From 846249551e2b62175e135cde56caa51ad97b0c6c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: David Gasquez Date: Wed, 8 Jan 2025 12:08:32 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] =?UTF-8?q?docs:=20=F0=9F=93=9D=20add=20types=20and=20bene?= =?UTF-8?q?fits=20of=20decentralization?= MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Add Vitalik's analysis of decentralization types (architectural, political, logical) and their key benefits (fault tolerance, attack resistance, collusion resistance). Include nuanced discussion of tradeoffs and limitations. --- Decentralized Protocols.md | 28 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Large Language Models.md | 5 ++++- Plurality.md | 19 +++++++++++++++++++ Politics.md | 9 +++++++++ 4 files changed, 60 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) create mode 100644 Plurality.md diff --git a/Decentralized Protocols.md b/Decentralized Protocols.md index 8d43b9e..48f432c 100644 --- a/Decentralized Protocols.md +++ b/Decentralized Protocols.md @@ -27,3 +27,31 @@ - When building a technology, consider: [does this centralize or decentralize power?](https://geohot.github.io/blog/jekyll/update/2021/01/18/technology-without-industry.html) - Many decentralized protocols are trying to build next generation common digital infrastructure. - Unfortunately,[nearly every crypto project realized that they could capture value (make a lot of money) with innovative tokenomics that looked a lot like Ponzis, or at least borderline securities fraud](https://andrewconner.com/common-digital-infrastructure/). + +## Types of Decentralization + +There are [three distinct types of decentralization](https://medium.com/@VitalikButerin/the-meaning-of-decentralization-a0c92b76a274): + +- **Architectural decentralization**: How many physical computers make up the system and how many can fail before the system stops working. +- **Political decentralization**: How many individuals or organizations control those computers. +- **Logical decentralization**: Whether the interface and data structures look like a single monolithic system or can be split into independent parts. + +A system can be: + +- Decentralized in some aspects but centralized in others (e.g., blockchains are politically and architecturally decentralized but logically centralized). +- Architecturally decentralized but politically centralized (e.g., many companies running on AWS). +- Politically decentralized but architecturally centralized (e.g., some formal democracies). + +## Why Decentralization Matters + +[Decentralization provides three key benefits](https://medium.com/@VitalikButerin/the-meaning-of-decentralization-a0c92b76a274): + +- **Fault tolerance**: Systems are less likely to fail accidentally because they rely on many separate components. +- **Attack resistance**: Systems are more expensive to attack because they lack sensitive central points. +- **Collusion resistance**: It's harder for participants to collude in ways that benefit them at the expense of others. + +However, decentralization is not a silver bullet: + +- Common mode failures can still affect decentralized systems (e.g., all nodes running the same client software with a bug). +- Pure economic models sometimes show that decentralization doesn't matter for security. +- There's a paradox between fostering good coordination (e.g., quick protocol upgrades) while preventing harmful coordination (e.g., 51% attacks). diff --git a/Large Language Models.md b/Large Language Models.md index f0faa08..ff7d981 100644 --- a/Large Language Models.md +++ b/Large Language Models.md @@ -2,12 +2,15 @@ - LLM can build internal [[Knowledge Graphs]]s in their the network layers. - ML system where humans are designing how the information is organized (feature engineering, linking, graph building) will scale poorly ([the bitter lesson](http://www.incompleteideas.net/IncIdeas/BitterLesson.html)). +- English is becoming the hottest new programming language. [Use it](https://addyo.substack.com/p/the-70-problem-hard-truths-about). ## Coding Tips - Use comments to guide the model to do what you want. - Divide the problem into smaller problems (functions, classes, ...) and solve them one by one. -- English is becoming the hottest new programming language. [Use it](https://addyo.substack.com/p/the-70-problem-hard-truths-about). +- Start with a template you like to bootstrap your project and setup all the necessary toolings and following a manageable project pattern. +- Before coding, make the plan with the model. +- Make the model ask you more questions to refine the ideas. ## Agents diff --git a/Plurality.md b/Plurality.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5444380 --- /dev/null +++ b/Plurality.md @@ -0,0 +1,19 @@ +# Plurality + +- [Plurality is a political philosophy and framework](https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2024/08/21/plurality.html) that seeks to create mechanisms for large-scale cooperation while preserving diversity and autonomy. + - Plurality stands between [[Governance|Technocracy]] and [[Decentralized Autonomous Organizations|Libertarianism]], offering a third way that emphasizes connections between individuals and groups. + - Plurality recognizes that there is no single model that can explain the world perfectly, and we should use a combination of different models instead. +- Key ideas of [Plurality](https://www.plurality.net/): + - [[Identity]] should be intersectional and social, using the entire set of a person's actions and interactions to determine trustworthiness. + - [[Governance]] mechanisms should count uncorrelated signals additively but correlated signals with diminishing returns. + - [[Organizations|Organizations]] should allow different degrees of membership, not just true-or-false. + - Local currencies and property rights can coexist with global mechanisms for cooperation. +- Plurality technologies include: + - [Polis](https://pol.is/home) for large-scale conversations that identify consensus across different viewpoints. + - Community Notes that surface content rated highly by people who disagree on other topics. + - Message Checker and other user-facing tools that protect users while preserving autonomy. + - Quadratic funding and other mechanisms that subsidize collaboration between different groups. +- Plurality is compatible with: + - Exponential technological growth, by designing property rights that force rising tides to lift all boats. + - Valuing excellence and expertise, through mechanisms like prediction markets with per-person subsidies. + - Local experimentation in social media, blockchain ecosystems, and local government. diff --git a/Politics.md b/Politics.md index 5540063..bb1b736 100644 --- a/Politics.md +++ b/Politics.md @@ -39,6 +39,15 @@ - Absolute laws affect problems that are context dependent. The goal is to minimize misery. - [Everyone has a strong pressure toward believing a political story where the agents of positive change are things and people that they can personally relate to. E.g: a lawyer might think that the best way to solve a problem is to sue someone, a programmer might think that the best way to solve a problem is to make open source software for it.](https://80000hours.org/podcast/episodes/vitalik-buterin-techno-optimism/) - Governments usually don't have a great view into the [[Open Data|data]]. They can't look at the city's economy, energy, climate, and infrastructure in one glance. If they could, [even if poor governing decisions were made, it would be easier to see the impact and optimize them](https://magis.substack.com/p/simcity-and-data-commons). +- [Central planning](https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2018/11/25/central_planning.html) and interventionism should be evaluated by counting "knobs" (adjustable parameters) rather than measuring absolute magnitude of intervention. + - Simple systems with fewer knobs are desirable because they: + - Have fewer points of failure. + - Are less likely to overfit to specific contexts. + - Are more resistant to corruption and special interests. + - Can more easily achieve legitimacy through comprehensibility. + - There's a difference between redundant complexity (many parts serving similar goals) and optimizing complexity (one knob per problem). + - What seems "simple" is often just familiar - cultural context and shared historical experience shape our perception of complexity. + - [[Systems|System design]] should balance mathematical/technical approaches with historical/anthropological learning to avoid extreme conservatism or dangerous utopianism. ## [Voting Theory](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/D6trAzh6DApKPhbv4/a-voting-theory-primer-for-rationalists)