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Lots of technological systems have non-reversible consequences. For instance hard drives and airplanes for example. Schneier is essentially identifying an inher

Lots of technological systems have non-reversible consequences. For instance hard drives and airplanes for example. Schneier is essentially identifying an inherent trade-off between trusting the correctness of a technological device vs trusting in an institution. This is a trade-off happens all over the place: 1. Many people don't encrypt their email (trust technology) and instead trust gmail and associated intelligence agencies to act in their best interest. 2. Many people encrypt their HTTP connections rather than trusting ISPs and internet providers. An important difference between encrypting HTTP connections and encrypting email is that one is far more convenient than the other. However encrypting your email does make sense in certain situations and so does Bitcoin.

verdverm 8y ago
Why public Bitcoin over a bank's own blockchain solution?
- EthanHeilman 8y ago
  Does a bank's own blockchain require trusting that bank? If so then you probably don't need a blockchain since you already have assumed a trusted third party. If you are aiming to reduce your institutional trust assumptions to me the question is why not use Bitcoin?
  - verdverm 8y ago
    That's sort of my point. I actually don't care about the technology underneath. I care about the monetary system and its adherence (and recourse) to the rules of law that humans have generally agreed upon. Like, if you steal, the societal system will correct the wrong as much as they can. It's an open question as to whether public blockchains can provide for this trust and requirement.
    - dkonofalski 8y ago
      I think that blockchains can provide more trust than the current system because the ledger is publicly visible. The societal system still kicks in to remediate the effects of a mistake but the blockchain is an additional tool used to provide the evidence and support for such a reversal. For me, personally, I think the best solution is a form of blockchain run by a state/federal agency. You're putting trust in an institution, yes, but the underlying technology helps support that trust.
      - verdverm 8y ago
        I don't really want all of my personal actions on a publicly visible system. Consider Facebook's internal data or the Chinese Social Credit system available to the public. I do like the idea of an internet where every action is traceable to a human, via public keys or sovereign identity. How you'd retain and verify is an unknown for me.

verdverm 8y ago

Why public Bitcoin over a bank's own blockchain solution?

EthanHeilman 8y ago
Does a bank's own blockchain require trusting that bank? If so then you probably don't need a blockchain since you already have assumed a trusted third party. If you are aiming to reduce your institutional trust assumptions to me the question is why not use Bitcoin?
- verdverm 8y ago
  That's sort of my point. I actually don't care about the technology underneath. I care about the monetary system and its adherence (and recourse) to the rules of law that humans have generally agreed upon. Like, if you steal, the societal system will correct the wrong as much as they can. It's an open question as to whether public blockchains can provide for this trust and requirement.
  - dkonofalski 8y ago
    I think that blockchains can provide more trust than the current system because the ledger is publicly visible. The societal system still kicks in to remediate the effects of a mistake but the blockchain is an additional tool used to provide the evidence and support for such a reversal. For me, personally, I think the best solution is a form of blockchain run by a state/federal agency. You're putting trust in an institution, yes, but the underlying technology helps support that trust.
    - verdverm 8y ago
      I don't really want all of my personal actions on a publicly visible system. Consider Facebook's internal data or the Chinese Social Credit system available to the public. I do like the idea of an internet where every action is traceable to a human, via public keys or sovereign identity. How you'd retain and verify is an unknown for me.