Re: Blockchain

On Sun, Jul 01, 2018 at 02:29:52PM +0000, Karen Shaeffer wrote:
> > > 
> > > Indeed. You might be interested in David Gerard's take:
> > > 
> > > https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/2018/06/28/ibm-the-gdpr-and-blockchain-whatever-that-word-specifically-means/
> > > 
> > > And by all means, continue to ignore people who can't or won't
> > > define their terms while urging you to get involved -- which
> > > always seems to mean "give me money" in some form.
> > > 
> > > -dsr-
> > 
> > Hi Dan,
> > Thanks for posting the link. Interesting. I like the comparison to Git.
> > Even more telling, in my eyes, is this link
> > 
> > https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/01/02/hyperledger_at_three/
> > 
> > In that review, the claim is blockchain will be at a healthy stable
> > plateau in five to ten years. I think that is a little optimistic and
> > wouldn't be surprised for it to take eight to fifteen years. Or maybe
> > even a little longer. Look at the linux adoption curve. My understanding
> > is Bharath Ramsunder is talking about maybe even twenty years out.
> > 
> > Even so, you look at the linux adoption curve. And early adopters were
> > making a lot of money long before linux became a bloated everyday
> > technology. It is very interesting to see all the major corporations
> > diving into blockchain technologies as enthusiastic early adopters. And
> > it just seems to smell of "The New Science of Radical Innovation" by
> > Sunny Giles, who uses Google as the archetypical example.
> > 
> > I'm just starting to pay attention to blockchain myself. Just starting
> > to watch it. So I don't care what happens to it at this point.
> 
> Hi folks,
> All these projections about blockchain only show one thing. Nobody
> really knows what will happen. For those who are interested, the Palo
> Alto based startup
> 
> https://doc.ai/about
> 
> has blockchain baked into their business model. This company might
> radically disrupt the medical industry. Depending how well they do, they
> might impact the timeline and envelope of potential for blockchain
> within the broader economy. So I'll be watching this startup and how
> they do with the release of their ecosystem.

Hi folks,

Circling back to this issue: We can gain some insight into the tension
between technologies such as block chain and corporations that have built
themselves up around the notion of cultivating and centralizing data,
that is generated by humans -- such as Google, by reading this very
insightful article:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/10/yuval-noah-harari-technology-tyranny/568330/

I do not have an opinion on the issue. I'm not anti-Google nor pro-block
chain. I do think folks ought to appreciate the reality that is
unfolding. The article discusses how relying on AI systems dumbs down
the human experience, leading to far less capable humans. Very
interesting and worth considering in appreciating the tension between
technologies such as block chain and centralizing data technologies.

Oh, and yeah, linux systems play a major role in enabling these
technologies to flurish.

Happy Labor Day,
Karen
-- 
Karen Shaeffer                 The subconscious mind is driven by your deeply
Neuralscape Services           held beliefs -- not your deeply held desires.