Just imagine that we could have all been ape-like creatures roaming around the planet foraging like any other if we were born 200,000 years ago. We wouldn't have stood out from the myriad of organisms around us. So what transformed us from insignificant creatures into the world's most dominant species today? Stories. High-order information. The human mind enables us to surpass our genomic, physical limitations. We can't fly, but we can build planes. We can't possibly communicate with the rest of the world, but we can build the Internet.

"The ability to create an imagined reality out of words enabled large numbers of strangers to cooperate effectively. But it also did something more. Since large-scale human cooperation is based on myths, the way people cooperate can be altered by changing the myths – by telling different stories. Under the right circumstances myths can change rapidly."
_{By Yuval Noah Harari in Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind}

If you haven't read Sapiens, I'd suggest giving the book a spin. One major point of clarity I gained from the book is this: money is the most successful story ever invented by human beings. Seeing that we now also have social media networks on the Internet, each with their own popular stories these days, it's no great surprise there are tons of cryptocurrencies (or I daresay, shitcoins) with crazy valuations. Forget about the content. It's all about the potential in the power of exponential network effects. The Bitconnect scandal shows very well that all you need are a bunch of scammers and hopefuls spreading convincing stories to the right crowd.

Blinded by the shadow

So here's the big white elephant: why are there so many cryptocurrency supporters still actively using status quo media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube? The power these platforms wield are just too damn high, knowing they're all concentrated into just a handful of companies in Silicon Valley with insane-levels of leverage over millions and billions of users.

I'm not saying they're inherently bad for being so powerful, but my point is these platforms have single points-of-failure and are definitely ripe for mass market exploitation. Imagine that I can shill anything and substantially boost engagement or the illusion of it just by hiring some social media farmers for less than $100. What if I'm an insider in these centrally-managed media platforms? What if I also have a huge stake in some of those shitcoins? What if someone bribes me to sway public opinion? All too easy to exploit in a non-decentralised setup.

These social media platforms undoubtedly have massive network effects going on for them, boasting great connectivity and 1000x improvements over their predecessors that were largely formed by rigid, bottle-necked, land-based monopolies over the past centuries. Money and media really goes hand in hand. This is why companies like Facebook are becoming so valuable.

The higher-order

So what's next? Decentralised social media platforms. Just take a look at Steem. At first sight, it's easy to get caught up with the money rewards and sometimes unsavoury content, but make no mistake they're simply the product of a decentralised construct, a collaborative commons where every user is treated as co-owner.

While Steemit Inc still has substantial stakes on the network, the distribution of Steem itself is engineered to be decentralised over time. The protocol is also open for any entrepreneurs to build upon and earn without the need to ask for permission from any central authority. It's something Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube can never do without altering the nature of their existence. While Steem-based applications still have ways to go in improving their features and UI / UX for mass adoption, the next x1000 improvement is already here in form of shared-value, and decentralisation.

There are many things that we can decentralise, but as biased as I may be, I suspect decentralised media protocols like Steem to be fundamental in the cause. It's a decentralised mirror reflection of how national currencies, institutions, and businesses were built around centrally-managed mass media platforms throughout history. See my point? It's a bit like Pareto's Principle, where 20% of the effort put into a decentralised media protocol could potentially be the factor that yields 80% of the changes that will take place. It's likely the best place to focus on. There are only so many unicorns that one can attempt to speculate.

Personally, I'm hopeful that Steemconnect / Hivemind / Communities / Smart Media Tokens will boost adoption and increase the order of network effects. As for the rewards algorithm, I'd suggest a 50/50 approach to encourage voters to distribute Steem while knowing they're getting a fair deal in return as well. Also, a slight superlinear reward might help to bring some order and to curb spam from entry accounts. This should improve the overall distribution and growth of the network.

That's my stance on Steem in a nutshell. It may or may not work out. But is there something that's x1000000000 on the horizon? You betcha. It's way bigger and could even serve as the foundation for other blockchain projects.

The highest-order

In my opinion, here's a x1000000000 improvement over everything I've known in existence - Tauchain Agoras. This is the only other blockchain project I talk about other than Steem these days. It's engineered to open up application development to the masses by scaling discussions and consensus through an Internet of Languages and code synthesis. By far, Tauchain's self-defining, correct-by-construction, and decidable characteristics are conceivably the best fit for truly secure smart contracts.

Not only that, the way Tauchain is constructed also enables a knowledge economy while also featuring discovery algorithms that are unmatched in today's technologies. Think about a semantic web that actually works. If there's a decentralised logical deduction system that connects our queries and expressions with the rest of world in a relevant manner that builds upon a knowledge base, you bet your ass that it's going to be one of the most valuable things ever.

There are a lot more facets to this deus ex machina of an invention I wish I could talk about without sounding foolish. It's been blowing my mind since the day I think I started understanding the project. But again, I'll leave more information for another time until I really gain some confidence to speak about it without jumping my words.

Please note that this is still highly speculative since the product isn't even out yet. But I'm really liking the vision and fundamentals of this project after digging through it for the past couple of months. It may very well be the holy grail of the decentralised new world order. Hype or not? Only time will tell.

But of course, any attempts to predict the future will usually fail. The world is just too complex. Regardless, I'll be staying invested in both Steem and Tauchain's future for their solid fundamentals. Remember this little post if things ever go beyond the moon ;)

Recommended reads for Steem

• https://steem.io/SteemWhitePaper.pdf
• https://steem.io/steem-bluepaper.pdf
• https://smt.steem.io/smt-whitepaper.pdf

Recommended reads for Tauchain Agoras

• http://www.idni.org/blog/the-new-tau
• http://www.idni.org/blog/agoras-to-tml
• https://www.reddit.com/r/tauchain/comments/7pngv6/tauagoras_faq_updated_jan_2018/

_{Image from Expanding Brain Meme
Music mixtape by Kurdtbada}

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_{Not to be taken as financial advice.}