Ethics & technology, & the digital world we wish to create

Technology moves so quickly that most of the time, the ethics fall behind.

Take Facebook as an example. It all began as a way to connect college students and ultimately the platform has totally changed the world. In some ways for the better, but in many other ways, for the worse. That type of growth could not be predicted, and for sure the ethics could not keep up.

Then there’s the ethical (or non-ethical) design of technology. I believe that the ThreeFold technology has been designed in an ethical manner. For starters, everything is open source. It is there for anyone to see and comment on and build on. Nothing is hidden. And efficiency is a huge focus, engrained the technology. Efficiency means less energy consumption, which is better for the planet. Just one example.

Another thing about technology is that (with some exceptions) it is not inherently “good” or “bad.” It comes down to the use of the technology, which can be categorized in one of those ways. ThreeFold is a technology that presents infinite possibilities, all along the spectrum. How then do we prevent the “bad?”

The traditional (centralized) approach would be for a central body to create terms of use and say what is and is not allowed to happen on the platform or with the technology. But as ThreeFold technology is decentralized, and we’re a decentralized project, this is not the path.

So what is to be done? How do we empower freedom while ensuring safe environments for everyone? Leading by example? Community-built guidelines moderation? Surely the DAO comes into play here…

Some of these things have been thought of by the co-founders and the team but I wanted to open this conversation to the community and hear your thoughts, and perhaps even host a community call later this month or in February.

What I do know is this: what a moment we are living in. A new world is coming, and we’re all helping to build it.

Please, let’s talk about it!

2 Likes