4 ms·
> If it centralizes power, it’s bad. If it decentralizes power, it’s good. Power isn't a scalar single value. Twitter and Facebook have demonstratedly decentra
by gaogao 6y ago
> If it centralizes power, it’s bad. If it decentralizes power, it’s good.
Power isn't a scalar single value. Twitter and Facebook have demonstratedly decentralized certain forms of power, easier for a person to go viral with their words now than through say a newspaper, while centralizing other forms of power, mostly upon themselves.
- gaogao 6y agoAnd certain powers, I'd argue, are pretty bad to decentralize. Decentralizing the power to inflict massive violence leads to a ton of death, especially during the change in power.
- yellowapple 6y ago> Decentralizing the power to inflict massive violence leads to a ton of death Does it? If history is any indicator (and I believe it is), the opposite seems to hold true: the centralization - i.e. monopolization - of violence enables violence without impunity, and as that monopolization approaches its logical conclusion, so does that monopolized violence increase in magnitude and breadth. In contrast, decentralized violence keeps everyone accountable; any aggressor has to be prepared for the very real possibility that one's victim can and will retaliate with equal force. As Heinlein said: "an armed society is a polite one".
- MikeUt 6y ago> easier for a person to go viral with their words now than through say a newspaper A person that they allow to post, without secretly suppressing their reach, or banning their account outright. That's not decentralization, that's delegation.