Video recording of the seminar given by Dr. Ralph C. Merkle for Stanford Complexity Group on "DAO Democracy" on October 18th 2018.
Abstract:
Abstract: In a democracy, ordinary citizens decide complex, fateful issues by voting. Recent history suggests this process is less than optimal. Analysis of voting usually concludes it provides negligible economic value to the voter. Voter turnout is therefore highly dependent on emotional factors (“rallies”, “peer pressure” and the like). Voters are often ignorant of basic facts, and are subjected to sophisticated misinformation campaigns. Half of voters are below average. Elected officials have been known to ignore their promises once in office, and the mechanisms of government are not always transparent in their operation. This combination of weaknesses makes current democracies grossly inefficient at best, and prone to catastrophic failures at worst. A combination of ideas that includes prediction markets, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), ideas from the wisdom of crowds and futarchy, can be combined into what might be called a DAO Democracy, a form of government that appears to solve most of these ills.
