Ever resilient. Butterflies of this type can be found in almost every climate in Palia. Found all around Kilima and Bahari Bay during the morning and day. A specimen so fine it’s fit for display ...

Palia DB | Common Blue Butterfly

(If our Googling is correct) this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly is enjoying a buffet among the echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower) of a Bluffton garden. The gorgeous creature fluttered away at first sight of our photographer, but fluttered back ...

Butterfly buffet

Hawaii’s 30-year ban on butterfly knives was overturned Monday by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals when the three-judge panel ruled that the right to carry the blade was protected by the ...

Court rules butterfly knives protected by Constitution

(CN) — Butterfly knives are protected under the Second Amendment right to bear arms, a Ninth Circuit panel ruled Monday, overturning Hawaii’s 30-year ban on the weapon. The conservative panel cited precedent set by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision ...

Ninth Circuit rules Hawaii butterfly knife ban violates Second Amendment

So the Ninth Circuit held today (Teter v. Lopez), in an opinion by Judge Carlos Bea, joined by Judges Daniel Collins and Kenneth Lee. The butterfly knife, also known as the "balisong," has a ...

Hawaii Butterfly Knife Ban Violates Second Amendment

Often seen in Crossfit workouts, butterfly sit-ups offer a new take on regular sit-ups and crunches. So, when I was asked to do 50 butterfly sit-ups a day, I jumped at the chance. After all, why ...

I did 50 butterfly sit-ups a day for a week — here’s what happened to my abs

On a hot summer day, white clothing feels cooler than other colors due to reflecting—not absorbing—sunlight. Other colors like blue or black, will undergo a heating effect as they absorb light.

Butterfly-inspired films create vibrant colors while passively cooling objects

Good news from The Butterfly Estates: The Fort Myers tourist attraction may have closed its butterfly house last week, but its approximately 400 butterflies all have new homes now. “I’m very ...

Butterfly Estates butterflies find new homes in SW FL after Fort Myers attraction closes

Climate change is causing a migratory butterfly to stay in the UK over winter and abandon its usual flight south, a citizen science project has revealed. The red admiral normally travels up from ...

Climate change driving migratory butterfly to stay in UK

B2Butterfly

b2butterfly

Just Dao It — S01E01 — Flying Butterfly Gods

Nature + Biomimicry + Bitcoin: Mutually Beneficial Partnership

Naturaleza + Biomimetismo + Bitcoin: una alianza mutuamente beneficiosa

Luonto + Biomimikri + Bitcoin: molemminpuolisesti hyödyllinen kumppanuus

प्रकृति + बायोमिमिक्री + बिटकॉइन: पारस्परिक रूप से लाभकारी साझेदारी

Nature + Biomimicry + Bitcoin. փոխշահավետ գործընկերություն

自然 + バイオミミクリー + ビットコイン: 相互に利益のあるパートナーシップ

Nature + Biomimicry + Bitcoin: ორმხრივად მომგებიანი პარტნიორობა

ធម្មជាតិ + Biomimicry + Bitcoin៖ ភាពជាដៃគូដែលមានអត្ថប្រយោជន៍ទៅវិញទៅមក

Natiora + Biomimicry + Bitcoin: Fiaraha-miombon'antoka

Masikirwo + Biomimicry + Bitcoin: Kudyidzana Kunobatsira Kudyidzana

Природа + биомимикрија + биткоин: обострано корисно партнерство

இயற்கை + பயோமிமிக்ரி + பிட்காயின்: பரஸ்பர நன்மை பயக்கும் கூட்டாண்மை

Tabiat + Biomimicry + Bitcoin: O'zaro manfaatli hamkorlik

Sales Pitch Shake-Up: Part Two—The Pitch Hack So Obvious, You’ll Kick Yourself

The above image is a beautiful image of a butterfly meshed in vibrant colors with musical notes all across it. With so much going on in it, what one person sees in it (at least at first) can be very different from another person. A little while ago, I was working on a neural style transfer project. This is one of the images that I used as the style image. However, the resultant image didn’t display as much difference from the original base image as I’d thought. Even so, I gaily showed it to a couple of friends of mine. I asked what they thought of it, and they said that the base image and the butterfly image both had a significant chunk of white in them which was why the color transfer wasn’t obvious. I honestly stared at the image for a couple of minutes before I realized that what they had referred to as the ‘butterfly image’ was in fact my style image. See, the thing that had initially attracted me to the picture was the color explosion in combination with the musical notes and the writings. It was all so electric. But this wasn’t what my friends saw at first glance, and like I said, I didn’t see the butterfly until they pointed it to me even though, from a logical perspective it really should have been. The point of this entire rambling is that people have different perspectives, and when multiple people are working on a project, in order to make it a success, each individual’s perspective and way of thinking should be clear to the rest of the team. This is the definition of coordination in a functional system. Achieving this level of coordination is hard enough face-to-face, but it doubles down on the internet. That, to me, seems to be one of the issues plaguing the decentralization community. What Is a Blockchain Network? I will give a brief overview of what decentralization and blockchain networks are so that everyone can understand my point more clearly. The blockchain is like a ledger that everyone can read - at least if it’s public. If it’s private or semi-public, then you have to be one of the authorized people to be able to view and change anything in the ledger. But even for public blockchains, a transaction performed on it needs to be verified. The more times it is verified, the more its authenticity is assured. The trouble is these verifications require solving complex mathematical problems which, in turn, require vast amounts of computational resources. Moreover, people working on these are individuals who do not, in real life, know each other. They are only connected through their mutual interest in decentralization. Therefore, in order to ascertain cohesive coordination among these individuals to assure the formation of a well-coordinated decentralized system, protocols are established by the network administrators to clarify the vision and mission of the network. Now understandably, most of these networks’ missions and protocols revolve around data privacy and security because from what I’ve been able to understand--courtesy of Google’s Gemini--is that it is completely possible for a group of hackers or cybercriminals to create a private blockchain network of their own where they freely store and share all kinds of hacked data. So clearly, the blockchain still needs some work to rid it of criminal activity. Now, I understand that my example may be a little extreme and that law-enforcement agencies probably have similar sophisticated technologies to counteract these crimes, and things like digital fingerprints exist, as judiciously explained by Gemini. Nevertheless, these are problems that the blockchain community is rightfully interested in resolving. But that leads to another problem: tunnel vision. The Big Picture The blockchain community is a very exclusive community, composed mostly of young, enthusiastic, tech-savvy individuals. However, the idea of data privacy and security is for everyone, not just the techies. So, it is important that this technology is used and understood as much by regular individuals as it is by its developers. Imagine this scenario. A bank manager or administrator of a small, local bank decides that he wants to convert his banking system to a decentralized one to better the security for the bank customers. He hires a young developer to help and guide him through this change. The developer talks to him about authentication codes, verification, mining data, and other resources needed to form an effective blockchain network. The manager--even if he is relatively young--will probably understand that the system access should be limited to a few trusted individuals, and maybe a little bit more. However, unless he himself is a computer scientist--unlikely in the case of a bank manager--it’s doubtful that he will understand the whole concept of decentralization. But the tipping point would be the computational costs required. Remember, the bank is a small, local bank with a limited budget and resources. When you add this to the fact that the manager may or may not have completely understood how the system works, the odds that the bank will end up installing an effective decentralized system are slim. The Gaps One of the main issues stopping decentralization from becoming a global phenomenon is the lack of suitable hardware, closely followed by inadequate education for the masses. My neural style transfer project was actually not the project I’d originally meant to do. Instead, I had intended to create a Generative AI project using transfer learning to make a GAN algorithm create some new images. My dataset--which was composed of the works of lesser-known artists--wasn’t a very big one, so I knew that it was possible that the end result may not be as novel as it would have been with a bigger dataset. But what I hadn’t realized was that even with that small dataset the time, space, and computation required would be so enormous that, for my purposes, it would be better if I switched to a slightly different type of algorithm. That’s kind of my point. I use a regular laptop for most of my work, and for the most part, even for other A.I. projects, it’s usually enough. But it seems that for projects that require any kind of ‘generation’--even to a small extent--this can be a very big problem. In my case, it wasn’t that big of a deal since it was more of a personal project than anything else, but for the task of providing privacy and security to the clients of a bank, this may be a bigger issue because while their computational resources may be better than my tiny, lonely laptop, it’s still unlikely to have the computational power even remotely resembling that which is necessary for maintaining blockchain networks. Furthermore, the blockchain community really needs to understand that most people in positions responsible for the privacy and security of organizations are at the very least in their forties. Even if they are younger, they’re probably not very aware of how decentralization systems work which is understandable given its complexity. One of the reasons that social media platforms are so universally popular across all demographics is that aside from knowing what a few essential buttons do, people don’t need to know very much about it. This is especially so in cases of individuals over the age of 60, and while your average bank manager may not be 60, he/she isn’t going to be 20 or even 30 either. Conclusion There is a lot of money being spent on making decentralized systems more reliable and eco-friendly, but maybe what is necessary is some of that money to also be spent on creating hardware that is not so costly and on educating individuals, i.e., marketing according to their demographic and positions in life. I mean, I can use my social media account from any phone and the phone needn’t be a good quality one, or even a new one. As long as the wifi and my app work, I don’t need anything else. All in all, ensuring online coordination requires in and of itself an extensive system. If you’re only looking at the shape of the butterfly then you’re missing the colors and beauty associated with it, and if you only look at the colors, you might end up missing the main thing. So, maybe what the blockchain and decentralization community needs right now for optimal coordination and cooperation are not just networks that focus on increasing privacy and security but instead a system of network of networks, where one network may be responsible for ensuring privacy and security, the other for hardware, and still other which works on marketing and educating plans for the masses all connected towards one unified goal. In this way, privacy and security will no longer be just a catchphrase for the tech-savvy but an asset utilized by everyone. The above image is a beautiful image of a butterfly meshed in vibrant colors with musical notes all across it. With so much going on in it, what one person sees in it (at least at first) can be very different from another person. A little while ago, I was working on a neural style transfer project. This is one of the images that I used as the style image. However, the resultant image didn’t display as much difference from the original base image as I’d thought. Even so, I gaily showed it to a couple of friends of mine. I asked what they thought of it, and they said that the base image and the butterfly image both had a significant chunk of white in them which was why the color transfer wasn’t obvious. I honestly stared at the image for a couple of minutes before I realized that what they had referred to as the ‘butterfly image’ was in fact my style image. See, the thing that had initially attracted me to the picture was the color explosion in combination with the musical notes and the writings. It was all so electric. But this wasn’t what my friends saw at first glance, and like I said, I didn’t see the butterfly until they pointed it to me even though, from a logical perspective it really should have been. The point of this entire rambling is that people have different perspectives, and when multiple people are working on a project, in order to make it a success, each individual’s perspective and way of thinking should be clear to the rest of the team. This is the definition of coordination in a functional system. Achieving this level of coordination is hard enough face-to-face, but it doubles down on the internet. That, to me, seems to be one of the issues plaguing the decentralization community. What Is a Blockchain Network? I will give a brief overview of what decentralization and blockchain networks are so that everyone can understand my point more clearly. The blockchain is like a ledger that everyone can read - at least if it’s public. If it’s private or semi-public, then you have to be one of the authorized people to be able to view and change anything in the ledger. But even for public blockchains, a transaction performed on it needs to be verified. The more times it is verified, the more its authenticity is assured. The trouble is these verifications require solving complex mathematical problems which, in turn, require vast amounts of computational resources. Moreover, people working on these are individuals who do not, in real life, know each other. They are only connected through their mutual interest in decentralization. Therefore, in order to ascertain cohesive coordination among these individuals to assure the formation of a well-coordinated decentralized system, protocols are established by the network administrators to clarify the vision and mission of the network. Now understandably, most of these networks’ missions and protocols revolve around data privacy and security because from what I’ve been able to understand--courtesy of Google’s Gemini--is that it is completely possible for a group of hackers or cybercriminals to create a private blockchain network of their own where they freely store and share all kinds of hacked data. So clearly, the blockchain still needs some work to rid it of criminal activity. Now, I understand that my example may be a little extreme and that law-enforcement agencies probably have similar sophisticated technologies to counteract these crimes, and things like digital fingerprints exist, as judiciously explained by Gemini. Nevertheless, these are problems that the blockchain community is rightfully interested in resolving. But that leads to another problem: tunnel vision. The Big Picture The blockchain community is a very exclusive community, composed mostly of young, enthusiastic, tech-savvy individuals. However, the idea of data privacy and security is for everyone, not just the techies. So, it is important that this technology is used and understood as much by regular individuals as it is by its developers. Imagine this scenario. A bank manager or administrator of a small, local bank decides that he wants to convert his banking system to a decentralized one to better the security for the bank customers. He hires a young developer to help and guide him through this change. The developer talks to him about authentication codes, verification, mining data, and other resources needed to form an effective blockchain network. The manager--even if he is relatively young--will probably understand that the system access should be limited to a few trusted individuals, and maybe a little bit more. However, unless he himself is a computer scientist--unlikely in the case of a bank manager--it’s doubtful that he will understand the whole concept of decentralization. But the tipping point would be the computational costs required. Remember, the bank is a small, local bank with a limited budget and resources. When you add this to the fact that the manager may or may not have completely understood how the system works, the odds that the bank will end up installing an effective decentralized system are slim. The Gaps One of the main issues stopping decentralization from becoming a global phenomenon is the lack of suitable hardware, closely followed by inadequate education for the masses. My neural style transfer project was actually not the project I’d originally meant to do. Instead, I had intended to create a Generative AI project using transfer learning to make a GAN algorithm create some new images. My dataset--which was composed of the works of lesser-known artists--wasn’t a very big one, so I knew that it was possible that the end result may not be as novel as it would have been with a bigger dataset. But what I hadn’t realized was that even with that small dataset the time, space, and computation required would be so enormous that, for my purposes, it would be better if I switched to a slightly different type of algorithm. That’s kind of my point. I use a regular laptop for most of my work, and for the most part, even for other A.I. projects, it’s usually enough. But it seems that for projects that require any kind of ‘generation’--even to a small extent--this can be a very big problem. In my case, it wasn’t that big of a deal since it was more of a personal project than anything else, but for the task of providing privacy and security to the clients of a bank, this may be a bigger issue because while their computational resources may be better than my tiny, lonely laptop, it’s still unlikely to have the computational power even remotely resembling that which is necessary for maintaining blockchain networks. Furthermore, the blockchain community really needs to understand that most people in positions responsible for the privacy and security of organizations are at the very least in their forties. Even if they are younger, they’re probably not very aware of how decentralization systems work which is understandable given its complexity. One of the reasons that social media platforms are so universally popular across all demographics is that aside from knowing what a few essential buttons do, people don’t need to know very much about it. This is especially so in cases of individuals over the age of 60, and while your average bank manager may not be 60, he/she isn’t going to be 20 or even 30 either. Conclusion Conclusion There is a lot of money being spent on making decentralized systems more reliable and eco-friendly, but maybe what is necessary is some of that money to also be spent on creating hardware that is not so costly and on educating individuals, i.e., marketing according to their demographic and positions in life. I mean, I can use my social media account from any phone and the phone needn’t be a good quality one, or even a new one. As long as the wifi and my app work, I don’t need anything else. All in all, ensuring online coordination requires in and of itself an extensive system. If you’re only looking at the shape of the butterfly then you’re missing the colors and beauty associated with it, and if you only look at the colors, you might end up missing the main thing. So, maybe what the blockchain and decentralization community needs right now for optimal coordination and cooperation are not just networks that focus on increasing privacy and security but instead a system of network of networks, where one network may be responsible for ensuring privacy and security, the other for hardware, and still other which works on marketing and educating plans for the masses all connected towards one unified goal. In this way, privacy and security will no longer be just a catchphrase for the tech-savvy but an asset utilized by everyone.

What Is Your Perspective?

Author:
(1) Andrew Knight, J.D. (aknight@alum.mit.edu). Table of Links I. Introduction II. Pseudoscience III. Unidentified Assumption IV. False Assumption V. Objection VI. Conclusion and References III. UNIDENTIFIED ASSUMPTION In nearly every account of time travel in which some aspect of the past is changed, it is implicitly assumed that a corresponding or commensurate change would occur to the present. Certainly, chaotic amplification – i.e., the so-called “butterfly effect” – would likely yield larger and more unexpected changes to the present than we might hope.[3] Still, it is tempting to believe that changes to the present depend only on changes to the past, and the magnitude of changes to the present would be commensurate with the magnitude of changes to the past. For example, the so-called grandfather (aka matricide) paradox, in which a time traveler kills one of his ancestors, is widely regarded as a physical limitation to the possibility of time travel. Further, because of the sensitivity of nonlinear dynamics to the precision of initial conditions, it is often (though not always) recognized that even seemingly insignificant changes to the past could result in temporal paradoxes. Hawking [9], among others, asserted that such a paradox can be resolved, and the possibility of time travel into the past maintained, as long as “when you did go back [in time], you wouldn’t be able to change recorded history.” Indeed, if Eq. 1 is correct, then a hopeful time traveler might simply plan to travel back in time and make as few changes as possible – ideally zero changes – to prevent the possibility of changes to the present (including any accompanying time paradox). After all, even the tiniest measurable change to the past might chaotically amplify – a la the grandfather paradox – in a way that prevents the time traveler from choosing to time travel, or even from existing. In other words, if the hopeful time traveler could be certain to make exactly no changes to the past, then he would presumably be guaranteed no changes to the present. Is this notion tenable? No. First, being present in any form in the past requires making physical changes that would chaotically amplify over time. Even passive observation requires the absorption of photons by one’s retinas. It is hard to imagine how one might time travel into the past and perceive any aspect of that experience without interacting in some physical form with his surroundings, and these interactions would necessarily influence the future. Second, as I will argue below, Eq. 1 is false. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY 4.0 Deed license. [3] Indeed, changing the initial conditions of three gargantuan black holes by an amount smaller than the Planck length would still, given enough time, render their evolutions entirely unpredictable [13]. Author: (1) Andrew Knight, J.D. (aknight@alum.mit.edu). Author: Author: (1) Andrew Knight, J.D. (aknight@alum.mit.edu). Table of Links I. Introduction I. Introduction II. Pseudoscience II. Pseudoscience III. Unidentified Assumption III. Unidentified Assumption IV. False Assumption IV. False Assumption V. Objection V. Objection VI. Conclusion and References VI. Conclusion and References III. UNIDENTIFIED ASSUMPTION In nearly every account of time travel in which some aspect of the past is changed, it is implicitly assumed that a corresponding or commensurate change would occur to the present. Certainly, chaotic amplification – i.e., the so-called “butterfly effect” – would likely yield larger and more unexpected changes to the present than we might hope.[3] Still, it is tempting to believe that changes to the present depend only on changes to the past, and the magnitude of changes to the present would be commensurate with the magnitude of changes to the past. For example, the so-called grandfather (aka matricide) paradox, in which a time traveler kills one of his ancestors, is widely regarded as a physical limitation to the possibility of time travel. Further, because of the sensitivity of nonlinear dynamics to the precision of initial conditions, it is often (though not always) recognized that even seemingly insignificant changes to the past could result in temporal paradoxes. Hawking [9], among others, asserted that such a paradox can be resolved, and the possibility of time travel into the past maintained, as long as “when you did go back [in time], you wouldn’t be able to change recorded history.” Indeed, if Eq. 1 is correct, then a hopeful time traveler might simply plan to travel back in time and make as few changes as possible – ideally zero changes – to prevent the possibility of changes to the present (including any accompanying time paradox). After all, even the tiniest measurable change to the past might chaotically amplify – a la the grandfather paradox – in a way that prevents the time traveler from choosing to time travel, or even from existing. In other words, if the hopeful time traveler could be certain to make exactly no changes to the past, then he would presumably be guaranteed no changes to the present. Is this notion tenable? No. First, being present in any form in the past requires making physical changes that would chaotically amplify over time. Even passive observation requires the absorption of photons by one’s retinas. It is hard to imagine how one might time travel into the past and perceive any aspect of that experience without interacting in some physical form with his surroundings, and these interactions would necessarily influence the future. Second, as I will argue below, Eq. 1 is false. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY 4.0 Deed license. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY 4.0 Deed license. available on arxiv [3] Indeed, changing the initial conditions of three gargantuan black holes by an amount smaller than the Planck length would still, given enough time, render their evolutions entirely unpredictable [13].

The Myth of Commensurate Change: Why Altering the Past Doesn’t Guarantee Controlled Outcomes

The Anti-Luck, Decision Making Framework: Mastering the Art of Making Smart Choices

ভাগ্য বিরোধী, সিদ্ধান্ত নেওয়ার কাঠামো: স্মার্ট পছন্দ করার শিল্পে দক্ষতা অর্জন

Das Anti-Glück-Framework zur Entscheidungsfindung: Die Kunst meistern, kluge Entscheidungen zu treffen

El marco de toma de decisiones anti-suerte: dominar el arte de tomar decisiones inteligentes

Le cadre de prise de décision anti-chance : maîtriser l’art de faire des choix intelligents

भाग्य-विरोधी, निर्णय लेने का ढाँचा: स्मार्ट विकल्प बनाने की कला में निपुणता

運に左右されない意思決定フレームワーク: 賢い選択をする技術を習得する

행운 방지, 의사 결정 프레임워크: 현명한 선택을 하는 기술 익히기

A estrutura anti-sorte para tomada de decisões: dominando a arte de fazer escolhas inteligentes

Система принятия решений против удачи: освоение искусства принятия разумных решений

Şans Karşıtı Karar Verme Çerçevesi: Akıllı Seçimler Yapma Sanatında Ustalaşmak

Khung ra quyết định, chống may mắn: Nắm vững nghệ thuật đưa ra lựa chọn thông minh

反运气决策框架：掌握做出明智选择的艺术

Newton’s Laws in Society: How Social Forces Move Physical Bodies

সমাজে নিউটনের আইন: সামাজিক শক্তিগুলি কীভাবে শারীরিক দেহগুলিকে স্থানান্তরিত করে

Newtons Gesetze in der Gesellschaft: Wie soziale Kräfte physische Körper bewegen

Las leyes de Newton en la sociedad: cómo las fuerzas sociales mueven los cuerpos físicos

Les lois de Newton dans la société : comment les forces sociales déplacent les corps physiques

समाज में न्यूटन के नियम: सामाजिक शक्तियां भौतिक निकायों को कैसे स्थानांतरित करती हैं

社会におけるニュートンの法則: 社会力がどのように物体を動かすか

뉴턴의 사회 법칙: 사회적 힘이 육체를 움직이는 방법

As Leis de Newton na Sociedade: Como as Forças Sociais Movem os Corpos Físicos

Законы Ньютона в обществе: как социальные силы движут физическими телами

Newton'un Toplumdaki Yasaları: Sosyal Güçler Fiziksel Bedenleri Nasıl Hareket Eder?

Định luật Newton trong xã hội: Các lực lượng xã hội di chuyển cơ thể vật chất như thế nào

社会中的牛顿定律：社会力量如何移动身体

Startups of The Year 2023 Winners: North America 

This paper is under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 DEED license. available on arxiv Authors: (1) H. Wen, Department of Economics, University of Bath; (2) T. Huang, Faculty of Business and Law, University of Roehampton; (3) D. Xiao, School of Mathematical Sciences. Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Relevant Blockchain Technologies Basic Model Advanced Models for Real-World Scenarios Monte Carlo Simulations Conclusions Future Investigations, and References Abstract In the era of digital markets, the challenge for consumers is discerning quality amidst information asymmetry. While traditional markets use brand mechanisms to address this issue, transferring such systems to internet-based P2P markets—where misleading practices like fake ratings are rampant—remains challenging. Current internet platforms strive to counter this through verification algorithms, but these efforts find themselves in a continuous tug-of-war with counterfeit actions. Exploiting the transparency, immutability, and traceability of blockchain technology, this paper introduces a robust reputation voting system grounded in it. Unlike existing blockchain-based reputation systems, our model harnesses an intrinsically economically incentivized approach to bolster agent integrity. We optimize this model to mirror real-world user behavior, preserving the reputation system’s foundational sustainability. Through Monte-Carlo simulations, using both uniform and power-law distributions enabled by an innovative inverse transform method, we traverse a broad parameter landscape, replicating real-world complexity. The findings underscore the promise of a sustainable, transparent, and formidable reputation mechanism. Given its structure, our framework can potentially function as a universal, sustainable oracle for offchain-onchain bridging, aiding entities in perpetually cultivating their reputation. Future integration with technologies like Ring Signature and Zero Knowledge Proof could amplify the system’s privacy facets, rendering it particularly influential in the ever-evolving digital domain. Keywords: blockchain, reputation system, sustainable oracle, agent, credit point, integrity-driven rating, incentive mechanisms, Monte-Carlo simulation 1. Introduction Information asymmetry [1] introduces challenges for consumers trying to select products or services that best fit their needs. In traditional retail markets, consumers gravitate towards brands they trust based on personal experiences, the experiences of others, or advertisements [2]. Each brand embodies a certain value that can be monetized in open markets. Offering products or services that fall short of their targeted consumers’ expectations can diminish this brand value. These brand mechanisms [3] serve to benefit both consumers and producers in retail and even broader traditional market sectors [4]. With the increased convenience and diversity they provide, online products and services are becoming the preferred choice for many consumers. A notable trend in this domain is the rise of third-party P2P offerings on internet platforms [5]. This rapidly growing sector includes a wide array of services. Modern internet platforms such as Amazon, eBay, Taobao, Anyvan, ClickMechanic, and Mybuilder have transformed the way third-party service providers engage with consumers. Essentially, these platforms enable vendors to showcase their products or services, allowing customers to easily browse, compare, and purchase. Central to these operations is the role of customer reviews. A high number of positive reviews can significantly boost the attractiveness of a vendor, influencing other potential customers’ purchasing decisions. Conversely, negative reviews can deter future sales. This significant influence has, however, paved the way for manipulative tactics. The prevalence of deceptive practices, such as fake ratings and click farming, is notably higher online compared to traditional markets [6, 7, 8]. For instance, some vendors might engage in ’review farming,’ where they either purchase their products to leave positive reviews or hire individuals to write misleadingly favorable reviews for them. On the darker side, there might be instances of vendors leaving malicious negative reviews for competitors to tarnish their reputation. Hence, the establishment of reliable brand mechanisms presents substantial challenges. Given this scenario, verifying authentic consumer actions and crafting efficient reputation mechanisms become critical. While online platforms have the capability to employ algorithms to filter genuine from deceptive actions, thus allowing third-party producers to construct a legitimate reputation, the efficacy of such methods remains questionable. A persistent tension exists between the deceptive maneuvers of some third-party producers and the countermeasures introduced by platform verification algorithms. This dynamic essentially forms a cyclical battle. Present solutions might demand trade-offs, potentially compromising user privacy or other desirable attributes [9]. While machine learning offers a promising avenue [10], its implementation requires either an initial training phase with assured genuine user data or a substantial development period before it becomes truly effective. The advent of blockchain technology, pioneered by Satoshi Nakamoto [11], and augmented by Nick Szabo’s concept of the smart contract [12]—brought to fruition by Vitalik Buterin through Ethereum in 2014 [13]—has paved the way for innovative on-chain reputation systems.[1] Oracles play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between the real-world and blockchain technology, as they provide the crucial link by which off-chain data can be accessed and utilized by on-chain smart contracts. This function is imperative given that blockchains natively cannot access information outside their network. In 2017, Chainlink introduced its oracle mechanism [14], significantly amplifying the capabilities of decentralized systems. Its renowned use-case for price feeds laid the foundation for the blossoming of Decentralized Finance [15, 16]. Essentially, oracles act as third-party intermediaries, relaying external data to smart contracts. Chainlink’s decentralized oracle network assures the authenticity and integrity of data relayed into the blockchain. This is achieved by sourcing data from a plethora of independent oracles and consolidating their responses, mitigating risks associated with singular data points and enhancing the reliability and security of smart contracts dependent on external data. Yet, the functioning of these oracles primarily relies on incentive mechanisms, most notably vesting incentives—taking, for instance, the native asset ”Link” transitioning from non-circulation to circulation. Over a period, these incentives might have the potential to dilute the value for all participants. As the pool of these rewards nears depletion, apprehensions about the system’s enduring viability come to the fore. Successive enhancements, like Chainlink 2.0 [17], along with other contemporary solutions, have endeavored to surmount this challenge. Nonetheless, their effectiveness is a subject of continued discussion. While these refined models and strategies demonstrate potential, their ability to maintain prolonged and unwavering effectiveness remains under examination [18]. Hence, forging a truly sustainable oracle infrastructure becomes essential to fortifying the link between the real-world and blockchain technology. Recent studies have illuminated various dimensions of blockchain technology, notably the blockchainbased reputation systems [19, 20]. While these endeavors are commendable, some of them appear more theoretical and might encounter challenges when catering to all dynamic agent[2] interactions. Others have opted for centralized selection of trusted nodes, potentially introducing vulnerabilities associated with single points of failure [21, 22, 23, 24]. Mechanisms aiming to emulate real-world settings sometimes lean on intricate processes for identifying agent types and monitoring their on-chain activities. These processes occasionally overshadow more direct incentive mechanisms that have demonstrated spontaneous efficacy [25]. Some proposed economic incentive structures seem to lean on increasing blockchain asset ”numbers”, which might be susceptible to dilution over time [26], instead of furnishing concrete advantages. As mechanism designs grow in complexity, they might inadvertently elevate intervention costs or introduce unpredictabilities. Relying heavily on uncertainties akin to those proposed by chaos theory [27]—inspired by the renowned ”Butterfly Effect” [28]—might tread on delicate ground. While there appear to be promising solutions, such as ”Truth” [29]—a blockchain-aided reputation system aimed at obviating the need to trust e-commerce platforms and ensuring feedback authenticity and anonymity—the system is not without its potential shortcomings. ”Truth” introduces a hybrid model wherein the centralized e-commerce platform remains in charge of traditional trading services, but the blockchain oversees the authentication of feedback. Although ”Truth” presents an innovative approach to the age-old problem of authenticating e-commerce feedback, certain aspects warrant deeper scrutiny. For example, the paper does not adequately address the motivations that would drive consumers to engage in the feedback process. Understanding these incentives is vital for ensuring widespread adoption and sincere feedback. Furthermore, the system seems to overlook potential malicious behaviors by sellers, such as posting negative feedback against competitors or hiring fictitious consumers to generate positive reviews. While transactions may take place through the prescribed channels, there is a potential for compensating these ”hired” consumers via alternative methods, thereby circumventing the system’s safeguards. For ”Truth” to fully realize its potential and to demonstrate its effectiveness in real-world settings, these concerns need to be addressed in future versions or research Given these challenges, there’s merit in exploring a more streamlined, basic model that inherently incentivizes agent behavior integrity and fosters sustainability [30, 31, 32, 33, 34]. Initial evaluations of this model could employ Monte-Carlo simulations across vast parameter domains, capturing real-world intricacies. It’s essential to note that this rudimentary model need not capture every intricate detail of real-world scenarios. A basic reputation system, even if it offers only a singular credibility rating, can be invaluable in myriad applications. This value is realized when the reputation information it delivers is accurate and trustworthy, allowing users to rely on it rather than turning to other platforms that struggle to filter out low-cost fake ratings, as previously discussed. Building upon a well-defined basic model foundation allows for iteration and enhancement. By integrating corrective components to the foundational equations, we can preserve core incentives while refining the model towards an everlasting reputation system to mirror real-world scenarios more accurately. Ensuring this model’s competitive advantage over other platforms or blockchain solutions amplifies its resilience and sustainability. This strategy not only highlights the model’s practical utility but, as adoption grows, leverages the network effect. Widespread integration of our system fortifies commercial barriers against replication, making it increasingly arduous for potential competitors to emulate our unique model and its benefits. While the applications of the everlasting reputation system continue to expand across various domains and demographics, this system can function as a sustainable oracle network with demonstrated reliability. The integration of Ring Signatures [35, 36, 37, 38, 39] and Zero Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) [40, 41, 42] can further enhance the privacy dimensions of such oracle mechanisms, especially in situations where privacy is paramount. Ring Signatures allow for digital signature from a group member without disclosing the identity of the specific signer. ZKPs represent an advanced cryptographic technique enabling agents to substantiate certain claims (like their assets or states) without disclosing the specifics. The structure of this paper is organized as follows: Section 2 introduces the relevant blockchain technologies. Following this, the basic model is presented in Section 3, which lays the foundation for understanding the incentive mechanisms that promote self-motivated integrity among agents. We then refine this basic model in Section 4 to mirror real-world scenarios more closely, ensuring that the incentives for integrity-driven ratings are preserved. After building a robust theoretical base, Section 5 uses Monte Carlo simulations to validate our propositions, followed by a detailed analysis and discussion of the results. Our findings from the simulations are summarized in Section 6, where we underscore that our reputation system functions effectively as a universal sustainable oracle. Finally, potential directions for future research are proposed in Section 7. [1] In our model, the term ”reputation system” is used generically to denote the alternative solution we propose. However, in practical application scenarios, it might also be referred to as a ”platform.” The two terms can be used interchangeably. [2] In our model, we employ the term ”agent” to represent entities involved in the system. Conversely, in real-world application scenarios, we refer to them as ”users”. Throughout this paper, the term ”agent” is used in the context of the model while ”user” is employed in the context of real-world applications. Both terms can be considered interchangeable in many scenarios.

Introducing an Intrinsic Integrity-Driven Rating Model for a Sustainable Reputation
System

একটি টেকসই খ্যাতির জন্য একটি অন্তর্নিহিত সততা-চালিত রেটিং মডেল প্রবর্তন করা হচ্ছে
পদ্ধতি

Einführung eines intrinsischen, integritätsorientierten Bewertungsmodells für eine nachhaltige Reputation
System

Presentación de un modelo de calificación basado en la integridad intrínseca para una reputación sostenible
Sistema

Présentation d’un modèle de notation intrinsèque axé sur l’intégrité pour une réputation durable
Système

स्थायी प्रतिष्ठा के लिए एक आंतरिक अखंडता-संचालित रेटिंग मॉडल का परिचय
प्रणाली

持続可能な評判を実現するための本質的な誠実性を重視した評価モデルの導入
システム

지속 가능한 평판을 위한 본질적인 청렴도 중심 평가 모델 도입
체계

Apresentando um modelo de classificação baseado na integridade intrínseca para uma reputação sustentável
Sistema

Представляем внутреннюю рейтинговую модель, основанную на честности, для устойчивой репутации
Система

Sürdürülebilir Bir İtibar için İçsel Dürüstlük Odaklı Derecelendirme Modelinin Tanıtılması
Sistem

Giới thiệu Mô hình xếp hạng dựa trên tính chính trực nội tại để có được danh tiếng bền vững
Hệ thống

引入内在诚信驱动的评级模型以实现可持续的声誉
系统

I despise Christmas. The city becomes like a pestering showroom, seemingly designed to provoke me. Flaunting what they have: Christmas trees, gifts, loving families gathering around the tree once a year like in the movies. I once had a family too—a beautiful wife and a lovely daughter. But I screwed it up... My wife left and took our daughter with her. They might be living in England now. I know nothing about them. I can't even be angry; after all, I was the one who drove them away. Since then, Christmas for me has been about loneliness. About how people constantly remind me of what I've lost. But this Christmas will be different. This year, I'll have a tree too. I will be the tree. I've picked out a sturdy roof beam. That's where I'll hang myself. I thought it would be easier, but I've realized that this actually requires the most courage. Being suicidal isn't simple. So, I jumped down to the store for a bottle of whiskey, to drink up some bravery one last time. The street was completely deserted. There was no sign of life, except for that one convenience store where I finally managed to get some booze. I paid for it; the cashier wished me a Merry Christmas. I just shrugged and walked out the door. Why not start drinking right now? I opened the bottle and took a big swig. The whiskey scraped its way down my throat, and then became a warmth in my stomach, which felt particularly good on this cold winter night. After a few sips, when my steps began to wobble, I decided to stop for a moment to relieve myself. That's when I noticed the homeless person on the street corner. He wore tattered white clothes, possibly burlap. Maybe he stole it from a nearby nativity scene. The light played a strange game on his body as if he was glowing. Or maybe it was just my eyes playing tricks, which wouldn't be surprising after downing half a bottle of whiskey in about fifteen minutes. Come, buddy, sit with me. — he called out. Why not, after all? I'm not in such a hurry to hang myself that I can't spare a few minutes for a half-crazed man. Want some? — I offered him the whiskey. The homeless man just nodded, then took a sip of the whiskey. That's when it hit me where I recognized this face from. No, not an old friend. The last time I saw him was in the church. A very long time ago, when I still went to such places. It was Jesus himself sitting next to me, looking exactly as he was depicted in the church. I sat there with the most influential man in the world on an empty street, sharing a bottle of whiskey. He seemed so real, but I knew it couldn't be true. For a few moments, I just stared blankly, then he broke the silence. I know what you're thinking. You think all of this isn't real. That you've gone mad and your mind is playing tricks on you. But that's nonsensical. If I'm merely a product of your mind, anything you do to prove the contrary will be unsuccessful. You can't deceive your own mind. I could say I know everything about you, but that wouldn’t prove anything; if I'm just a figment of your imagination, you obviously can't ask a question I wouldn't know the answer to. Was the shopkeeper real? Or even this whiskey? How can you know if anything is real beyond yourself? And God? What about God? — I didn’t really understand his point, but I thought discussing God would be a good start in a conversation with Jesus. If everything is just a creation of your mind, then you are God, right?! If I am God, why is my life so miserable? Because you made it that way. And if I die, does everything end? Death is overrated. If you're a butterfly in your dream and someone steps on you, do you mourn the butterfly? You just wake up. Maybe ponder for a bit about what it was like, then start a new dream. So, I'm sitting here with Jesus himself, and you're suggesting I should commit suicide? Jesus? Why do you call me that? What should I call you? Last time you called me Arnold. Arnold? Yes, Arnold, your personal assistant. Personal assistant? Yes. That's the protocol. If you stray too far off the path, you can choose to start a new life or roll back the current one. I’m a bit confused. Can you explain all this clearly? Oh, sure. In the 2050s, human technology reached the singularity. People continue to live in digital form. Great. So, you're a time traveler? Not at all. I'm just a second-generation AI. Second generation? Yes. Humans are the first generation, and artificial intelligence based on the first generation is the second. So, you're some kind of robot? Now I'm starting to understand the Arnold name. A time-traveling robot from the future. Just like the Terminator... — I said, laughing, because this all started to seem very frivolous. Not exactly. Currently, a computer is running your mind, which includes me and all other people. Essentially, you are just a part of your own larger mind. It's hard to explain in a way that you would understand, but at a higher level, we are all one entity. I see. We are God, experiencing a massive split in consciousness. Something like that. The computer running us orbits the Earth with millions of similar machines. The machines are powered by the sun and arranged in a spherical formation around the planet. Nanomachines continuously transform the Earth so that dumb matter becomes smart matter. So, everything around us isn't real? It depends on how you define reality. Currently, it's 2019. If we reach 2050, humanity will likely achieve singularity and move into simulated worlds. From that perspective, this will be reality; from here, the outer world is. But who knows if the outer world is the ultimate objective reality? This is starting to give me a headache, but I still don't understand why you're here. To offer you the choice. A new life, or a rollback? What's a rollback? Before you created this personality, you set a path that you must follow. Why? Why not just enjoy omnipotence? Because it's boring. If you irrevocably stray from the path, you have the option to return to an earlier point and continue from there. It's like a backup of your mind at a specific state. Since your mind reverts to an earlier state, you won't remember what happened afterward. So that's how fate works? Yes. You feel as if a series of random decisions guide your path. Everything seems to lead in one direction. But that's only because we roll back the bad decisions. If something is meant to happen, it will, and you can't prevent it. If you tried, something random would always interfere. At least that's how you would experience it, since every time you managed to prevent an event, the system would roll back. In a mostly deterministic world, randomness is God's only tool. If the world is deterministic, how can anything happen by chance? It's like quantum mechanics. Exciting things happen when no one is watching. The slice of reality that no one is aware of is God's territory. Here happen the big things that people just shrug off as random. So, you came to ask if I'd rather reincarnate or go back in time to correct my mistakes? You could say that. At that point, I took a big gulp of whiskey. Then I want my family back. That last gulp might have been unnecessary. I started to feel dizzy, and the world became increasingly blurry. Finally, everything melted away… I felt a pressure on my chest. Slowly, I opened my eyes and stretched widely. A fire flickered in the fireplace, and Katy, my little girl, was sitting on my stomach. Daddy, daddy! Santa has come. Let’s open the presents! I clambered out of bed and rubbed my eyes. Under the ceiling-high tree, the presents were already laid out. Annie had taken care of everything, and let me sleep until this little imp jumped on my stomach. By the time I came to my senses, Katy was already unwrapping the gifts, then suddenly stopped for a moment and turned towards me. Daddy, didn’t Santa bring you anything? Oh yes, my little girl, he did. I watched Katy unwrap the presents, and a feeling of otherworldly joy washed over me. This is my gift. I had forgotten how much I adore Christmas. If you are confused, read my very first article on HackerNoon: https://hackernoon.com/our-universe-is-a-massive-neural-network-heres-why-c14j3ze1 I wish you a very merry Christmas!

A Christmas Story (After the Technological Singularity)

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