You know this happens sometimes. Someone just asks you a question that you believed you could answer with absolutely no problem, only to find yourself struggling to do so. It's been a while since I've been stumped like this, I must confess. But, not because I'm some sort of know it all or anything like that, more so because It's not so common to be challenged like this on my blog.

I should say the question was a friendly one. I'm not trying to say it wasn't, not in the slightest. As a matter of fact I enjoyed the fact that its got my brain working overtime at the moment, because I honestly don't have a complete answer to it, yet here I'am punishing the keys of this logitech device.

I know the professor is just proposing a hypothetical here, but his question/thought experiment requires so much thinking, I'm not sure he knew what he was pushing me to do that night. You know what I'm talking about right? I'm laying in bed trying to tell all the voices to shush, and there is this particular one that has 1000 watt speaker. Yes, that, that is what was happening.

Bleach in the drinking water

When @professorbromide says "take it private" to me that is proposing something somewhat impossible. Meaning that was we currently have on this blockchain is technically not privatisable (just spent all my french there). You would have to convince all the other whales to go away, send your their stake, and I don't know if they would at all. I mean, I could ask, imagining that my pockets had no limit (I wish), I could. But, I could see most of them telling me to enlist for space-force right away.

However, just to entertain the idea that I could, that somehow they cave and just sell me their stake, and then I, I alone have ze POWA. (one eyebrow twitching) - Would things just magically work out? Would we not enter some sort of tyrannical dictatorship?

I guess you could say something along the lines of: "Oh, but if the mega-ultra-whale is benevolent, its all good" - Maybe, I'm not entirely sure. After all, it benevolence is somewhat subjective... somewhat.

But, for the sake of conversation

I will probably make some crazy changes to the blockchain, or at least push those changes along that is. So this post is my bizarre utopian system that is likely to never exist. But a man can dream, right?

Witnesses

This would probably be the core of the problems we could solve on the hypothetical blockchain. To me the idea of stake weighted votes makes a lot of sense, but only when the system is not too easy to corrupt. I don't have to go into details but there was someone offering witness votes for money and to me that goes against the safety of the network. In my view, the solution might be in the middle.

• 50% of the ranks are calculated by STAKE.
• 50% of the ranks are calculated by number of votes.

A system like this would mean that it could both incentivize whale investors to keep their influence on the platform, but at the same time it would not drown the little guy out. The way the system works today, the voice of the little accounts have absolutely no weight and I feel that is somewhat tragic.

Now in order for this to work and not be exploited, we would probably need something along the veins of the ORACLE solutions to determine one account per user. I won't go into details of that on this post, since I don't want to TLDR it too hard. (I'm going that way anyways).

The speculation here would be that we could balance out developers and community oriented witnesses. Meaning that as much as I'm all about improving software, interface and all that jazz. Witnesses of the likes of @aggroed for example, should balance out all the techie stuff that to the average person sounds like a foreign language.

Most people want to have fun, use apps that just work and are not too interested in how they work. So, I think something like this might balance the scales a little more.

Reward Pool Plundering concerns

Are not far from my thoughts either, but I have a different opinion that most do regarding this very subject. Meaning that to me creating a system that creates incentives to have people interact and contribute to others, is more important or practical than attempting to make anyone and everyone adhere to what I find ethical.

A little while ago @clayboyn suggested a 50/50 split between creator and curator. Some people in chat that day got close to having an aneurysm. The idea of an "evil whale" taking half their work sounded like someone telling them to be OK with being robbed.

Needless to say that idea comes for a scarcity mindset and I don't subscribe to it in the slightest. You can have your 100% of nothing if you wish, or you could get 50% of a banquet, the choice is yours. If you are from the team "I rather keep it all to myself" - then I probably would not want that mentality to be participating of the ecosystem anyways, so making that change would weed them out. ( I know @meano is at it again)

This also would require having a system that can be effective at making sure that people would not be using sock puppets and what not, and the reasons should be obvious. Again for this I would probably default to the ORACLE idea that SMTs are attempting to implement.

The speculation here would be that we would effectively create a user base of content consumers. They can make as much as the content creators, they don't have to create themselves, thus balancing the system a little more.

As we have it today everyone feels obligated to write, to post videos, etc, and let's face it. Is it logical to think that everyone wants to? I mean, those who create, those who write daily or post music because they've been doing so for years and years don't actually worry about where content is coming from. I don't ever think about what I'm going to write about today, because that is the thing I've been doing for twenty plus years and it's how I fake being sane.

Development Budgets

Would probably be one of the main focuses of this craziness too. I think in order for mainstream to be achieved we need not only more dapps, but amazing and I do mean amazing user interfaces and experiences. So, I would see this "mega-ultra-whale" throwing down some major satoshis in that quest.

Without trying to bore anyone with specific nerdy details, the ideal situation should probably be along the lines of: "It's so easy to use, to send money to the bank and viceversa that you are not even sure how cryptos do their magic"

I will give you a weird yet verifiable little fact. Most people think that linux didn't quite make it, that it remained and operating system for the nerdy types like muhself. But, they would think that while connecting to an apache server running on linux to checkout their favorite content, using their newest samsung android (linux also), and playing around with their automated AC system they just got for their home (running also on linux). So, linux not only went mainstream, it's so mainstream the whole world is using it in one way or another while at the same time having no idea that they are.

Schools of Thought

And this part is probably the only one I had thought about prior to the professor posing that crazy question. To me most of the problems in the world are not directly a consequence of the lack of critical thinking, but remain problems because we just don't have enough critical thinkers.

This is not to say that we could one day reach utopia and that we would solve all of the problems in the world just like that. It just means we would get a little closer and possibly that is the only win we should be striving for.

I imagine an online school of thought with both reliable knowledgeable teachers and students who are incentivized to learn through a system that rewards them for doing so and not just punishes them if they don't.

The idea that in first would countries the only way to get educated is to become a debt slave seems appalling to me, because at the same time those who lack the education are the core element of our economy.

This whole thing needs so much brainpower I would not dare to outline it on this post, because it's a gargantuan task, but I'm sure more ideas will find themselves on this blog soon enough regarding Schools of Thought.

I'm sure the professor has a dusty tome with written concerns

And he will show up and ask me more things, but I'm looking forward to it, because I find this thought experiment absolutely fascinating. But, feel free to chime in, add your 2 cents, 3 or four, I certainly welcome it.