend as much energy as a small country. Every 'explanation' of why I should adopt this tech for my project/business/government/younameit is intransparent as heck. Lots of hot air, especially emanating from all those data centers. Fuck blockchain and AI.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago

it’s a solution looking for a problem – in the case of blockchain, the problem was how to fill my pockets with your money …

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

Circumventing banking regulations or embargoes etc.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

You're obviously not looking, since Ethereum the 2nd largest blockchain does not use mining ie no data Center needed.

Transparent is actually what blockchain is good at, it's codified contracts, now go read your banking statement and your contract and tell me how transparent it is why your money does not hit your account instantly and what banks do with it in the meantime. How about remitences, why do you have to pay such a large fee to send money over border? Yes bank has to make money you say, ok how about a blockchain that sinks the fees under 10c and that money has to make goes back to the operators of the network, transparently.

Yes you're getting instant transfers now after 10 years of waiting, because blockchain is making banks look slow and exposing their tricks.

Not gonna go further as blockchain haters usually have 2 eyes closed and love that they hate it and tell every one that they do, proudly, uncapable of having their minds changed. Which is fine, they will just be left in their old world view whilst people who adopt new technologies get on with creating value for the world and evolving to take on new challenges.

Get off the internet if you don't like datacenters and technology.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Get off the internet if you don’t like datacenters and technology.

Non-haters don't care about the differences between datacenters, technology and blockchain. They want M.O.R.E. T.E.C.H. because it's new and shiny. ;)

I do understand my banking statement, and even most of the fees I'm paying or my account. I don't really understand what happens in a blockchain. If you can explain it to me like I'm 5 maybe I'd be more likely to adopt the technology. I've heard rumours that it's really just a glorified database - if that is true, what's the difference between databases we already have, and this new fancy kind?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

The real difference is just that it's a database, with no single person/entity in control. So in the case of banks: A bank can arbitrarily raise fees, a blockchain only does so if the majority of the public running it comes to a consensus on doing so. A bank can freeze your assets if they don't like a recent purchase, a blockchain can't. A bank will usually make sending money to friends or family across borders extremely slow and expensive, a blockchain won't. A bank might not accept transfers on holidays, a blockchain is up 24/7/365 globally.

At the same time: A blockchain will be so public, that all transactions can be seen by anyone. With your bank, your transactions are only visible to them (and whoever they sell them to). (Unless you use a private currency like Monero or Zcash) A blockchain will usually be slower for redundancy, a bank's database won't. A blockchain records data permanently, a bank can delete data you don't want after a certain period of time.

It's really just different databases for different use cases. Many people in developing countries use crypto for daily purchases because banks won't give them accounts, and at the same time, many people won't use crypto for everyday purchases in places like the U.S. because their bank's infrastructure is faster and more convenient.

I personally have had more success sending money to friends, paying for my VPN, and spending money on holidays, using crypto rails, compared to my bank, but I've also had more success with everyday purchases using my bank, because it's just more convenient.

The gist is really just that blockchains are a ton of computers everywhere recording the same list of transactions permanently, under a certain set of rules, and a normal database is just that, but under one person/company's control, with more arbitrarily change-able rules. Your use of them is really just up to your preference regarding security, privacy, speed, and reliability.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

The gist is really just that blockchains are a ton of computers everywhere recording the same list of transactions permanently, under a certain set of rules, and a normal database is just that, but under one person/company’s control

So do all Bitcoin or Ethereum holders have some kind of general assembly or online vote to decide under what rules their currency is run? Does one bitcoin equal one vote? Which blockchains are private, which are not?

Also, banking (including their computing systems) already adheres to a set of rules, luckily. Unfortunately heavily eroded by powerful global players, but very functional, at least in Europe. Hey there's even cooperative banks and credit unions here if you look carefully! In my opinion we should seek to build common sense and evolve to an economy based on mutual trust, not build technology based on general mistrust.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 7 months ago (1 children)

meow i dont think it aligns nicely at all, why peopld keep trying to insert blockchian an ai into solarpunk? they dont fit! no consideration for environmental impacts... a communal city works bettr than ur DACs.

[–] hywoid 9 points 7 months ago (1 children)

This blog post looks like it is written by AI. It might be a good concept for a little science fiction story but nothing more.

[+] sturlabragason -7 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Yeah it looks that way because I used GPT4 to help me rearrange some stuff. Also did it a while back when I was relatively new to it and hadn’t completely made up my mind on what level of AI contribution I was comfortablw with.

Sure it’s scifiesque but I don’t feel it’s that far fetched.

[–] hywoid 8 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

I recommend not using AI for your personal blog posts but you do you. Anyone who has even little interest with llms can see the bland formatting of the text. I think it is very boring. Even badly written blog posts interest me more.

[–] sturlabragason 3 points 7 months ago

Well yeah I totally agree. I’m im the same place now, wasn’t as much back then 🙂

Now I can see them from a mile away : “In the world of subject matter” 😅

That post is due for a rewrite. Beauty of version control; everything is ephemeral and subject to continual improvements.

I really love Lemmy and the honest well thought out feedback.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

As a propent of DAOs and efforts like cybersyn I want to like this article, but it is entirely to optimistic and implies too much on the tools mentioned.

It would be better to limit the scope of what is actually being addressed and starting there. DAOs for example do offer a way to do transparent and codified governence. Building on top of public block chains helps provide a system with a root of trust that is transparent and built to difficult to corrupt (as in operates as defined).

Their is some synergies too with digitalization, digital twins, and robotics by putting more in digital realm makes the codified governmence of the DAOs more tangible.

As this stuff grows more and more relevent (governce systems that need to keep up with the pace of the modern world, for house just lookatt how much permits contributed to housing in affordability) I think its important for people like solarpunks and other socially minded folks are pushing forward using them where it makes sense to advance pur causes.

That said again, they are just tools, you could make hellDAO where the purpose is make life worse for everyone, crush the poor, sick the healthy, drill more oil, etc. All just as easily as the Utopian goals you played out, which to be frank is not easy, possible, but requires the code to be written, the systems built, and the people to actually buy in and use.