Blockchain technology for social good?

[tsinelas]

In my case, I would like to have an application of blockchain the medical field.  Imagine that there is an electronic library of data regarding patients around the world and our medical practitioners and researchers will contribute and access it, then we can predict the trend of so many diseases and make a cure for those diseases.

I think that would be great, it will benefit all the people not only us that engages into crypto. Blockchain is similarly like unity, it is  a network, a collection of informations that increments every time new information was added, we can easily review archives and other files that is related in the current situation or patient.  We could analyze and see the positive effect of blockchain in all nations not only for our selves.

[Psec]

Many of the international economy's most valuable industries are stagnated by middlemen who dictate costs, timing, and regulation. With blockchain, we can substitute expensive, error-prone intermediary parties for algorithms that never make mistakes and run without human intervention . The result will be a cleaner marketplace that operates more efficiently than conventional models of organization .

[Martha_Ferris]

Blockchain technology is actually very innovative technology. There are a lot of opportunities that can be created with this technology. So, there is a lot of potential really. But just like any other system, it sure has its own downsides too. The main concept of decentralization is very great and highly beneficial to the common citizen. We all agree that the government, its parastatals and some financial institutions wield too much control. But as usual anything new can be manipulated for bad. The anonymity allowed in using this technology has provided some loopholes. So, the truth is that it is really up to us to decide if we will use the technology for good or bad.

[m.roth]

My personal opinion is in the long term, blockchain technology has far reaching implications and ultimately enslave us to an immutable decentralised ledger, which also destroys sovereignty of nations if we go down the route of a world decentralised currency. I think immutable information maintains the status quo of the rich always being rich and the poor always being poor and the blockchain facilitates a way to snapshot that monetary construct in a way which we can never take back. Just think of how we forced the kings to sign the Magna Carta, this won't be possible once we have people in power with technology which is immutable. BTW I'm a Ted Kaczynski supporter who believes he was ahead of his time. It's just his methods of how he went about his actions hurt a lot of people. There is a reason why books like The Technological Society by Jacques Ellul are banned books, or put you on a government watchlist if you purchase them on Amazon.

Interesting on the banned books, I wasn't aware of this. No doubt that this disrupting technology will make a change. But to counter you, do you think that crypto is really breaking the system of Rich always being rich and Poor always being poor? If so, how?

Appreciate your response and thinking!

Unfortunately I don't think crypto will break the existing situation of the rich being rich and the poor being poor. its only my opinion but I fear that although we need to move towards trust-less, immutable ledgers. As this technology matures and combines with other forms of technology AI / Deep Learning we will see lot of middle class jobs accountants, office clerks, project managers, lawyers (smart legally binding contracts will replace them) logistic specialists, will all disappear. The ruling class will be the people who have the financial power and clout to integrate such systems and this will bring an even bigger divide between the rich and the poor. I think there will be a dark future in the implementation of blockchain. Unfortunately.

That's an interesting point you make. Technology will, inevitably, replace middle class jobs. Blockchain or decentralization might not be able to prevent that sadly enough.

I believe in the benefits (as mentioned) in the area of charity, elections, general monetary and data-related transactions/communication and preventing inflation. The downside of the automatization needs to be handled by us, not by technologies. A reduction in working hours or an unconditional income is inevitable, since many jobs will be replaced by technology and robots. I hope that the people engineering future systems (such as whole governments over blockchain), remain true to themselves and design solutions, which fight greed, injustice and inequality and give back the power to the people.

[little pig]

I think, and hope to come true ..
Blockchain technology regardless of social class, everyone can participate equally. The blockchain technology is auto, and the algorithm is horrible against all great hackers. I admire its founder.
To be legitimate, each person has only one wallet code controlled by their government, if FLAT is not used, USDT is a common value, we use it very easily in everything. USDT is applied to online shopping such as amazon, ebay ... (online items are publicity transparency) ...
Then there is ICO shipping, and many ICOs are meant to serve us, of course the company pays us in USDT ..........
State funds collected tax the ICO.
..........

[UconBit]

A good example of a benefit of blockchain is its application in healthcare. I have read that there are now hospitals that use the technology to keep information about the health history of patients. Instead of being tested again and again when transferring in between hospitals and having different analyses and getting opinions from different doctors, hospitals can use blockchain to track everything making it easier for doctors to consult one another with regard to cases. So it is not only beneficial for the doctors but for the patients as well.

[beej]

I like to think that blockchain technology is open to anyone who wants to utilize
it and take part in it. Bitcoin wouldn't be this huge and popular if it wasn't for the
continuous support of people throughout the years. Blockchain technology is
more than just an innovation that pave way to cryptocurrency, it also founded and
provided multiple opportunities for people in society and the community worldwide.
It's gonna get bigger and will probably innovate more, it's the future. With the rise
and popularity of social media, it's gonna spread the word out reliably faster and reach
people everywhere.

[Siddhartha7]

My personal opinion is in the long term, blockchain technology has far reaching implications and ultimately enslave us to an immutable decentralised ledger, which also destroys sovereignty of nations if we go down the route of a world decentralised currency. I think immutable information maintains the status quo of the rich always being rich and the poor always being poor and the blockchain facilitates a way to snapshot that monetary construct in a way which we can never take back. Just think of how we forced the kings to sign the Magna Carta, this won't be possible once we have people in power with technology which is immutable. BTW I'm a Ted Kaczynski supporter who believes he was ahead of his time. It's just his methods of how he went about his actions hurt a lot of people. There is a reason why books like The Technological Society by Jacques Ellul are banned books, or put you on a government watchlist if you purchase them on Amazon.

Interesting on the banned books, I wasn't aware of this. No doubt that this disrupting technology will make a change. But to counter you, do you think that crypto is really breaking the system of Rich always being rich and Poor always being poor? If so, how?

Appreciate your response and thinking!

Unfortunately I don't think crypto will break the existing situation of the rich being rich and the poor being poor. its only my opinion but I fear that although we need to move towards trust-less, immutable ledgers. As this technology matures and combines with other forms of technology AI / Deep Learning we will see lot of middle class jobs accountants, office clerks, project managers, lawyers (smart legally binding contracts will replace them) logistic specialists, will all disappear. The ruling class will be the people who have the financial power and clout to integrate such systems and this will bring an even bigger divide between the rich and the poor. I think there will be a dark future in the implementation of blockchain. Unfortunately.

That's an interesting point you make. Technology will, inevitably, replace middle class jobs. Blockchain or decentralization might not be able to prevent that sadly enough.

I believe in the benefits (as mentioned) in the area of charity, elections, general monetary and data-related transactions/communication and preventing inflation. The downside of the automatization needs to be handled by us, not by technologies. A reduction in working hours or an unconditional income is inevitable, since many jobs will be replaced by technology and robots. I hope that the people engineering future systems (such as whole governments over blockchain), remain true to themselves and design solutions, which fight greed, injustice and inequality and give back the power to the people.

I think the authoritarian system isn't one that just "gives" to the people. I'm glad to see blockchain is actually something which they couldn't avoid from growing and it's something which forces them to see power being taken by "the people".

[TECSHARE]

Like any tool it has equal capacity for good and evil. It will serve both functions. Some coins will be more independent, some will bend over for the establishment and do its bidding. Crypto has the capacity to free humanity from the parasite banker class, but it also has the capacity to become the new one world digital cash free system where every penny is tracked and they can confiscate it in an instant. There will be Russian hacking, money laundering Jihadi, North Korean drug dealer, global warming, kiddy porn coins, and "good" coins which are establishment backed. Unfortunately people are too short sighted to see the value of having a method of exchange that is not easily manipulated, instead they are more interested in quick short term profits. The value of a method of exchange that doesn't enable perpetual theft of value via money manipulation can not be underestimated. Essentially everyone is selling themselves into servitude for a pair of cool Air Jordans now. It is amazing how this historical civilization changing tool can immediately foster a community that turns right around and demands it act exactly like the old broken system. Enjoy your "free lunch" while you can.

[FilesFM_Announcements]

the blockchain technology will no doubt solve lots of shortcomings in our society, am from Africa, Nigeria to be precise, a country characterized by corrupt leaders who manipulates the electoral system for personal gain. Integrating the blockchain technology in our electoral system will fix the issue of rigging and electoral malpractices due to the decentralized and transparent nature of the blockchain technology. The blockchain technology has a lot to offer globally.

Voting is definitely one of the best ways of how blockchain can be used, I agree! Let's hope for a more honest and transparant politic system in the future

Id like to comment on this although its later on in the thread.. I don't believe polling stations or unhackable or block chained voting machines won't change anything.. a company I was working for before was pitched to make such machines for Russia.. I thought wow this is really progressive maybe people are looking for a change.. but after I thought about it more and more the resources spent to rig elections will be just be spent on marketing and social and political influence which will make their campaigns still win..

you might be able to make a democratic truly free voting machine.. but you can't democratise the media and social influence.

[MichaelGovNetwork]

DLT, carefully implemented, can make it easier for people to gain a digital identity under their control, to participate in free market trade with microtransactions, and to vote where the voting process itself is transparent.

These are all steps.

If a politician buys all the votes in a village, this is another issue.
However, if an individual person can vote, without the politician gaining access to who individually voted for what, then that removes one level of obstacle for free thought.

As people further participate at a grass roots level with exposure to the issues independent of media, find additional ways to help educate their children, and engage in more efficient mechanisms of trade, then these help to create better opportunities and provides checks and balances. There is no golden cure, however magnified many times, it slowly starts to open the economic and social fabric for new possibilities.

[NgoLina]

I think that blockchain  technology should be adopted  for Land title registration. In my country where land fraud is the order of the day, blockchain will eliminate fraud completely. Also, blockchain solves the problem of manipulation.  In governance, there will be full transparency to elections and decision making.

[popcorn1]

Yes blockchain is for social good   You join an ICO and everyone who joined becomes social  THEN the devs run with your monies   THEN you become more social because your all social complaining all together ..  So yes blockchain can be social good..

So look on the bright side if the devs never robbed you       you all wouldn't of been socially complaining..Meet new friends socially complaining  ..

[SoiledDove]

If we agree that society needs development/improvement in many ways. And we agree that technology is an unavoidable part of the future.

Then how do you see blockchain/decentralization improve life for human beings and society?

I'm curious to hear opinions here. I have my opinions and I work for several projects, but I want to keep my question pure and simple and see what comes up!

Let's build towards a better world

Yes, technology is the future. Agreed. I like the independence and the decentralization Blockchain seems to offer. One thing I can't get out of my head though. If someone steals your Bitcoin, how come Blockchain can't help lead you straight to the thieves? Anyway, I'm sure all will become clear with time.

[FunGate]

Blockchain kind of saves us from our own weaknesses, the most notably fickleness and corruption, so it can definitely be considered useful for social good.

Before, governments and authorities were responsible for taking account for problems arising from these traits, and blockchain kind of renders this obsolete because it's harder to be corrupt and fickle in a society based on blockchain.