The Geography of the Blockchain

...is already within your mind since creating almost anything imaginable through each protocol will become easier as many more block-chains unfold like DNA. In the beginning block-chains were, and are, difficult to understand as they matured from lower level prototypes. Just like protocols such as http, smtp, and tcp which came before, each chain has taken on many forms as they mutate indefinitely. Now that they've morphed from experimental currencies into social networks, ever since the first genesis block was mined back in 2009, the next stage of remolding the web has just began. Just like civilization may be another form, or stage, of nature’s evolution, server-less networks, which are still early experiments, are the next phase of the entire internet.

Crypto-currencies are one of many ways to express the blockchain since it is barely even beginning to tap into excess value which already exists just like bacteria within the body and renewable technologies tap, then distribute, excessive energy in a wide variety of ways. Even though technical mechanics which give value to currencies created on top of networks like Steemit are too complex for this post to go into, since they’re probably a lot like magic, the content itself is what helps block-chain based social networks maintain value as buyers, sellers, content creators, and miners work to keep each currency liquid. Entering into block-chain based social networks also resembles going into another dimension because content on them exists as one expression of currency even though the uniqueness of blockahins like Steemit come from their human elements since everyone, rather than large server farms or printing presses within foreign banks, can mine. Another way of looking at all of this is that it’s an experiment that’s using currencies as a medium which allows anyone to see what people assign value to, why they do it, and when they do so. Since distributed consensus networks like block-chains also give people a platform to experiment with various forms of governance, it may even be possible for technologies like transparent ledgers to eventually gauge, then change, agreed upon collective values as peoples minds come into synchrony across long distances.

As of now, many people also see the worth of this website growing quickly even though what’s actually happening is what would occur if all social networks compensated users for work then displayed value assigned to all content created on transparent ledgers. In this case currency, or energy, doesn’t just flow to a few people who own most of a company, but to everyone who participates in the network. This not only opens up gateways to fairer economies of scale, as innovations from one block-chain get forked then integrated into others, but also provides potential frameworks for more open, distributed, forms of governance beyond traditional stock holder corporations.

Block-chain technologies can also release excess value within sharing economies by making them more horizontal and distrusted so that it becomes more difficult for value to be siphoned off through central entities while resources which aren’t in use can be shared faster through smart contracts. Many things could still go horribly wrong with all this but, if current sharing economies are early prototypes of what’s to come then block-chained versions of them have the potential to create a semi post-scarcity environment if combined with many other decentralizing technologies in wise enough ways. What all of this means is that, like water or blood, resources can begin flowing where they need to, or want to, go easier like intangible information already does since block-chains are simultaneously networked databases for coordinated decision making and canvases for new forms of communication.