"Welcome to come and read books and drink coffee!"
Write / @zhoumo_Dali & loxia
☕"Welcome to come and read books and drink coffee!"
The world of Web3 is ever-changing, fascinating, and dangerous, often compared to a dark forest. Uncommons is a public space within the blockchain world, standing at the intersection of technology and humanities, like a coffee shop with a faint light waiting for visitors at the edge of the forest.
In this coffee shop, there are various "drinks." We discuss technology, censorship resistance, and the beauty of humanities. We try to see the whole forest from multiple perspectives and explore deeper and indescribable things.
Why do we create "Chinese Crypto Thought Content Recommendations"? - We hope that the content here can be a guiding light, leading everyone through the fog and seeing a broader world of ideas.
The mysteries of cryptography, the consensus mechanisms of blockchain, the concept of decentralization... Each chapter we read is like embarking on an adventure. They prompt us to rethink the essence of trust, value, and power, allowing each individual to find their place in the digital world.
If you have time, feel free to come to Uncommons and have a cup of tea. Let's have a coffee together!
*Disclaimer: Most of the recommended content below comes from the spontaneous recommendations of members within the Uncommons community and has been curated by the curators.
If you are interested in the content or want to recommend content yourself, feel free to join Uncommons!
Amidst the pandemic, wars, conspiracy theories, and other environmental factors, social movements and protests have increased. People question each other, question those who disagree with us, and question the connections between us. There are no longer universally recognized facts and common understandings, and the crisis of trust has arrived.
In 2015, when blockchain was just emerging, the media was full of hope for the unknown. The Economist called blockchain "The Trust Machine," as it allowed people to establish confidence in each other's collaboration without a central authority.
Today, blockchain and cryptographic technology are redefining social trust mechanisms.
"At here, we don't trust, we verify."
In this issue, let's explore how this trust model, primarily driven by technology, affects interpersonal relationships, business transactions, and social governance through multiple articles.
01 To better explore trust, we need to deconstruct trust first#
What is trust? We can experience it firsthand through the game "The Evolution of Trust."
https://dccxi.com/trust/
Game | Easy | Game Theory | Economics
As early as 2020, Vitalik gave a speech on establishing a practical and trustworthy neutral mechanism: https://www.coinvoice.cn/articles/11123
Speech | Article | Intermediate | Underlying Technology | Mechanism Design
Economist Hertz has also discussed multiple times what kind of mechanism design can obtain true information, which is essentially a discussion of the word "trust."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CHN54bIohE
Video | Intermediate | Mechanism Design | Economics
02 Why can blockchain be "permissionless"?#
It's a profound feedback loop: use a universal language (math) to define succinctly what it means to cheat, enforce penalties in a deterministic and executable way based on your definitions (code), which allows more humans to experiment with interpersonal trust in ways previously unimaginable.
To understand this, it is recommended to read the book "The Code Book: The History of Cryptography" (Chinese translation).
Book | Intermediate | Technology
03 To some extent, consensus is also a form of mutual trust, and creating consensus is creating trust#
Here, I recommend a translated article that is very exciting: "Web3 Opinion Leaders and Power: Creating Consensus" https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/tPgCNhL_2tqWS47kHnF8lg
Many projects have a vision similar to Bitcoin: a self-governing, immutable system that runs forever on the Internet. It is worth taking some time to appreciate the cyberpunk style and historical achievements of these systems. However, guiding a project to lofty heights requires leadership. If the history of technology has taught us anything, it is that new projects using new technologies will replace old projects, especially if there is no highly legitimate leader to deal with Christensen-style disruption. Premature decentralization is not the path to eternity; it is the path to faster demise.
Premature decentralization has led to more projects (which is a good thing), but smaller results and higher industry capital costs (which is a bad thing).
Article | Intermediate | KOL | Power
04 Trust within communities: when our fates are intertwined#
I recommend an article translated by the community on Matters: "Secret Societies, Network States, Burning Man, ZUZALU—Thoughts on New Political Communities"
https://matters.town/a/tovt6cabc5an
"To some extent, the intensity of information barriers between a community and its surrounding environment refers to the extent to which the community truly constitutes a cohesive community and differs from its surrounding environment. This pattern can even be seen at the individual level: a person who can be completely understood in what they are thinking can also be completely manipulated, thereby lacking autonomy and a sense of responsibility for their own actions.
This pattern has important implications for the interaction between community building and encryption technologies (including public blockchains, zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP), other privacy-enhancing technologies, and designated verifier signatures)."
Article | Translation | Intermediate | Community | ZUZALU | Network State
Comment from community member tiao: Thank you, Vivian! Very interesting. This article seems to identify the "patterns" or community technologies. I agree with this statement: "Therefore, all of the above patterns point to one theme: mutual vulnerability. Through meaningful relationships, sharing secrets, facing common problems, and intimate connections, people become vulnerable to each other's harm." We may all experience the feeling of sharing our fate with close friends or family members, where gains and losses no longer exist. This may be something moral or religious, but not something that economics would consider. In this article, the author hopes to include it in rational thinking.
05 Trust and Politics#
The new "trust machine" brings new political thinking. Here, I recommend the book "Against Elections" (Chinese translation).
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/r2kuWtouYNXCRjJjK6Q6eg
"We don't see elections as a way to participate in democracy, but as an endpoint." From radical market reforms to voting systems, and even thinking about democratic progress in future social forms, this article also proposes a radical way to achieve democracy: drawing lots. There are various brainstorming and experiments in the world of blockchain that I really like.
Book | Article | Difficult | Political Science | Democracy
I also recommend Professor Gao Chongjian's "The Sociology of Blockchain: Reimagining Money, Media, and Democracy" https://ckxpress.com/the-sociology-of-blockchain/
"From zero-sum to republic": using blockchain technology and the cryptocurrency movement to start democratic creation from the smallest individuals... Hong Kong has too many background narratives that can be involved.
Article | Intermediate | Politics | Democracy | Hong Kong
Supplement: "Temporary Elementary School" from da0 - Digital Solution Strategies and Tool Recommendations / Citizen Technology Project Strategy
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1P1sCLPAQP9hUwMFVGzneg9lAIFLoYe_arsmgdUy23FA/edit#gid=0
🥚Easter Egg: There is actually a king - mathematics and cryptography
If quantum computing cracks SHA-256, the legitimacy of the current king of Bitcoin will be completely undermined. Bitcoin developers need to strategize in turbulent times and elect a new king (a new encryption method resistant to quantum attacks).
What do you think?
Feel free to join the Uncommons Telegram discussion: https://t.me/theuncommons
About "Chinese Crypto Thought Content Recommendations"
This is a booklist where technology and humanities intersect. Here, we discuss cryptographic technology and philosophy, inviting partners to embark on a journey of thought.
Uncommons is a public sphere where a collective of Commons Builders explores Crypto Thoughts together.
Uncommons is a non-profit community of Web3 enthusiasts, social builders, and internet citizens who have spontaneously organized themselves. It was formerly known as the GreenPill Chinese community.
Uncommons is a cryptographic humanities brand incubated by Plank.
Notion collaborative document: https://uncommons.notion.site/
Telegram digital garden: https://t.me/theuncommons
Twitter Global Publicity: https://twitter.com/Un__commons