This challenge is even tougher than you are perhaps giving credit, although there are solid ideas in your sketch here, including the concept of staking. I covered this issue in my 2018 book The Virtuous Cyborg, and proposed the broadstrokes of a system for dealing with this in the light of other known tech-behaviour problems (such as 'reputation bankrupcy', abuses of reputation systems etc.). However, one problem never goes away, which is distinguishing untestable (metaphysical) claims from claims of fact. In this regard, the utter collapse of academic philosophy has left us up certain waterways without certain implements.
You're absolutely right, Chris. This is a tool to assist our collective epistemics, but bridging the gap to ground metaphysics is illusive, as there is no god's-eye view. My vain hope is that such a system will bridge that gap some, though not entirely. It's a system that will make us better Bayesians at best. But I agree we're up that creek, or as Quine would say: The Humean predicament is the human predicament.
My sense of this is that the 'Gods-eye view' (while relevant) might actually miss the issue that needs solving here, because we don't need to have omniscience. We just need to understand that the realm of the factual is a collection of partial maps, and they don't tesselate to give a complete landscape. There are holes that won't disappear. If we could get a public discourse together again (this is a big 'if' right now!) this is all absolutely soluble... first, we have to wriggle free of the censorship regime, then we can rebuild citizenship. I like that you're thinking about these issues, though. If I could be bothered to play the VC game, this is something that you could fish for money on.
Sounds a little bit like a prediction market, except that the events being evaluated have probably already happened and we just need to determine the probability that they are true. To settle bets, decentralized prediction markets need oracles that can reliably report what really happened, and have developed some interesting techniques for incentivizing oracles to tell the truth.
Not exactly what you are talking about, but Rootclaim has an interesting technique for getting at the bottom of disputed events/facts. https://www.rootclaim.com/
Boy, you sure nailed it. I have never been super confident about this because I can see no way to resolve the issue of contact with ground truth, which requires an entity that can take on a God's-eye view of reality (which is no one). So, even with such a system, it's still an intersubjective agreement plus market incentives, with all the game stop issues.
Truth exposes the false rule of paper tyrants to the bright light of day. Be like "Toto," and pull back the curtain on frauds, cheats, and self-proclaimed wizards of magical powers.
We face but one political problem federally, even as it has hundreds or thousands of irrelevant symptoms--the peculiar ability of members of Congress and federal officials (all of whom must swear an oath to support the Constitution [thereby signifying their subservience to it]) being able to bypass or ignore their normal constitutional parameters with impunity. Everything they do that appears to be contrary to the strictest letter and spirit of the Constitution falls within that single cause.
Thankfully, nothing any person does who exercises delegated federal authority may ever change the Constitution or the allowed powers they may directly exercise throughout the Union. Therefore, everything contrary may be wiped away clean, outside the election process.
We need not search for angels to exercise unlimited powers benevolently, because we are a constitutional Republic of enumerated powers that may be directly implemented throughout the Union using only necessary and proper means. Everything else is fraud that may be exposed by truth adequately disseminated.
This is the sticky wicket: "Therefore, everything contrary may be wiped away clean, outside the election process." I am taking this on faith, but it will require implementation.
Indeed, my claim looks preposterous, but nevertheless I aim for that worthy goal (and think I deliver it, in my writings, including my novel which I promised to send you when I get it within a week).
Hey Max,
This challenge is even tougher than you are perhaps giving credit, although there are solid ideas in your sketch here, including the concept of staking. I covered this issue in my 2018 book The Virtuous Cyborg, and proposed the broadstrokes of a system for dealing with this in the light of other known tech-behaviour problems (such as 'reputation bankrupcy', abuses of reputation systems etc.). However, one problem never goes away, which is distinguishing untestable (metaphysical) claims from claims of fact. In this regard, the utter collapse of academic philosophy has left us up certain waterways without certain implements.
Stay wonderful!
Chris.
You're absolutely right, Chris. This is a tool to assist our collective epistemics, but bridging the gap to ground metaphysics is illusive, as there is no god's-eye view. My vain hope is that such a system will bridge that gap some, though not entirely. It's a system that will make us better Bayesians at best. But I agree we're up that creek, or as Quine would say: The Humean predicament is the human predicament.
My sense of this is that the 'Gods-eye view' (while relevant) might actually miss the issue that needs solving here, because we don't need to have omniscience. We just need to understand that the realm of the factual is a collection of partial maps, and they don't tesselate to give a complete landscape. There are holes that won't disappear. If we could get a public discourse together again (this is a big 'if' right now!) this is all absolutely soluble... first, we have to wriggle free of the censorship regime, then we can rebuild citizenship. I like that you're thinking about these issues, though. If I could be bothered to play the VC game, this is something that you could fish for money on.
This is a tough problem.
Sounds a little bit like a prediction market, except that the events being evaluated have probably already happened and we just need to determine the probability that they are true. To settle bets, decentralized prediction markets need oracles that can reliably report what really happened, and have developed some interesting techniques for incentivizing oracles to tell the truth.
Not exactly what you are talking about, but Rootclaim has an interesting technique for getting at the bottom of disputed events/facts. https://www.rootclaim.com/
Boy, you sure nailed it. I have never been super confident about this because I can see no way to resolve the issue of contact with ground truth, which requires an entity that can take on a God's-eye view of reality (which is no one). So, even with such a system, it's still an intersubjective agreement plus market incentives, with all the game stop issues.
Excited about Rootclaim, though!
Truth exposes the false rule of paper tyrants to the bright light of day. Be like "Toto," and pull back the curtain on frauds, cheats, and self-proclaimed wizards of magical powers.
We face but one political problem federally, even as it has hundreds or thousands of irrelevant symptoms--the peculiar ability of members of Congress and federal officials (all of whom must swear an oath to support the Constitution [thereby signifying their subservience to it]) being able to bypass or ignore their normal constitutional parameters with impunity. Everything they do that appears to be contrary to the strictest letter and spirit of the Constitution falls within that single cause.
Thankfully, nothing any person does who exercises delegated federal authority may ever change the Constitution or the allowed powers they may directly exercise throughout the Union. Therefore, everything contrary may be wiped away clean, outside the election process.
We need not search for angels to exercise unlimited powers benevolently, because we are a constitutional Republic of enumerated powers that may be directly implemented throughout the Union using only necessary and proper means. Everything else is fraud that may be exposed by truth adequately disseminated.
This is the sticky wicket: "Therefore, everything contrary may be wiped away clean, outside the election process." I am taking this on faith, but it will require implementation.
Indeed, my claim looks preposterous, but nevertheless I aim for that worthy goal (and think I deliver it, in my writings, including my novel which I promised to send you when I get it within a week).
It might look preposterous to many, but we have to keep at it. The more people committed to this, the greater the odds.
Great perspective! Fully agree.