Decentralization

[igotrhythm]

First, I'm making this just so the self-offing ideation stops being the last post. Second, I've been talking with a bunch of guys that are elbow-deep in it.

In brief, decentralization is the idea that services should move away from having any single point of failure, whether it's the Internet, global banking, or other essential services. Bitcoin is an example of a decentralized service that replaces the need to trust in a fallible person or institution when buying something with a trust in mathematics. By basically solving equations, you generate "proof of work" which is the basis for the value of the currency, instead of the say-so of a government. This idea can be extended to other things as well, and could eventually lead to a lack of reliance on big internet service providers like Comcast or Google. Anyone here remember Heartbleed and how scary that was, given how widely OpenSSL was used? This is what happens when a central point of failure is shown to have a weakness.

Here's a good primer on the subject. If you wanna get involved, I have a link available on request, but the first point of discussion is this: What's an example of an institution you can think of that can benefit from being decentralized, and how would it benefit?