Ali's Journal

I prefer not to write about certain things in this blog, but it seems I should today. I’m aware that hiring freelancers in Iran is risky. Whoever I approach here turns out to be in some ways unusual. Being aware of the risk, I will hire a freelancer via an Iranian website. I’ll talk with him online during the project to see if he has anything to say. It’s good to know people. I did it once before and I’ll do it again.

The project will be based on Wiki.js and Vanilla. I’ll ask him to tell me exactly which parts have been modified so I can change the code myself. So I won’t use the code he sends me.

UPDATE 1:

I said all I had to say and it seems now other developers should be contacted. It’s a good idea if students work on the platform. For that, I should contact a prof so they refer me to other people. I really hope I get a reply this time.

The first version isn’t difficult. Each entry (or paragraph) is a block containing a forum. So there is no social media in this version, it will be added later. As mentioned before, scalability is not an issue in the first version. The next version will be developed from scratch with scalability in mind. So this is the test version.

Tomorrow I’ll have an online meeting with a developer. The first version will probably take around a month. Meanwhile, I’ll work on some articles.

UPDATE 1:

This will change the reference mechanism in research. It is possible to refer to a specific version of a block. It was suggested that different versions of an article be organised as a blockchain. Authors of different versions (of a block for example) might be different (it means the main author of a version might be different from the main author of a different version). However, the strategy game elements will be added later.

UPDATE 2:

The freelancer said it would take 20 days. The timing is calculated by others and carries no meaning.

UPDATE 3:

I think it’s better to hire freelancers from India or somewhere else.

The Wiki-based social media (where posts are articles) is aligned with ideas explained in submissions to Founders. It makes it harder to spread fake news because the history of each article is clear and contributors are also verifiable.

Wiki.js seems to be a good option. The only thing that should be modified is the dynamic rule sheets that can be modified. So permissions and weights are constantly changed in a game-like format.

This project is based on green ideas and aims to bring together global green activists.

UPDATE 1:

I read a book a while ago called Spatial Web. It discussed multi-dimensional content where a building for example can be turned into web content using IOT. This can be achieved by expanding the concept of “article” where networked social gatherings, etc. are articles too.

UPDATE 2:

It was said before that the governance model is set by the content creator, but since weight is being updated constantly new contributors challenge the model. This makes it a strategy game. For example, some of the users might team up to overweight another user. That’s why social media elements are required in this wiki-based platform. So users can form teams, negotiate, and plan strategies.

UPDATE 3:

the hyperlink mechanism should be modified a bit in the next versions. It should be possible to link to a paragraph of another article for example as well. So the same content (a paragraph for example) can be referred to in several articles. Then it can be extended to knowledge block-based internet, as explained in the submission to Founders.

It seems I won’t get any reply to my emails. The general election is in 3.5 months and I can’t wait for people who make decisions to retest what has been tested numerous times.

One solution can be to send hundreds of emails. For this plan to work, I should set up a step-by-step plan. Sending emails is not sufficient. Those who get an email should know exactly what the next steps are. Even if the impact of the project on the election is negligible (by blocking my emails), this builds a small social network that can be expanded in the US, Brazil, etc.

UPDATE 1:

So the plan has totally changed. I will hire freelancers to develop a basic version of the project and then send hundreds of emails to build the next versions. The project will be initiated in the UK but will most probably have no impact on the election as I’m intentionally blocked. Then the project will be expanded in the next months.

This jeopardizes so many things but it seems there is no other option for me. The worst thing for me is to be in an unstable situation not knowing what might come next in the next days. The plan is to stay here for at least 6 months and develop the project from here. Again this is a very risky decision for me but I have no other option. I’m pushed toward this decision. I can’t be played by some people who keep asking me to wait for a few more days and then something might happen.

The decision is made, no matter how risky it is, and the responsibility for the consequences will not be mine.

UPDATE 2:

Emails I sent to people in different areas could be expanded to articles. Each article can be one event. So this is the plan: I send emails to different researchers in different colleges and ask them (and their students) to join different events and contribute to each event. Before that, I should build a basic platform for that purpose. It can gradually be expanded by adding other elements such as ad mechanisms, etc.

I won’t think about scalability in this version. The main concern will be to build something simple that enables collective authorship.

When the project starts, green activists should surely be involved.

UPDATE 3:

there will be one layout and one governance model in this version. There will be a board at each event, where people can attach ideas. Then each item can be expanded into a paragraph or something. The structure of each article will be based on weighted voting. weights will be based on users’ contributions.

UPDATE 4:

So it’s more like Wikipedia than social media. The difference with Wikipedia is that the governance model makes it more collaborative. In the next versions “articles” can be anything, for example, social events etc.

So the first version will be based on Wiki.

UPDATE 5:

The platform will be called DeLab.cool which stands for Democracy Lab. It must be called DeLab.cool and not Delab. If the extension was .com, people would probably drop .com, but .cool is a part of the name.

However, this is not final and can be changed. DeData is another option (DeData is not good, it’s another company working on web3).

Sent an email to two economics professors in Cambridge and Oxford. Things I wrote in the email had been said here and there but since it was written in a concise format in the email, I post it here too:

People with the same moral values and principles behave differently under different circumstances. Many of these variations are necessary to avoid danger and therefore have been adapted for survival. An environmental input or a nudge can change one’s response. The same can be extended to economic processes where, with different environmental inputs, people with the same moral standards might exhibit varying amounts of integrity, for instance, in trade.
In physics, symmetry refers to mechanisms that protect the structure of the system in a dynamic environment. For instance, by pushing a balloon at one point, it will be reshaped to reach a new equilibrium. In an economic structure, the system should be organized in such a way that, under varying circumstances, structural behavioural nudges push the system toward a new equilibrium. Supply and demand, as an example, is a mechanism that pushes the price toward an equilibrium point. But there should also be behavioural mechanisms built into the system that protect its symmetry. Systemic corruption may very well point to a lack of such mechanisms.
Reputation is an example of behavioural mechanisms to restore balance. However, market failures point to a deficit in this mechanism. In some ways, it even appears to be disconnected from economic processes because reputation damage might not always impose enough costs on firms to persuade them to change their behaviours. The symmetry of the system is not properly functioning here.
Election campaigns are all about social nudges. The most effective nudges are the ones which form social networks. These campaigns harness some sociological phenomena to their advantage. Similar structural nudges can be used in the behavioural economy.
Many important elections will be held around the world in 2024. Election campaigns are required to be transparent and should be run with integrity. Unfortunately, technology provides tools capable of disputing the integrity of the process. On the other hand, technology also provides tools to protect campaigns from such disputes. This makes elections valuable opportunities for sociologists and behavioural economists to design and evaluate different methods with the purpose of building structural social nudges.
I’m contacting you regarding a non-profit online platform where users can create campaigns and events and earn money. This is in contrast to the method where political parties receive funds from organizations and spend it to nudge people to vote for them. This latter method is similar to investing a large sum of money to create a brand and a public image for a product. The former method, however, is based on reputation where the accumulation of the views of the public about a product creates a public image of that product.