Machine politics: The cultural science of permissionless systems
The survival of permissionless blockchains is typically cast as a cryptoeconomic security problem for mechanism designers to resolve. This essay argues that, long-term, these networks may require something that looks more like a UNESCO protection convention for machine culture than an equation. Ethe...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sciendo
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Cultural Science |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2478/csj-2022-0008 |
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| _version_ | 1823860496429744128 |
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| author | Rennie Ellie |
| author_facet | Rennie Ellie |
| author_sort | Rennie Ellie |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The survival of permissionless blockchains is typically cast as a cryptoeconomic security problem for mechanism designers to resolve. This essay argues that, long-term, these networks may require something that looks more like a UNESCO protection convention for machine culture than an equation. Ethereum’s machine culture is observable through the formation of a “’we’-group” (Hartley & Potts, 2014, p. 76), which is necessary for the establishment of common knowledge. While entry to the group is permissionless, maintaining membership boundaries demands active contributions from validator nodes. The paper discusses concerns that Ethereum’s consensus may be used for purposes beyond itself, making Ethereum vulnerable to external, non-machine political forces. As this begins to manifest, the need to safeguard Ethereum’s intrinsic machine culture becomes apparent—not merely for the sake of the blockchain but to maintain a stable foundation for emerging digital economies and governance structures. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-60699cd60ff74a13978bf7f1ceef8631 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1836-0416 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cultural Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-60699cd60ff74a13978bf7f1ceef86312025-02-10T13:25:36ZengSciendoCultural Science1836-04162022-12-01141566210.2478/csj-2022-0008Machine politics: The cultural science of permissionless systemsRennie Ellie0RMIT University , AustraliaThe survival of permissionless blockchains is typically cast as a cryptoeconomic security problem for mechanism designers to resolve. This essay argues that, long-term, these networks may require something that looks more like a UNESCO protection convention for machine culture than an equation. Ethereum’s machine culture is observable through the formation of a “’we’-group” (Hartley & Potts, 2014, p. 76), which is necessary for the establishment of common knowledge. While entry to the group is permissionless, maintaining membership boundaries demands active contributions from validator nodes. The paper discusses concerns that Ethereum’s consensus may be used for purposes beyond itself, making Ethereum vulnerable to external, non-machine political forces. As this begins to manifest, the need to safeguard Ethereum’s intrinsic machine culture becomes apparent—not merely for the sake of the blockchain but to maintain a stable foundation for emerging digital economies and governance structures.https://doi.org/10.2478/csj-2022-0008permissionlessblockchainsecuritymachine culturemachine politics |
| spellingShingle | Rennie Ellie Machine politics: The cultural science of permissionless systems Cultural Science permissionless blockchain security machine culture machine politics |
| title | Machine politics: The cultural science of permissionless systems |
| title_full | Machine politics: The cultural science of permissionless systems |
| title_fullStr | Machine politics: The cultural science of permissionless systems |
| title_full_unstemmed | Machine politics: The cultural science of permissionless systems |
| title_short | Machine politics: The cultural science of permissionless systems |
| title_sort | machine politics the cultural science of permissionless systems |
| topic | permissionless blockchain security machine culture machine politics |
| url | https://doi.org/10.2478/csj-2022-0008 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT rennieellie machinepoliticstheculturalscienceofpermissionlesssystems |