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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2013-10-27 03:10, paul michael
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:1382843405.57752.YahooMailNeo@web141604.mail.bf1.yahoo.com"
type="cite">
<div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff;
font-family:HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial,
Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:10pt">a MNT transitional
society would need something like a UL stamp of approval for the
MiNTing software. Why? Because think about it - a scrip kiddie
decides that it would be 'fun' to change the molecular design of
cotton such that in sunlight the clothes made from this cotton
turn transparent or some such thing</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
This is generally true for complex artefacts where trust is
important, yet the source is not an easily tracked nym with
reputation capital. Consider software certificates, or peer review
in science. Ideally papers, software and consumer products should be
reviewed and analysed in great detail by trusted third parties
(certification agencies, consumer reports, review boards) or at
least customer information compiled (yelp, amazon). The challenges
are (1) complex objects can have complex flaws that are
near-impossible to find, (2) who bears the cost of testing?<br>
<br>
Breaking down artefacts into modules helps reduce 1 and 2: a library
can be analysed and then re-used, but failures of review can make a
vast number of derived artefacts unreliable. Strengthening the
traceability of causes and agents can also help: if you can find who
inserted what, and then bring the authorities or internet opprobrium
down on his head, there is some disincentive for bad behaviour. But
this only works if traceability to real names or high-capital nyms
works. <br>
<br>
A mature NMT economy has this problem but to a higher degree. I
wonder why you just think this is fpr transitional economies?<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Dr Anders Sandberg
Future of Humanity Institute
Oxford Martin School
Oxford University
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