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> No clue how you do that in a distributed manner, though. Distributed blockchains (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc) solved this with Proof-of-Work, which is derived fr

> No clue how you do that in a distributed manner, though. Distributed blockchains (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc) solved this with Proof-of-Work, which is derived from the concept of an "e-mail postage stamp" to fight spam by forcing SMTP senders to compute an expensive hash. Similarly, if each backlink "cost" a PoW unit to earn Googlejuice it would probably be a useful metric again. ...or not: because that means indirectly placing a dollar-amount on a backlink, and well-funded marketing companies are more-than-willing to shell-out for that. Just an idea though... Anyone want to start a "Xanadu 2: Electric Boogaloo" with a PoW algorithm?

kmeisthax 6y ago
I have no faith in "blockchain" as a component of a distributed system. Specifically: any system where mutations are guarded behind some thing of value as a consensus mechanism will trend towards centralization. (Hash chains are perfectly fine otherwise.) PoW is not a distributed system in the slightest. The moment someone creates an accelerator for it, it's done. The set of people who can meaningfully interact with the system as a distributed system shrinks to the very small set of people willing to spend loads of money on ASICs; and the far larger set of people with CPUs is entirely crowded out. "One CPU, one vote" becomes "one ASIC, one million votes". PoS is at least less of an environmental catastrophe, but it now explicitly involves capital. And here's the problem: capital is inherently centralizing. The idea that we can decentralize or distribute capitalism is absurd, because that's not how economies of scale work. Hell, the original distributed system, free markets, have been routinely subverted time and time again to the interests of those who already have capital in those markets. I know of no other proof-of system other than work and stake; and both are hilariously inadequate for their intended use cases.

kmeisthax 6y ago

I have no faith in "blockchain" as a component of a distributed system. Specifically: any system where mutations are guarded behind some thing of value as a consensus mechanism will trend towards centralization. (Hash chains are perfectly fine otherwise.) PoW is not a distributed system in the slightest. The moment someone creates an accelerator for it, it's done. The set of people who can meaningfully interact with the system as a distributed system shrinks to the very small set of people willing to spend loads of money on ASICs; and the far larger set of people with CPUs is entirely crowded out. "One CPU, one vote" becomes "one ASIC, one million votes". PoS is at least less of an environmental catastrophe, but it now explicitly involves capital. And here's the problem: capital is inherently centralizing. The idea that we can decentralize or distribute capitalism is absurd, because that's not how economies of scale work. Hell, the original distributed system, free markets, have been routinely subverted time and time again to the interests of those who already have capital in those markets. I know of no other proof-of system other than work and stake; and both are hilariously inadequate for their intended use cases.