Requirements for a protocol for agent-centric P2P economic networks
Bob Haugen PublicSeen by 117Here's my current definition of agent-centric. I'll explain what I mean by protocol in this list of proposed requirements:
* Must be a protocol
* Must have an openly published specification.
* Any independently-developed software that follow the specification must be able to use the protocol to communicate with other software components that do likewise.
* Must be agent-centric, where agents can be individuals or groups, and each agent must be able to control their own identity, interactions, and data, and select their own software to use, as long as the software follows the protocol.
* Must either use a common economic vocabulary to communicate, or be able to translate their ingoing and outgoing communications into a common vocabulary.
* The protocol itself must be managed as a commons in the Elinor Ostrom sense.
* Must be able to provide reliable local [consensus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consensus_(computer_science) among the participating agents in a scope agreed upon by the participants.
* More on this requirement in a comment.
Some people might disagree with this requirement, but
* I think, at this stage of the evolution of the general intellect, the protocol needs to work on the World Wide Web. Can provide private spaces as needed, but accessible via a Web browser.
There is no single protocol that satisfies all of those requirements at this time.
Several candidate protocols were mentioned and discussed in this previous thread. None of them is adequate by itself. Yet.
If you don't like google docs, here is an open source framapad with the same info, but without all those comments. Altho that doc is also open for comments.
I don't want to repeat all of those arguments here. I want to discuss how to move forward and assemble a protocol that does meet all of those requirements, and any others that people want to propose. At some stage of discussion, I will create a poll or two to allow people to weigh in on the adequacy of the requirements and maybe, if we are lucky, on the proposals for moving forward.
"latching point"
"simplicity of freedom vs scope of power" - "electron to organic molecule"
Forgive a n00b question, but where's the best place to start reading about ActivityPub?
ps. just ordered Lila :) Thanks for the recommendation, @christopher7 !
@stevehuckle
where's the best place to start reading about ActivityPub?
https://activitypub.rocks/
This might also help: https://fediverse.party/
AP was an attempt to standardize a protocol coming from several other protocols mentioned in that diagram. They all more-or-less federate with each other, and some of them have now implemented AP, altho there remains some unhappiness about the standard (as always...)
To continue about AP: in terms of the criteria I listed in the heading, it is a protocol, and several independently-developed apps are using it, and they do now interoperate.
It is not inherently agent-centric, but can easily be made so.
It does work on the Web.
It does not satisfy any of the other criteria. Yet.
Thanks, @bobhaugen
I suggest reading lila to create an out of band communication tool.
doesn't matter, but it's short and not weird, and very specifically on point
Me too! And yes, thanks @christopher7 It's going to be a fun discussion methinks! :-) ;-)
I suggest reading lila to create an out of band communication tool.
What does that mean?
A tool to aid communication, as in the metaphor of it, that is "out of band" as in about a different subject than the core disucussion
A useful metaphor
Be prepared to have your predictions come true
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Here's a scenario that might test whether a distributed P2P protocol and application software could handle the requirements for an economic network: https://github.com/valueflows/valueflows/blob/master/use-cases/who-spoiled-the-yogurt.md
I said in that use case that Holochain could handle the requirements, but I am not yet sure of that. I'm pretty sure that ActivityPub and Scuttlebutt will require some extensions.
ok. I'm on an overnight bus, meetings throw and Saturday... will hope to be around next week.
by "holochain" do you mean what they are describing they are doing, or what they have done?
@christopher7
by "holochain" do you mean what they are describing they are doing, or what they have done?
I mean, we have an active Holochain project in motion, and I will learn more about how it all works and can probably have a better idea of whether they can handle those requirements or not. But your analysis would probably be better.
I just thought it was a sorta fun use case and it had some good examples for ValueFlows and maybe for local "truth telling".
I note, however, that there appears some momentum behind Bloom, the programming language that CALM paper promotes. Indeed, this paper on the subject seems to have attracted a fair degree of interest...