We often discuss decentralization at N O D E, and for most people, they associate the word with software and technologies like crypto currencies, mesh networks and distributed communications. Many seem to miss the forest for the trees though, and don’t recognize the overarching mega-trend that’s happening right now - and has been happening throughout the entire history of life itself.

If you think about it, the big bang was the first act of decentralization, taking a single central point of time and matter and somehow exploding that into everything we see today. Trillions of stars and planets, continually expanding, gobbling up the nothingness with ‘stuff’.

We could also consider evolution as decentralization. The only reason that you are alive and reading this today is because of an unfathomably long chain of lifeforms that led up to you. If it wasn’t for all the random mutations and forking of DNA, adding variety to every species, each life form would be exactly the same (centralized) and thus equally vulnerable to existential threats.

So, what’s in store for humanity? Here’s how I think decentralization will be increasingly affecting us in the near and long term future.

MONEY

Everyone reading this already knows about Bitcoin, so I won’t spend too much time on it, but it’s important not to understate the MASSIVE impact it will have.

For the first time in history, there is a way to prove ownership of digital assets without third parties and this opens up real peer to peer transactions between anyone, anywhere. From micropayments [see article], to decentralized marketplaces [see article], to how everything is funded [see article], and so much more, Bitcoin is going to turn everything on its head.

We can’t even fathom the change that will take place once governments have less control over peoples economic affairs, and when 6 BILLION people currently locked out of financial services get a chance to trade on a global platform, all without asking anyones permission.


PRODUCTION

As I wrote previously in “The Desktop Factory” [see article], I think that our relationship to manufacturing and production is going to drastically change, probably very soon, due to advances in 3D printing and other technology.

Our whole notion of buying products from companies will change completely. For example, what will it mean to buy an Apple iPad 10, when you can just download the blueprints and make one yourself to the EXACT same standards? How will that effect predominantly industrial nations and the transit and delivery industries when 95% of their services are rendered obsolete?

Further on, with the future of industrial space exploration and mining ramping up, the cost of production could potentially be reduced drastically if once precious materials are found in abundance elsewhere in the galaxy.


ENERGY

We’re already seeing with the slow increase of 'alternative’ energy technologies like solar and wind, that humans have the capability to live completely off the grid. But what if off the grid didn’t have any connotations with going off into the woods? If you could live off the grid, in the middle of a dense city, wouldn’t that be progress? I think that’s what’s coming in the near future, because don’t forget, technologies like solar panels haven’t been around that long, especially at a consumer level.

Think of all the current troubles around the world that revolve around oil and gas. How many people have died over this shit? I don’t think it’s a stretch to think of a time where every house or block has it’s own independent power source.


INFORMATION

Imagine in early human history when most of the population couldn’t read or write. You’d have to rely almost exclusively on the powers that be to disseminate information, so if you were fed lies, there were very few evidence based ways to test what you were told.

That’s why we’re so fucking lucky to have the internet and even though it’s pretty centralized in terms of domain names, ISPs, undersea cables and satellites, it has completely and irreversibly turned human interaction on its head. I think the next decade is going to see alternative decentralized versions of the internet with projects like Maidsafe and other large scale meshnet systems coming into the fray. How we consume news, learn stuff, communicate and protect our privacy will all change with this new architecture.

As I’ve written about before, the blockchain will play an important role in this because anyone, including those in power, will have a chance (and onus) to prove and independently verify claims about all manner of information if it’s in a distributed ledger. As humans, we’ll be able to rely more on primary source evidence instead of intermediaries telling us what is happening.


REALITY

With the coming virtual and augmented reality revolution on the horizon, what we actually consider as reality will be changing from person to person. It’s a long way off, but once we get to where humans can plug VR into their brains Matrix-style, then all bets are off. I wonder whether human on human violence would decrease if everyone had a cheap way to experience their own personal heaven on demand?


ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Linked in with the above points on reality, once scientists figure out artificial intelligence, that could be the biggest growth spurt in knowledge that humans will ever see. Every scientific mystery, instantly solved, all diseases cured, new technologies, new ways of being.

What does that have to do with decentralization? Well, at that point we may be able to divorce our consciousness from our bodies so it can exist independently, essentially making us immortal.


WAR

What about the darker side of the human condition? There seems to be an increase in asymmetric warfare between nation states and non-state actors such as religious groups, separatists, corporate security, mercenaries, guerrilla fighters etc. This adds a level of unpredictability, blurring once clear battle lines drawn out between nation states. Just look at how the jihadis in the middle east have repelled decades of invaders with their comparitively cheap weapons and guerrilla tactics.

One of the sobering thoughts is about non-state actors getting hold of WMDs. Yes it sucks that ANYONE has nukes, but the fact is no two nuclear powers have ever directly gone to war with each other, due to the looming spectre of mutually assured destruction. The problem is that this balance is knocked out of whack if your adversary doesn’t have a single 'home’ location that can be targeted in retaliation.

The same could also be said for the future of cyber warfare. You have resource rich state apparatus that play a big role [see STUXNET], but you also have powerful and disparate hacking groups that don’t have the same nationalistic allegiances and motivations. A single hacker genius could potentially cause as much damage as a multi-billion dollar funded national intelligence agency.


NATION STATES

I predict that with a combination of population increase, younger citizens, the polarization of political ideas and the continued dissemination of information, we will be seeing increased unrest and civil war, and out of the smoldering aftermath of that, a fracturing of countries into ever smaller states which align more closely to their citizens. I think that the age of the all encompassing empire is ending. You’re already seeing the beginnings of this in the middle east, north africa and eastern europe.

We’ll also be seeing experiments in new ways of running societies, with more city states, autonomous government-free zones and floating cities cropping up [see seasteading].


OUR ULTIMATE DESTINY

I think humans will eventually disillusion themselves of the idea of earth being our home. No, the universe is our home. In order to flourish in the long term, humans will need to leave the planet and settle on new worlds, far out in the distant reaches of the universe. This allows us to not be overly reliant on earth for our survival, and you could argue that is the ultimate act of decentralization.

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BY CHRIS ROBINSON