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Cryptocosm: George Gilder’s Life After Google Shows How Blockchain Will Transform Your World
Townhall ^ | Nov 02, 2018 | Ralph Benko

Posted on 12/02/2018 4:13:05 PM PST by george76

Blockchain technology has been the talk of the tech world for the last several years. That said, it is also something of a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. There are plenty of great books that effectively promote it, such as Don and Alex Tapscott’s nearly canonical Blockchain Revolution, published in 2016.

Fast forward the revolution by two years. There’s more to say.

George Gilder, in the most important recent book on blockchain, is here to say it. He not only dazzles but demystifies the blockchain, making vivid exactly how it is going to transform the internet and our lives.

Gilder is one of the most consequential public intellectuals of our era. He wrote Wealth and Poverty, the million-selling “bible” of the Reagan Revolution (which laid out the policy architecture that propelled the Dow Jones Industrial Average from around 800 in 1979 to 25,000+ today.

Gilder, a self-described “Cornucopian,” then went on to write four of the most influential books that predicted the technology of the modern era: Microcosm, about the computer chip; Telecosm and Life After Television, about the practical implications of fiber optics; and The Silicon Eye, about how cameras would become ubiquitous (as they are… on every mobile phone, laptop, and desktop computer, among many other devices).

George Gilder has unequivocally established his bona fides as an economic and technology guru. He now extends his hitting streak with a book about what he calls the Cryptocosm: Life After Google: The Fall of Big Data and the Rise of the Blockchain Economy.

Yes, Gilder explains “why” blockchain technology will transform the world. Non-techies may find these explanations a bit daunting, although dazzling. But what really makes Life After Google invaluable is how Gilder, clearly and definitively, shows “how” blockchain is transforming the world.

Gilder, gives us The Big Reveal: real uses – not “use cases” – where the blockchain is now being applied. He shows us, in a way that even your grandmother will immediately grasp, how this will change both the user experience and our lives.

One of these is digital identity. Right now, big data companies have figured out how to appropriate hyperlinks on the web and exploit them to become some of the most valuable companies in the world. According to Gilder, Blockstack, a blockchain startup, makes it possible for users to have control over our fundamental digital rights: identity, data-ownership, privacy, and security. Gilder:

“The Internet stack had become a porous and perforated scheme in which most of the money and power could be sucked up by the big apps at the top run by companies such as Google. What was needed was a blockstack that could keep the crucial IDs and personal data and pointers to storage addresses in a secure and immutable database on the blockchain.”

Google makes billions of dollars in profits a year by advertising to you (and me!). But what if Google had to – by the power of competition, not regulation -- share a big chunk of that revenue with us?

Gilder introduces us to Brendon Eich (former Master of Mozilla) who created the Brave Browser. This keeps your web searches from being tracked by browsers such as Chrome, Safari, or Firefox. And Eich has created a blockchain called Basic Attention Tokens (BATs), which will allow you to be paid for your attention, meaning for seeing ads. Don’t quit your day job yet but… BATs will make users a partner rather a product of companies such as Google.

Coming soon: Otoy, providing blockchain “Render Tokens,” essential to Virtual Reality. To oversimplify just a bit, thanks to the blockchain you soon will be going to (and creating!) websites rendered in 3D.

That will be as radical a shift in user experience as the shift from silent films to talkies, or black and white to Technicolor. How will Facebook, another beneficiary of Big Data, compete with a rival social network where you post 3D movies and interact in virtual 3D in real time with your friends? Thanks to the blockchain it is only a matter of time before VR will be the standard user experience on the web. Treat yourself to a dazzling vision of the future: the fall of big data and the rise of the blockchain economy: Life After Google: The Fall of Big Data and the Rise of the Blockchain Economy. You will never be the same.

And welcome to the Cryptocosm.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: beseeingyou; bigbrother; bitcoin; blockchain; brave; bravebrowser; brendoneich; cryptocosm; dsj02; eich; georgegilder; gilder; google; privacyrights; youtube
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Welcome to the Cryptocosm: George Gilder’s Life After Google Shows How Blockchain Will Transform Your World.

( Full title)

1 posted on 12/02/2018 4:13:05 PM PST by george76
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To: george76

Gilder is usually worth paying attention to. This book has been on my Christmas List for awhile.


2 posted on 12/02/2018 4:15:33 PM PST by ClearCase_guy (If White Privilege is real, why did Elizabeth Warren lie about being an Indian?)
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To: george76

I have a feeling that somehow this is a part of the end times of Biblical prophecy.


3 posted on 12/02/2018 4:17:26 PM PST by beethovenfan (I always try to maximize my carbon footprint.)
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To: ClearCase_guy

According to my math, a DOLLAR worth of bitcoin in 2010 was worth, at its highest this year, 900,000 dollars.

Not a bad return.

I know it probably has nothing to do with this, cause i dont know what the hell i’m talking about.

But i do know when my friend told me buy a few hundred bucks worth when it was 30, that i should have listened :)


4 posted on 12/02/2018 4:20:44 PM PST by dp0622 (The Left should know if.. Trump is kicked out of office, it is WAR!)
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To: george76

bump for later


5 posted on 12/02/2018 4:21:30 PM PST by palmer (...if we do not have strong families and strong values, then we will be weak and we will not survive)
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To: george76

I, for one, do not welcome Fahrenheit 451.


6 posted on 12/02/2018 4:25:36 PM PST by Paladin2
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To: george76

Sigh. Blockchain is a buzzword.

As currently implemented, most if not all blockchains have numerous inherent security flaws and other issues. For one example, most blockchains use standard private/public key cryptography based on the difficulty of factoring large composite numbers. The public keys are published in the chain. Quantum computing is going to render that completely useless from a security perspective — in fact already has for smaller sized keys. For another example, validating a transaction using most blockchain implementations takes far too long to be viable for point of sale and other transactions.

Could go on and on about these and other problems, but why bother? Most people will just buy into the buzz...


7 posted on 12/02/2018 4:29:22 PM PST by piytar (If it was not for double standards, the Democrats and the left would have NO standards.)
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To: george76

What is a Blockchain and why should I care? If possible; please answer in one easy to understand sentence for dumb people.


8 posted on 12/02/2018 4:36:11 PM PST by Boomer (The other name for "Democrat" is "Nation Killer")
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To: george76
DAMN! - makes me wish I'd have jumped on Bitcoin a few months ago when it was only $17,500.
9 posted on 12/02/2018 4:41:36 PM PST by Baynative ("A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams." - John Barrymore)
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To: piytar

I’m mixing apples and oranges a bit here, but Blockchain is really just a digital ledger linked by a cryptographic hash function. It’s math.

And the Gaussian Copula is just a probability distribution. It’s also just math:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copula_(probability_theory)#Gaussian_copula

That particular bit of math (which also contained some inherent flaws) led to the economic meltdown in 2008. I have no way of knowing if the flaws in Blockchain could do something similar. But a lot of people use complex math that they think they understand. But they don’t understand them enough.

Interesting times.


10 posted on 12/02/2018 4:42:24 PM PST by ClearCase_guy (If White Privilege is real, why did Elizabeth Warren lie about being an Indian?)
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To: Boomer

With Bitcoin; every bitcoin is recorded as a digital block, every transaction is recorded as a digital block, all these individual blocks make up the blockchain. The blockchain (or chain of blocks) keeps getting bigger and bigger as more coins are mined, and more transactions are executed.


11 posted on 12/02/2018 4:45:05 PM PST by dynoman (Objectivity is the essence of intelligence. - Marilyn vos Savant)
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To: Boomer
What is a Blockchain and why should I care? If possible; please answer in one easy to understand sentence for dumb people.

Not one sentence. Sorry.

A blockchain is a decentralized, distributed and public digital ledger that is used to record transactions across many computers so that any involved record cannot be altered retroactively, without the alteration of all subsequent blocks. This allows the participants to verify and audit transactions independently and relatively inexpensively.

Blockchain is a “payment rail” --

A payment rail is a term used to describe a payment platform or a payment network that moves money from a payer to a payee. Either party could be a consumer or business, and both parties are able to move funds on the network. Credit card rails refer to the credit card payment system.

Blockchain is considered a newer type of payment rail.

So, to some extent, Blockchain is like inventing Credit Cards – or a new type of transaction method.

People do make money inventing stuff like that. But, as a speculative “investment”, I don’t think Bitcoin is a long-term winner. But Blockchain, as a math technique, can change the world.

12 posted on 12/02/2018 4:53:01 PM PST by ClearCase_guy (If White Privilege is real, why did Elizabeth Warren lie about being an Indian?)
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To: ClearCase_guy; dynoman

Thanks to you both.

In simple lingo it sounds like a new way to exchange funds around the world electronically using a mathematical equation(s).

Now how the common person would use it is probably more complicated. Or could it be used as simply as a credit card is used now?

I wonder if the ultimate goal is to get rid of the cash transactions altogether.


13 posted on 12/02/2018 4:59:42 PM PST by Boomer (The other name for "Democrat" is "Nation Killer")
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To: Boomer

I’d say it could get rid of cash. And it allows you to do transactions without involving a bank, or Visa, or other big corporation. You can do business with a person or corporation just through blockchain methods. No middleman.

NOTE: This is not anonymous and you cannot avoid taxes. But it gives you a bit of control over your payment.


14 posted on 12/02/2018 5:05:34 PM PST by ClearCase_guy (If White Privilege is real, why did Elizabeth Warren lie about being an Indian?)
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To: Boomer

I honestly don’t know the advantage over credit cards. Unless you are day trading crypto, it’s volatile enough!


15 posted on 12/02/2018 5:16:07 PM PST by dynoman (Objectivity is the essence of intelligence. - Marilyn vos Savant)
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To: george76

One E.M.P. WAR and it all goes to crap !


16 posted on 12/02/2018 5:17:07 PM PST by Yosemitest (It's SIMPLE ! ... Fight, ... or Die !)
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To: Boomer
Think of it as trust.

When I was in the Marines, way before the Internet, I had a reputation of somebody fellow Marines could trust. It started out with some of them leaving $20 or so with me to "hold on to" so that if they got broke before payday, they could come to me to get some money. They knew that I would never steal it or try to deceive them by pretending they never gave it to me. As my reputation as a "solid guy" grew, more and more trust was given to me. They would rather give me the money to hang on to rather than put it in a bank because I could give it to them a lot faster than a bank could (this was before ATMs even).

Blockchain is sort of like building that kind of trust on the Internet. All your transactions are in a permanent database that cannot be altered. In a way, it's like doing business on eBay or Airbnb. You only want to do business with those who have high ratings - who are trustworthy.

Let's say you wanted to buy something from me for $100. You might say, why not just use cash? So we meet, I give you the item and you give me $100 in cash. What's to stop me later from claiming that I never got the cash? You might ask for a receipt but then I might claim that the receipt is fake. So you can see the kind of hassle that can be.

With blockchain, the exchange is done in bitcoin, permanently recorded and cannot be altered. Let's say you have 5 bitcoins in your ledger and I have two bitcoins in mine. So you give me 1/2 bitcoin. Now you have 4 1/2 bitcoins and I have 2.5 bitcoins in mine. The records of this are indisputable. A true peer-to-peer transaction but totally transparent. That is, thousands and thousands of computers are tracking the same transaction and recording it permanently. I will never be able to claim that you did not pay me.

Best of all, no banks or credit card companies involved (to take their piece of the action through fees).

Maybe this could be explained better but hopefully you get the general idea.

17 posted on 12/02/2018 5:27:37 PM PST by SamAdams76 ( If you are offended by what I have to say here then you can blame your parents for raising a wuss)
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To: piytar
As currently implemented, most if not all blockchains have numerous inherent security flaws and other issues.

While there is some truth to this, its not entirely accurate.

For one example, most blockchains use standard private/public key cryptography based on the difficulty of factoring large composite numbers. The public keys are published in the chain. Quantum computing is going to render that completely useless from a security perspective — in fact already has for smaller sized keys.

Public keys are only published when coins are spent. The public to private key computing would have to happen very fast in order to have a chance of spending the funds before the legitimate transaction propagates.

In any case, all internet security is based on the same type of cryptographic system. There are already known quantum safe systems and everything on the internet will migrate to those systems in the future.

For another example, validating a transaction using most blockchain implementations takes far too long to be viable for point of sale and other transactions.

This may be nit picky, but transactions propagate and are validated on the network within seconds. It is true that it takes longer to secure a transaction in the blockchain, which may take from 10 to 60 minutes. But once that happens, the merchant has the funds. With the credit/debit system it may be days to weeks before the merchant is certain that they have the funds.

18 posted on 12/02/2018 5:51:55 PM PST by Database
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To: SamAdams76

Very good explanation, thanks. Just last night watched the documentary, “Banking on Bitcoin,” so am wanting to understand more of the process.


19 posted on 12/02/2018 6:19:21 PM PST by Cedar
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To: Database

Qualified and secure PayPal users can become a Virtual Terminal.

Instant pay, never been hacked, they are the best. Access by Windows 10 and Microsoft Defender.

Regarding blockchains:
Every server in a decentralized system has its own uniquely encrypted copy of the blockchain.

Data quality is maintained by massive database replication and computational trust.

No centralized “official” copy exists and no user is “trusted” more than any other. All of the servers have to “vote” to allow any identical and retroactive changes.

Transactions are added to the block they are building, and then broadcast to the entire network.

Blockchains use various time-stamping schemes, such as proof-of-work, to serialize changes.

Danger:
Growth of a decentralized blockchain is accompanied by the risk of centralization because the computer resources required to process larger amounts of data become more expensive.


20 posted on 12/02/2018 6:28:40 PM PST by gandalftb
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