Consensus: A Social Technology 🤝

Many Bitcoiners will hear "consensus" and think about the blockchain but "consensus" is also a social technology. It doesn't just happen between nodes it also happens between people, but with people it looks and feels a lot different.

Consensus decision making has a lineage that far predates blockchain technology. It includes human deliberation and dialogue while maximizing voices. It is not a majority vote. It functions to allow for all the opinions in the room to be in dialogue until consensus is found. It is typical, in a trustful system, that there would be no dissent. Dissent is more of an emergency function. It's like if you have a small fire and you're able to put it out on your own; you wouldn't break open the box hanging in the hallway with the big fire extinguisher in it if you had already stomped out the fire with you foot. You reserve that box for the worst case scenario. The dialogue can function to put out small fires; to address any concerns coming up from members of the community.

Dissent is an important emergency function because with the option to dissent there is a container of safety. If there is a proposal that feels so wrong and you can't articulate why you you can dissent to make sure it doesn't pass. But this is not supposed to be common.

Click here to read more from harold.btc on The Physics of Consensus and using indigenous design to shape and protect our consensus governance protocols Stacks Advocates Update: Bottom Up CBE Sustainability.

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