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The news media attempt at gaslighting readers to trust their authority. We need a decentralized information verification system. The old centralized methods ar

The news media attempt at gaslighting readers to trust their authority. We need a decentralized information verification system. The old centralized methods are not working at our current scale.

sbradford26 8y ago
Maybe I am just being cynical but I feel like a decentralized information verification system would be a prime target for abuse. Would a majority opinion just become indisputable truth? I am basing my idea of this off of a blockchain based approach but I am not sure if that is what you are referencing.
- 2038AD 8y ago
  >Would a majority opinion just become indisputable truth? Even worse -- a decentralized information verification system will endorse the opinions of the few while claiming to be majority-rule.
  - douglaswlance 8y ago
    If that were the case, then it wouldn't be embraced by the ever more intelligent public.
- douglaswlance 8y ago
  It would need to be designed in such a way to protect against mob rule. I would suggest that it follow the Scientific Theory and implement similar controls for pursuing truth.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- notduncansmith 8y ago
  It would definitely be a target for abuse, but the socioeconomic incentive structures can be modified to encourage truth. Speaking of truth, framing is very important and for a platform like this: a majority opinion wouldn’t represent “indisputable truth” but rather “our current best collective guess”. You don’t treat knowledge in your head as immutable, you update it when you find better information (ideally).
notduncansmith 8y ago
Gonna take this opportunity to plug that my employer is actively hiring engineers to work on a decentralized information verification system. Send a CV and a brief note about yourself to duncan@trustory.io if you want to work on this with us!
- repolfx 8y ago
  How is it different to a decent comment system? Isn't HN in a sense, a (semi) decentralised information verification system? I often find comments under the story that show how a story is false, omitting important info or is otherwise biased. I guess if I was going to work on such a system I'd start with better commenting and forum systems.

The news media attempt at gaslighting readers to trust their authority. We need a decentralized information verification system. The old centralized methods are not working at our current scale.

sbradford26 8y ago

Maybe I am just being cynical but I feel like a decentralized information verification system would be a prime target for abuse. Would a majority opinion just become indisputable truth? I am basing my idea of this off of a blockchain based approach but I am not sure if that is what you are referencing.

2038AD 8y ago
>Would a majority opinion just become indisputable truth? Even worse -- a decentralized information verification system will endorse the opinions of the few while claiming to be majority-rule.
- douglaswlance 8y ago
  If that were the case, then it wouldn't be embraced by the ever more intelligent public.
douglaswlance 8y ago
It would need to be designed in such a way to protect against mob rule. I would suggest that it follow the Scientific Theory and implement similar controls for pursuing truth.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
notduncansmith 8y ago
It would definitely be a target for abuse, but the socioeconomic incentive structures can be modified to encourage truth. Speaking of truth, framing is very important and for a platform like this: a majority opinion wouldn’t represent “indisputable truth” but rather “our current best collective guess”. You don’t treat knowledge in your head as immutable, you update it when you find better information (ideally).

notduncansmith 8y ago

Gonna take this opportunity to plug that my employer is actively hiring engineers to work on a decentralized information verification system. Send a CV and a brief note about yourself to duncan@trustory.io if you want to work on this with us!

repolfx 8y ago
How is it different to a decent comment system? Isn't HN in a sense, a (semi) decentralised information verification system? I often find comments under the story that show how a story is false, omitting important info or is otherwise biased. I guess if I was going to work on such a system I'd start with better commenting and forum systems.