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      "permlink": "blockchaining-towards-civilisation-2-0-musings-on-how-blockchain-can-change-the-world",
      "title": "Blockchaining Towards Civilisation 2.0 - Musings on How Blockchain Can Change the World",
      "body": "![biometric_blockchain_bitcoin.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmNTCUavm978bvvbyT923gzoQuEZ34zVouvwPYhHULQWea/biometric_blockchain_bitcoin.jpg)\n\n*Disclaimer- This article is an exercise in (possibly outrageous) speculation. I imagine somewhat utopian future states where blockchain is embedded in ways that fundamentally alter civilisation. None of this is guaranteed, but it is definitely possible. Image credits attached to the end of this article.* \n\nLike other things of sub-culture and community, people come to the world of blockchain for varying reasons. In 2017, it seems like everyone is here for quick money, and the allure has certainly made me allocate a greater share of my savings to cryptocurrencies. But back in late 2015, when Bitcoin was trading near $300 and the idea of big money was still far from my mind, it was the underlying technology that had me interested.\n\nNick Szabo, the doyen of cryptocurrency, describes blockchain technology as a fly trapped in amber. Once the amber is laid down around it, the fly is stuck there forever, unalterable for the rest of time. This is the nature of blockchain. Transactions, or transmissions of information, once set down on the blockchain, remain there unalterable for the remainder of that blockchain’s existence. This in fact is what blockchain means- a long chain of blocks where each block contains information on transactions or other transmissions. This need not be remarkable in itself. But the second aspect of blockchain makes it the game-changing technology it is. Unlike previous forms of information management, blockchain is not a centralised technology. A typical blockchain network runs across several different machines spread across the globe. Again in Nick Szabo’s words- “trusted third-parties are security holes.” This is so because a trusted third-party is a centralised store of information, and a centralised store provides a single-point target for would be hackers and disrupters, including malfeasance from within. But a network spread across several machines is tougher to attack. Bringing one machine down does nothing to affect the network or the information within it. In effect, to bring down a blockchain network spread across the internet, one would have to bring down the internet itself.\n\n>This decentralised nature of blockchain technology gives to our species something it has never had- a means to large-scale co-operation that does not need centralised power structures to ensure fidelity.\n\n![home.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmdvNTL41vbXLQ5grTQSuK3t8uSxNjV3N6LuvQn752v9Lm/home.jpg)\n\nIf we look at the historical record of civilisation, we see that the very first granaries immediately needed armies to protect them, treasuries to manage them, kings to oversee it all, and priests to validate the entire affair. The farmers who broke their back under the daily sun and the people who consumed the grain were linked by a central, tax-taking and military-wielding authority. This means that we have been a species that co-operates through trusted third-parties, and we need no conspiracy theories to acknowledge that this has facilitated much exploitation and opportunism throughout history. But this has not always been our way. Hunter-gatherer societies were egalitarian even though they possessed hierarchical structures. Trust was decentralised throughout the tribe, and no intermediaries were needed for transactions between specific individuals. Blockchain has the potential to create civilisation 2.0, a version of humanity where freedom, autonomy and trust are spread evenly among individuals. This is of course a high claim to make, and I support it only by visions of the ideal state- a state where blockchain and its use are permeated positively throughout society. There is nothing in the current moment that guarantees this. I frame the argument through three levels of a blockchain civilisation (and a bonus fourth), where each level is necessary for the next, and successively they take us towards a version of true democracy and freedom- one that is so different from the present condition that it can be called civilisation 2.0.\n#####\n##### Level 1 of Blockchain World\n######\nThe most apparent benefits of blockchain are in privacy and security. I can transact securely with you without ever needing to know you or trust you, and vice versa. Blockchain also allows us to anonymise our engagement, so that it is never traced back to us if we desire. This aspect of blockchain gives rise to concerns about criminality, but these concerns should be viewed with intellectual honesty.\n\n>Any means that a private individual has to secure himself or herself is naturally available to a criminal as well. So, this cannot be the case for rejection of a technology.\n\nJust like the occurrence of criminal activities inside private homes does not preclude us from obtaining the most secure locks for ourselves, the ability of blockchain to help secure our digital domain is not a case against it. At level 1 of civilisation 2.0, blockchain removes the need for intermediaries like Visa, PayTM and Amazon without compromising the security and validation they guarantee. This does not come without a learning curve and the assumption of personal responsibility. When we remove trusted third-parties we also remove the customer support they provide. On the blockchain, we will be responsible for securing our own funds and ensuring our own privacy. This again is not a case against it. True freedom also means complete responsibility. When thieves break into our house, we cannot sue the lock manufacturer (unless the break-in happens through a specific violation of the lock that the manufacturer guaranteed against in legal terms). Similarly, once we have secured our digital domain through our own means, we have no one to run to if the domain is violated.\n\nIn my view, level 1 of blockchain world will be hardest to attain. This is because the achievement of level 1 will mean major disruption of all big industries today, from banking to ecommerce. No current player will vacate the scene willingly, and when we live in a situation where banks such as HDFC are officially deemed ‘too big to fail,’ one can see how large the inertia to change will be. Reaching level 1 also means largescale reorientation in how we think and operate as a species. We are conditioned to centralisation and the relegation of responsibility. Our banks maintain our wealth for us, our retailers ensure the security of our purchases, our civic bodies take infrastructural decisions for our neighbourhoods, and a group of people in our national capitals decide the fate of billions.\n\n>In all these layers, we are admittedly happy for not having to share the burden of collective responsibility. This is not our fault- we are all born into such a world and do not know any different.\n\nThat’s why accepting level 1 will take a different way of thinking, a decentralised mindset. And any technology that forces us to adopt a different way of thinking is bound to change our culture at a fundamental level. But we can be sure that the economic and cultural players of today will not bring about this change, for it means moving to a world where they are obsolete. Why would Facebook promote a blockchain-based social interaction platform when it can continue to profit from our personal lives? Why would Amazon usher a blockchain-based marketplace that works on smart contracts when it profits from buyers and sellers on its own platform? Why would credit card companies and loan providers encourage the use of a blockchain platform that links buyers and sellers in a secure environment without the need of trusted third-parties? We already live in a world where the development of a solar-energy industry is hindered by concerns for the declining coal industry, so imagining the institutional resistance to blockchain adoption is easy.\n\nLevel 1 of blockchain, where secure peer-to-peer interactions of all kinds are possible, is essentially the end of the corporation. When citizens can interact and transact in decentralised secure environments, there is no limit to the nature of activities that can be conducted without trusted third-parties. Disclaiming once again that we are speculating on the ideal state of a blockchain world, imagine now if farmers could sell their produce directly, inventors could reach buyers directly, freelancers could offer their services directly, and pretty much anyone who wants to buy or sell something could do so directly- all without ever needing to know or trust the person at the other end. The way in this can permeate our lives can be examined through the simple example of a grocery purchase. Currently, I buy my milk at the local grocery store, where it comes via shipping and logistics intermediaries from a large-scale diary corporation. This corporation in turn operates massive farms, where it produces milk from cows it owns and buys from independent farmers. Across the supply chain, from the individual owner of a cow to me, the buyer, there are several intermediaries eating up value. While I do not know or trust the cow owner and vice versa, we both transact through a system of trust based on the intermediaries. In effect, we allow them to eat up part of the value by leaving the trust management to them.\n\nIn a blockchain world, things can be very different. Independent farmers maintain a blockchain of their own, which is linked to a logistics blockchain that brings together shippers, loaders, customs and other players in the supply chain. These blockchains are in turn linked to the retail blockchain, where regular consumers place orders for groceries. The blockchains in all cases are maintained decentrally on the computers of the parties involved. So the farmers maintain their blockchain, the supply chain maintains its own, and the consumers theirs. A breakdown in the machine or server of any single agent will not disrupt the overall interactions, and smart contracts provide trust without the value-eating intermediaries. This is a very rudimentary example, and the blockchain world can manifest in different ways. There can even be a single blockchain linking producers, suppliers and consumers. But the idea is to imagine a world where all interactions are linked in this fashion- private, secure, decentralised, unalterable and devoid of trusted third-parties.\n\nIt is important to note that a blockchain world is not a world without all the necessary activities of today- verification, assurance, legal recourse, etc. A blockchain world is simply one where these activities are decentralised and spread among the very people they affect. This is why blockchain is a step towards true democracy, and why level 1 is important to prepare us for level 2.\n#####\n##### Level 2 of Blockchain World\n######\n![Democracy.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmPt55uDfJfwWBd6bkLVukzbhjJxuREXemWbBBLHCHvDkf/Democracy.jpg)\n\nIn level 2, having previously made the corporation obsolete, we move to a world where the modern government is obsolete. The modern government is one with a very central structure, and one where the only decision we can really take is a vote once every 4–5 years. Everything else is decided by the modern government, from what forms of wealth are acceptable to what sexual activities can be conducted in the privacy of one’s bedroom. One does not need to be an anarchist to see that this is an inordinate amount of power in the hands of an institution that is technically nothing more than a servant. I do not need my servant to treat me like a child that does not know good from bad, or how to protect itself. I’m an adult that just needs the servant to make my life easy. Level 2 takes the government and all its operations onto the blockchain, and benefits from another advantage of such networks- transparency.\n\n>Blockchains need not be anonymous, they can also be public. A public blockchain is one where every transaction is visible to anyone, including the recipient and sender addresses.\n\nIn an anonymous blockchain it is impossible to identify the recipient and sender, but in a public blockchain this could be the opposite. The only way to be assured of my servant’s integrity is to have all its operations conducted on a public blockchain, and in level 2 this is possible in many ways.\n\nWe could start with taxation. A common sentiment of the taxpaying individual is a helpless ignorance of where their tax goes, and how it is spent. The government is a vast bureaucracy, and we are surrendered to the idea that somehow, in some way, our tax is finally given back to us in the form of roads, electricity and infrastructure. Whether this is true or not, and to what degree, is a question that can become moot through the blockchain world. Taxation should be on the blockchain, end to end. Imagine if we could pay our taxes to a decentralised, nationally maintained tax ledger. From there, we could literally trace every Rupee of tax paid to its endpoint. Whether it goes into the next metro rail project, to increase capacity of that hydro plant in Himachal Pradesh, or into the pocket of some bureaucrat will then be easy to identify. In one fell swoop, we not only give the public a way to know how their taxes are spent, but also institute a system where it is impossible to steal without being caught.\n\n>Further, we could see the tax records of anyone else, including the people who currently store their wealth in Panama! This would be a profound change to modern governance.\n\nAnother aspect of uncertainty in government is the funding of political parties and campaigns. Here we are faced with same problem- not only do we not know how our money is spent if we donate, we do not know who else has donated, and whether the political party is compromised by the specific interests of a large donator. But what if political parties were mandated to conduct their finances on a public blockchain. Now anyone could see who donates, how much they donate, and how the donation is used. If a large oil corporation, for example, donates to the political party, I am now in a position to know this and incorporate it into my own decisions. We can thus begin to see how level 2 of blockchain world fundamentally changes the way how democracy and government operate.\n\nAs is the case in level 1, we cannot expect our current political leaders to usher in a change that significantly negates the illicit benefits of their chosen vocation. This is a change only we can bring, and it again requires the assumption of personal responsibility. Now we will be responsible for ensuring financial fidelity ourselves. We would need to familiarise ourselves with the basics of economics, of expenditure and budget management. But the benefits far outweigh the apparent inconvenience of learning some economics. In level 2 of blockchain world, we have systemically eradicated many aspects of corruption in a way that they can never recur.\n\nIn level 2, blockchain can be embedded deep into the democratic process. A fully utopian vision is one where every decision can be voted upon through the blockchain, but since democracy of this kind can soon become mob rule, it gives us a good example of how not everything needs to be blockchained. What certainly can be blockchained is every action our governments take, and since most major forms of organised criminality can be traced back to political collusion of some kind or the other, government-on-the-blockchain could mean the end of organised criminality itself. Imagine adding to the eligibility criteria for any political office the rule that one’s financial conduct for the previous 5 years must be entirely on the blockchain- both income and expenses. And these would-be political leaders would have to link everything from their PAN card to their Aadhaar card to this blockchain. In this way, any transaction outside the blockchain could be identified. This is then a system where we know every single transaction the individual makes- a system of complete transparency.\n\nI am of the opinion that complete public blockchaining of politics in this fashion is the end of corruption, government secrecy and even misadministration. No longer can our leaders accept bribes, take decisions without our knowledge, and shirk their responsibilities as our elected servants. We would know every single property they own, every business they are invested in, and every unit of money siphoned off to secret accounts.\n\n>It is akin to taking the current modes of government control, amplifying them through blockchain, and turning them into government itself.\n\nThis situation assumes a complete embedding of blockchain into governance, a fully active level 2 that comes after the public has first been trained to operate at level 1. Remember also that we said level 1 will be harder to attain. This is so because the momentum will be irreversible once level 1 is completed. From then on, the public’s push for complete blockchaining will be hard to resist. And having learnt the basics of personal responsibility in level 1, the learning curve now will be far less steep.\n\nThe paragraphs above give only a few ideas about government-on-the-blockchain, and no doubt there can be several other applications. But the larger vision is the same. Just like level 1 frees us from corporate exploitation, level 2 frees us from government exploitation. And this prepares us for the creation of civilisation 2.0 through attaining level 3.\n#####\n##### Level 3 of Blockchain World\n######\nLet us retrace our journey. In level 1, having taken every day human interactions onto the blockchain, we have removed the need for value-eating corporations. In level 2, by taking all government operations onto the blockchain, we have removed much of corruption, opaque governance and organised criminality. In reaching level 2 we have already become a species used to the decentralised mindset, so level 3 is where we bring it all together to a point of complete convergence. Here, we eradicate borders of all forms and become a true global society.\n\n![4193337342_6cb93484fb_b.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmStSkBwiMKz7ECQvaJPmngvz2dh4nFWjSKTsUeBAFRMQ7/4193337342_6cb93484fb_b.jpg)\n\nThis begins by the increasing interaction of people on the blockchain, where national and bureaucratic borders are technologically rendered obsolete. Much of this is already in place because of the internet. Morals, values, ethics, laws and cultural practices are already being transported from one place to another, so the push for decriminalisation of homosexuality in one nation, for example, makes the push in another nation one step easier. Prior to attaining level 3, we would all live in a world where our leaders are completely committed to our desires and not compromised to the interests of larger players. This facilitates a greater control for us over the state of affairs- we would be able to pass the environmental legislations we want, succeed in decriminalisation efforts for things that should be legal, and overall have our governments operate exactly as we want them to.\n\nThis thus means that the people of India, for example, would actually be able to disallow their government from trading with Saudi Arabia until the latter caught up with the rest of the world in terms of gender and sexuality laws. Note that for this we only need the Indian government to be blockchained. The act would work even if Saudi Arabia remained the monarchy it is. But remembering that we are anyway in speculative territory inclined for the ideal state, it is not hard to imagine that eventually a blockchain world would mean even the democratisation of Saudi Arabia, monarchy or not.\n\n>Level 3 of blockchain world is thus one where the human species can universalise its laws and ethics. It is the one world and one government of science fiction imaginations.\n\nBy rendering corporations obsolete we removed the ways in which our governments could be compromised and we ourselves could be exploited. By blockchaining the governments we took power into our hands and removed corruption of all forms. By spreading this across the globe we then become one people in the truest sense. Our collective will drives our fate, and leaders that deny climate change, push religious divisions, subvert democratic freedoms, curtail gender and sexual liberties, or compromise public welfare to corporate interest will have no place in the system. Again, it bears disclaiming that these are utopian speculations on blockchain, but this does not mean that they are impossible. All these levels of blockchain can indeed be realised, and successively they take us to civilisation 2.0- freer and more democratic than anything that has preceded it. And in the future eventuality that we become an inter-planetary species, or encounter an alien one, we could upgrade to a level 4 blockchain world.\n\nI’ve consciously avoided in all of the above any mention of cryptocurrencies and tokens, for the point can be made regarding blockchain alone. But if we understand the nature of decentralised systems, we must realise that there must be an incentive for these systems to be maintained.\n\n>I would dedicate the resources of my computer to maintaining, say, a consumer blockchain, only if that gives me something in return. This is where cryptocurrencies and tokens come in- for they are a mathematically valid method of incentivisation.\n\nThink of the milk-on-the-blockchain scenario we created earlier. Individuals who maintain that ecosystem could get discount tokens for their milk, or milk sellers that link with the suppliers could get discount tokens on shipping. Either way, cryptographically validated methods to transfer value will be an essential part of blockchain. Therefore, while it is true that the real potential lies in blockchain technology itself, not cryptocurrencies, the two are inextricably linked and the spread of one automatically means the spread of another.\n\nAnd this helps us imagine level 4 of blockchain world. In a scenario of alien encounter, it is absurd to imagine that the aliens would be interested in understanding our economic and financial models, or find any value in the fiat currencies of today. The same is true for how we might look at their economics. But a cryptographically valid method is essentially a mathematical method, and since mathematics is a universal language it might be the only way for us to exchange value with an alien species. Even without aliens, an inter-planetary human society will find more value in cryptographically validated forms of value. Planetary colonies will give little importance to national fiat currencies, and will hesitate from adopting metal-backed standards if the presence of these metals on different colonies will be highly variant.\n\nThis has brought us to the very far reaches of wild speculation on blockchain, so it is as good a time as any to wrap things up. In this article we have engaged in an exercise of pure speculation, one that imagines how blockchain can be embedded into society in successive levels. Doing so, at its core, facilitates two things- 1) the interaction of individuals without the need for trusted third parties, and 2) complete and profound transparency in governance. While this may sound simple, it requires immense momentum from the public itself, and an assumption of personal responsibility in many affairs. Further, it will face intense resistance from all power structures existing today- from corporations and financial institutions to our own political leaders democratically elected or otherwise. But a small push can create a large wave, so attaining even level 1 can mean an unstoppable progression towards level 3- where blockchain carries the potential to create homo sapiens globalis, a one-world species with universalised laws, ethics and governance conditions. And since all of this will be based on a way of co-operation we have never conducted before, decentralised, it would be the emergence of civilisation 2.0.\n\n>What the Sumerian farmers would have given for granaries-on-the-blockchain!\n\n![Maler_der_Grabkammer_des_Sennudem_001.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmVKrpMoCYFciRho8ovtC4F3Mm6ENfxfxUiH5EqQM1beGV/Maler_der_Grabkammer_des_Sennudem_001.jpg)\n\nImage Credits:\n1. Distributed Ledgers - [Blockgeeks](https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-blockchain-technology/)\n2. What is Democracy - [The Sleuth Journal](http://www.thesleuthjournal.com/how-have-true-democracy/)\n3. Global Society - [Artist Frits Ahlefeldt](http://fritsahlefeldt.com/)\n4. Sumerian Farmer - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_agriculture)",
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      "permlink": "crypto-primers-1-understanding-the-philosophy-of-blockchain-and-cryptocurrency",
      "title": "Crypto Primers 1- Understanding the Philosophy of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency",
      "body": "*While I’ve known about Bitcoin for a long time, it’s only in 2017 that I’ve involved myself with blockchain technology, cryptocurrency trading and its investment. The learning curve, I’m realizing, is long and never-ending. In this and following articles, I will chronicle my learnings, experiences and strategies. These are completely personal views, designed more to help beginners understand the ever-growing and changing world of blockchain and cryptocurrency. Please do not make trades on the basis of what I write alone!*\n\n---x---\n\n*In this article I visit the ideological and political aspects of cryptocurrency to explain why it seems like such a big deal, and why people who get into this world quickly become staunch evangelists. Please note that in this article we will not go into the technicalities, so I will not spend time explaining what [blockchain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain) technology is or how it works. In this article we simply take this as accepted and examine the philosophy behind it.*\n\n\n##### Crypto Primers 1: Understanding the Philosophy of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency\n####\n###### The Philosophy in One Word\n######\nIf there’s one word that encapsulates the entire movement- it’s decentralization. Decentralization is the idea that individuals or groups of individuals can interact and transact with each other without needing third parties to validate, monitor, police or regulate these interactions. In this sense, the idea of decentralization that blockchain technology furthers is perhaps the most revolutionary idea in the history of humanity. If you go back in our evolutionary history, much of our success has been enabled by our ability to co-ordinate in large numbers across space and time. [It is even argued that this is why we won while the Neanderthals went extinct](http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2015/02/09/homo-sapiens-neanderthals-evolution). While thousands and thousands of homo sapiens could organize together under the banner of, say, an imagined deity, Neanderthal groups could rarely co-ordinate beyond their immediate tribal group and geography.\n\nAnd for all our history, we have been unable to co-ordinate at these scales without acute centralization. From the first granaries and armies to the super empires built by kings a thousand years before Christ, human interactions have depended on centralized power. In the past, these central powers were limited in number- State/King, Priestly Institution and Treasury. Between them, they formed the rules and controlled the distribution and flow of wealth. In the modern world, private institutions or corporations have also joined the list to become a huge influencing factor. In fact, most human interactions now are enabled by private centralized powers. Think Facebook and Amazon, or think your privately run school, real estate broker, big hospital chain, bank, payment portals and others. In every case, there is a central party that regulates, monitors, maintains and profits from human interactions. \n\n###### This is What’s About to Change!\n######\nUsing the power of blockchain, human interactions no longer need these middle-men and rent seekers. It started with Bitcoin, which itself was the culmination of at least a decade long discussion on how to build an effective decentralized means of payment. The idea was to make central banks obsolete, and to remove our reliance on fiat currency. Fiat currency, whether USD or INR, is fake. It is created out of thin air and its creation is controlled by the central banks and States- the supply and inflation are artificially created. Bitcoin’s blockchain technology is essentially a decentralized ledger. No longer do we need any central bank or financial institution to process a transaction between two independent human beings. Further, the blockchain algorithm is designed so that ‘currency’ can be mined on the network- [creating Bitcoin](http://nakamotoinstitute.org/bitcoin/).\n\nBitcoin itself is modelled not on fiat currencies, but on gold. The idea was that, like gold, Bitcoin must have an intrinsic value, not be subject to too much volatility, have a finite supply, and be used for payments and transactions. In this way, world governments or financial institutions would not be able to artificially inflate or deflate its value, and storing Bitcoin could be as reliable as storing gold. Bitcoin thus became the first workable decentralized currency- it was not created or controlled by any single power. Instead, its value and creation were spread over thousands of nodes on the internet. In this way Bitcoin was the first step our species took towards decentralized coordination.\n\n###### A New World Before Our Eyes\n######\nBut a decentralized currency is not all we need. In a decentralized world, we need to be able to transact and interact even without knowing or trusting the other party. In the current world, this is again where banks, brokers and agents of all kinds step in. When you want to buy a piece of property, you need a broker to ensure that all documents are in order and the other party needs an agent to ensure they receive the money committed to them. This is again a situation of centralized power. Neither you nor the property seller will commit to a deal when you don’t know or trust each other. The centralized power is able to spend on its brand and recruitment, so knowing its name and seeing its ads you trust it to be a reliable intermediary for you. This is just one example, but one can think of many fields and interactions where there exist middlemen who act as “trust-figures” so that two independent human beings can interact.\n\nThis is where the idea of [smart contracts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_contract) comes in. Built using blockchain technology, a smart contract platform allows two individuals to sign and execute a contract without ever needing to know and trust each other. In the case of real estate, this is already happening- people have begun [selling their property](http://www.newsweek.com/blockchain-sell-real-estate-first-time-ethereum-682982) on the blockchain and accepting Bitcoin as payment. A smart contract ensures that it is executed only when both sides of the contract fulfill their end of the bargain. As a possible application, think of how smart contracts can be incorporated into ecommerce. Currently, on major platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart, people try to limit their purchases to the “Amazon Verified” or “Fullfilled by Flipkart” marked products. This is because of horror experiences where people purchased on these sites, but bought from third-party sellers, and received literally bricks when they expected smartphones! In this case, Amazon and Flipkart act like the brokers. When you see the mark “Amazon Verified” you know that it doesn’t matter who the seller is- Amazon will ensure you get what you paid for. \n\nNow imagine a smart contract based ecommerce platform. Here there are only buyers and sellers. The algorithm of the contract knows how to check for “sale made validly” and “payment done validly.” Putting this into the smart contract removes the need for Amazon or Flipkart guarantees. Here, you can trust the algorithm and know that you will get what you paid for. This is of course only a small example. Blockchain and smart contracts are sliding their way into several industries, from banking and real estate to recruitment and health management. \n\n###### Why this is Important\n######\nSo imagine now the new world- one where human interactions are managed through smart contracts built over blockchains. There are no centralized power keepers, no middlemen that live off rent and interest alone, and no financial power-brokers who decide the wealth fortunes of billions. This is the world that blockchain promises to give us, and it explains why it increasingly worries the State and financial ‘leaders’ of the world. We have with us, for the first time in human history, a technology that would allow us to coordinate and cooperate at massive scales- except this time we will not have to do it while ALSO accepting a King, a Government, a Central Bank and all those ways in which the elite have kept everyone else in check throughout civilization. The crypto trading boom of 2017 is only the tip of the iceberg, and it’s entirely fair to say that the revolution lies in the technology itself, not its currencies and tokens. \n\nTake the example of a charming idea I read about. A startup called [Demeter](https://demeter.life/) seeks to take agriculture onto the blockchain. One way they want to do it is by connecting farmers with buyers directly- so that anyone in the world can ‘rent’ a farm anywhere else and pay to consume its produce directly to the farmer. Several logistical questions notwithstanding, this is a good example of the many ways in which blockchain will truly decentralize and thus democratize the planet.\n\n###### Who are the Believers?\n######\nSo who are the people taking to this readily? Here, we are not talking about the many people who are buying cryptos only to be able to retire by 2020 or buy a plot of land on Mars by 2030. We’re talking about the true believers- ones who were pulled into this world first by the philosophy and relevance we’ve discussed above. The story for this begins, somewhat, in the 1980s- when a group of people began realizing that the spread of the internet was going to change privacy, anonymity and freedom forever. They called themselves the [Cypherpunks](https://www.activism.net/cypherpunk/manifesto.html), and ideologically affiliated themselves to crypto-anarchy. This gives us our first hint- for anarchy is at the heart of the matter. We do not mean of course the bomb and spread chaos kind of anarchy. We refer to this word in its simplest sense- an arch. Or without a ruler.\n\nThink back now to the idea of decentralization, and you can begin to understand why blockchain is naturally appealing to the anarchist. Any idea that reduces our dependence on governments and their hold on us is an idea true anarchists will take to heart almost instantly. That’s what’s happening with blockchain and cryptocurrencies- for they offer a viable solution to the anarchists problems.\n\nBut one does not need to be a cypherpunk or an anarchist to believe. Most of us today are aware of the many ways in which our freedoms are subverted. We see the absolute hypocrisy of nations like Saudi Arabia getting to lead human rights panels on one side and a money sinking war on drugs on the other that even global institutions such as World Bank or United Nations are corruptible, fallible and ineffective. We realise that the system is broken, but don’t really know how and know even less what to do about it. In the end, we settle for taking care of ourselves, our families and residing within our bubbles. That’s why the system wins, every time.\n\nBlockchain technology and cryptocurrencies offer all of us a way to change that. I think of the 60s revolution and Timothy Leary’s famous- turn on, tune in, drop out. While that was a remarkably irresponsible thing to say to college students, a variant of it certainly can be said to each of us now-\n\n**Turn on, buy in, hodl.**\n\n---x---\n\n*This was the first of my Crypto Primers article series. More will follow in the coming days, and so should you ;)*",
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      "body": "Unfortunately, There's an issue with the exchanges currently, I wrote about it on reddit [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/smartcash/comments/790ai3/the_issues_with_the_walletsexchanges_are/)\nYou can join the slack channel for the latest updates!\nI wish your trade was as smooth as mind, As I also got in using Cryptotopia :/",
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      "body": "Thank you for your response. I'm currently experiencing an problem though. I exchanged BTC for SMART on Cryptopia, but the order is stuck in \"processing\" for almost 24 hours. Cryptopia support has not responded and I'm getting anxious. For this trade I gave a SMART wallet address stored on Coinpayments.com",
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      "body": "To get SmartRewards your must store your coins on a desktop wallet. They recently released a user-friendly web wallet and you'll be eligible on it too.",
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      "body": "Hi, your post has got me very interested in SMART and I'm ready to buy. I have one question, hoping you can help.\n\nIf I buy SMART and store it in a wallet on Coinpayments, will I still be eligible for the SmartRewards system? Or do I have to store it on one of the wallets on the Smartcash website to be eligible?",
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      "permlink": "safety-with-psychedelics-and-accepting-the-fine-line-between-drug-use-and-drug-abuse",
      "title": "Safety with Psychedelics, and accepting the fine line between drug use and drug abuse",
      "body": "Drug apologists such as myself tend to overstate the matter, and to emphasise the good while glossing over the bad. Take the example of marijuana, a mostly benign substance and essentially a type of grass. People like me are quick to tell you how absurd it is that a roll of paper stuffed with 4000+ chemicals (modern cigarettes) is legal while a roll of grass is not. We are often found criticising a democratic state that does not allow its citizens to form their own relationships with a plant. This critique is not invalid, and with the support of increasing data that shows the medical benefits of marijuana, the era of complete legalisation may not be too far away.\n\nNow, any college-going pothead can tell you the above, but what we don’t tell you are the following. For one, having a relationship with a plant is one thing, but regular purchase of the pudiya (bag) where the money trail would lead to nefarious outlaw groups is another thing altogether. I’ve not known potheads who are aware that their daily habit funds such groups, and even aware ones such as me continue with the habit, choosing hypocrisy over the high road. Secondly, calling what eventually becomes a dependence of some degree a mere relationship is sheer under-representation of facts. When you smoke multiple joints a day, when where you go and who you meet depends on whether weed will be accessible, and when your life begins to revolve around that next joint, it is no longer a relationship with a plant. It is a dependence like any other, and when it starts regulating you rather than the other way round you’ve crossed the rubicon of drug use to drug abuse.\n\n![ReeferMadness.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmZzeC9yDL8DHXvwDX5aodpmhfJQosLpg9nDnX3y6UtuAi/ReeferMadness.jpg)\n[Image Source](http://marijuanapolitics.com/colorados-second-largest-newspaper-gets-it-wrong-on-pot-again/)\n\nAdd to this the facts that in India we mix our weed with tobacco, and that most weed is adulterated in any case, and you’ve all but written away the disclaimer that marijuana has no lasting detriment on one’s health. Yes, justifications abound in the form of vaporisers and clean, pure hashish from Malana- but those really are the exceptions. The rule is of the general pothead who procures a Rs. 100 pudiya from the nearest peddler, who in India is never too far away. \n\nThus, while we demand a free, fair and informed public discourse on the legal status of many drugs, we must not lose sight of the easy way in which they lend themselves to abuse, dependency and habit. It warrants confession here that in this context I’m more a preacher than a practitioner of moderation. I’ve been an inveterate marijuana user for more than a decade, and in my honest moments I confess that it’s now more a dependency than anything else. Given the frequency with which I smoke up, I don’t even get high anymore! Why else do I do it then, if not to pander to a dependency? Marijuana is not the only substance open to abuse in this manner, for the same caveat applies in the case of psychedelics.\n\nTake the drug 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, more commonly known as Ecstasy. If I recommend MDMA to someone, it is for one of two reasons- for a purely recreational experience, or for some form of development (personal or inter-personal). But whenever I do so, I am also quick to dole the following warnings to the prospective first-timer:\n\n> *-A lot of the stuff you get in the market is fake, or MDMA mixed with some other chemical. This is highly dangerous! Only take MDMA from a known, trusted source. How to know of and trust a source, that’s another thing!*\n\n> *-Be prepared for the downer that comes when the effects start to wear off. And take guard against the temptation to pop another dose as you start coming down. Taking one dose of MDMA while coming down from the first is a step down a dangerously slippery slope.*\n\n> *-Keep yourself hydrated! Take frugal sips of water at frequent intervals. If you are with company, make a pact- whenever one of you takes a sip of water, get the others to take one as well.* \n\n\nThe above set is only a gist of the caveats mandated when you recommend a drug to someone, and it illustrates that psychedelic usage is no light matter. While there is room to indulge in these substances recreationally, the room is only so large. And it is easy to push to seams too hard. Longer, more elaborate lists of warnings come along with any recommendation to do mushrooms, acid, DMT or other deep psychedelics. It’s beyond the scope of our journey here to go into each in detail, but here are the six things everyone should keep in mind before thinking of attempting a psychedelic experience. The aim here is not to dissuade- that would be a tragic result of such a list. The objective is to impress upon the reader that this experience is a serious one, as are the rewards it can give. I call these the cardinal rules of psychedelia, and variations of these are not uncommon on the internet.\n\n### 1. Inform Yourself\n###### \nPsychedelicos from the 80s and early 90s will tell you how easy we have it to engage with psychedelic culture in the internet age. Use this resource. If you are a reader, head to [Erowid](https://www.erowid.org/) or conduct your own searches to read up on whatever route you elect to attain a psychedelic experience. If you prefer videos, [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAmEfoBlKGg) is your best resource. There is no excuse in this era for not unlearning what you know through propaganda, or not learning what you don’t get to know even through recommendation and word-of-mouth. \n\n![mug1_large.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWyyHjzwCrH9QrnodwEfRa1vT83dyDKPTaYj284ofNXks/mug1_large.jpg)\n\nEvery psychedelic route comes with its own set of precautions, possible downers, and eventual experiences. No two routes are alike, and the periphery of what constitutes a psychedelic experience is an amorphous membrane. This makes it all the more important that you do your research well. There is yet another reason to arm yourself with knowledge—it can help you form a paradigm through which to interpret the experience itself. Though all eventual conclusions must be formed only by yourself, it helps to have a platform to stand on before you leap forward.\n\n### 2. Choose Your Company Well\n######\nThere is a reason why the only [prescribed way](https://ayahuascahealings.com/ayahuasca-retreats-usa/ayahuasca-ceremony-trip-preparation/) to have ayahuasca is under the guidance of a genuine shaman. An experience so profoundly psychedelic needs an adept guide, and this extends to all other psychedelic methods. For most of us, our first experience will not be in an Amazonian jungle, but it is still important to choose our companions and a sitter with discretion. Your companions need to be people we trust and sync with well in real life. The office colleagues we have our Friday beer with are not necessarily the best choice here. The sitter needs to be a trusted friend, apart from being reliable, level-headed and of course—completely sober. \n\n![that-one-friend-whos-really-good-at-guiding-everyones-acid-21720525.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmdq17sSmGyWAQykWNWx5vo8RgBqhhK1KuNmF8A6ZH2TFh/that-one-friend-whos-really-good-at-guiding-everyones-acid-21720525.png)\n\nAt least one of these people must also be an experienced navigator of the route you embark upon. This is important because she must be at hand to deal with experiences that go ‘sideways.’ My own initiation into the psychedelic domains was guided by an experienced, conscientious friend—and I am forever indebted to him for that. It is easy to take this rule lightly, mostly because the psychedelic experience itself is so alien to a first-timer that the requisite amount of seriousness is tough to muster. But sticking to this rule with diligence is one of the necessary ingredients for a positive psychedelic experience.\n\n### 3. Be Judicious with the Method\n######\nAs previously acknowledged, there are [several routes](http://www.instructables.com/id/10-Ways-to-Alter-Consciousness-Without-Drugs/) to attaining a psychedelic experience, and not all of them require the ingestion of a substance. Rule 3 is a corollary to rule 1—an essential part of pre-psychedelic research is choosing what way to experience these realms. When it comes to substances, though you will find opposing views as well, my take is a modified version of one of Terence McKenna’s quotes:\n\n> *Hyperspace is delivered to us by many kinds; some are born naturally, some through scientific grind. The ones born in the laboratory, you’ll find, offer no guarantee for the sanity of mind.*\n\n![michaelmhughes.com_.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmRLNBiZgWm5J2SoPtCqFrR3peTn4bgkyPGCVUs929ASrg/michaelmhughes.com_.jpg)\n\nTo experienced psychedelicos, the meaning of the above will be clear even if they disagree with it. To others, an elaboration is warranted. There are several ‘natural’ ways to experience psychedelia, and these are available to us through certain plants and fungi. The most common, and registering lowest on the psychedelic scale, is cannabis. But as you jump a level up, the degree of psychedelic intensity increases exponentially through plants such as peyote, banisteriopsis caapi, peganum harmala, tabernanthe iboga and of course, psilocybin mushrooms.  Most plant psychedelics have been used by central American tribes for centuries, which is another way of saying that we have very tangible human data on the long-term effects of their usage. On the other end of the psychedelic spectrum, testimonials from deep meditation techniques reveal that the experience can be attained even without the ingestion of a substance. Rule 3 reminds us that there are many methods of psychedelic attainment to choose from, and each of us must be judicious to our own degree.\n\n### 4. Understand Set and Setting\n######\nThe mother of all clichés, the baap of all oft-repeated things, yet the most justifiably emphasised concept ever. Set and Setting. Set and Setting. Set and Setting. Drill this into your head. To understand what Set and Setting means is to understand how to have a positive psychedelic experience 100% of the time. Shamans and experienced psychedelicos alike will tell you that set and setting are more important than the substance.\n\nLet us visit a simple fact observed in human infants—they are not afraid of snakes until they witness adults display fear of the creatures, and thus imbibe the same cautionary reflexes. In other words, that one is to be wary of snakes is not part of a human’s mindset till the same is acquired through witnessing another’s mindset play itself out. The ‘Set’ of rule 4 refers to mindset. It refers to our knowledge, expectations, perceptions and overall state of mind as we embark on a psychedelic journey. Put simply, if you expect to see faces melt and snakes appear out of eyeballs because your paradigm has been formed through watching Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, then you are appropriately primed to witness that very thing.\n\nSailors will tell you, the day of embarkation for an important journey is carefully dependant on the weather. The best time to sail forth is when the seas are calm and likely to remain so. In this case, the seas and the weather make the ‘setting’ that has a direct impact on the experience of the sail. Setting means the same in the psychedelic context. Where is it that you have embarked on your psychedelic journey? Indoors? Outdoors? In a crowded party full of strangers? Among reliable friends and the safe confines of your own garden? Amid loud noises or disliked music? To the best tunes ever composed? The importance of choosing a positive setting can never be over-emphasised.\n\n![maxresdefault.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmY2VF2XBej3okskSP9hoHbjuhEvVvxhDDHAwSQVmRroPu/maxresdefault.jpg)\n\nAlso remember—set and setting differ from person to person. How the set differs is obvious enough, but even under the same setting the effects can vary between you and your fellow-psychedelicos. When I began my psychedelic journeys, I was in a place that enjoyed beautiful, sunny days during spring. My companions, like most normal people, enjoyed the wonderful sun and the fresh, liberating feel of open air. I was unlike most normal people, for I preferred a closed environment—preferably my own room. Most people will recommend that you undertake the psychedelic experience of say, psilocybin mushrooms, when outdoors. I am here to tell you that I found the opposite to be advisable in my own case. You must similarly test the waters to ascertain your comfort zone.\n\n### 5. Biology Is Important\n######\nToo many people limit the implications of set to their mental makeup alone, thus requiring a separate rule to drive home an important point—your biological state is equally important. Follow this prescription religiously:\n\n*-Do not drink alcohol at least 24 hours before you begin the psychedelic journey. Sure, a pint or two of beer is fine—if it really is a pint or two. Anything more or anything else, generally avoid.*\n*-Do not eat anything heavy at least 12 hours before you begin the journey. This includes all oily and fried things.*\n*-Make sure that you have been well-slept for the past 3-4 days, and are adequately rested on the day of embarkation itself.*\n\n### 6. The Law Is Real\n######\nAll of the substance-based methods available to us to experience the psychedelic realms are classified illegal by Indian and international law. Be very careful as you embark upon these journeys, and consider whether you want to at all. In most cases, you are a criminal simply for having such an experience. Possession and trade in psychedelic substances can land you in jail and hand you a lifetime of bad record. Enough said.",
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