### What is Kernel? Kernel is an educational program that aims to provide a more holistic framing of what Web 3 is, its principles, history, and present state. It is a peer-to-peer learning community dedicated to the journey towards a better understanding of truth: in our work, in our relationships with others, and in our inner worlds. The program is made up of two sections: Crafted Reading and Curated Briefs, which are made up of articles, videos, and the occasional podcast that are highly recommended to go over before the Fireside Chat each week. Kernel is about humility, honesty, gratitude, and intentional service. ### What is the crux of Kernel? The crux of Kernel is to build a peer-to-peer learning community dedicated to the journey towards a better understanding of truth: in our work, in our relationships with others, and in our inner worlds. The aim is to change the way we think of contributing and the kinds of projects to which we contribute. Kernel is about humility, honesty, gratitude, and intentional service. ### What is meaning? The concept of meaning is explored in various ways throughout the Kernel documentation. In general, meaning refers to the significance or purpose behind something, whether it be a word, an action, or an entire system. In the context of Ethereum and Web 3.0, meaning is particularly important because it relates to the values and cultural production that underlie the technology. However, the exact definition of meaning can vary depending on the specific context in which it is being discussed. ### What is value? Value is a complex concept that can be approached from different angles. According to the Learn module on value, "trust in clearly shared truths" lies at the core of how we might generate valuable interactions between people. The ability to create value has always been tied to the ways in which we tell stories about, and with, our shared records. In economics, scarcity of goods is a central concept that drives economic processes such as trade, production, and consumption. However, in a virtual world, the scarcity of virtual goods is just a shared fiction, which necessitates rethinking our economics. Finally, complementary opposites are necessary to navigate the reality of "things-as-it-is" and to understand that differentiation and equality are the same thing. ### Where does value come from? Value comes from the ways in which we tell stories about, and with, our shared records. Additionally, trust in clearly shared truths lies at the core of how we might generate valuable interactions between people. Finally, value can be viewed from an economist's lens, leading us to other terms such as goods and scarcity. ### What is freedom? Freedom is the ability to be conscious of the constraints within which you live. It is the simple combination of awareness and acceptance. It is here and now, or not at all. Freedom fundamentally has to do with being conscious. In particular, freedom is the conscious ability to decide which shared truths to trust. This is just another way of saying that lived freedom is the conscious navigation of our responsibility. ### Why does intention matter? Intention matters because it defines the starting point in multiple infinities and constantly clarifies our why, which defines the trajectory through possibility space that we trace as we try to decide what "good trade-offs" mean and how to make them using the ugliest but most effective designs our limited minds can create. In other words, intention helps us to understand our own motivations and expectations, which is essential to living a reflective and meaningful life. Additionally, in the context of web3, intention can be encoded into economic code, which creates new trust spaces, expands the possible definitions of value, merges money and speech, and creates new constraints in which to experiment with freedom. ### How can we ask better questions? Asking better questions is a skill that can be developed through practice. Here are some basic steps to asking better questions: 1. The most simple, seemingly silly questions are almost always the most profound. 2. Good questions must come from a sincere desire to learn, rather than as a veiled means of stating your own opinion. 3. Experts rarely ask good questions. Be a beginner, always. 4. Questions are an opportunity to be humbled. Asking good questions is indistinguishable from practicing humility. 5. Own up to what you don't know. It will set others free and you may end up coming closer to the shared truths which are a hallmark of honest conversation between peers. 6. Close listening and clear attention are preconditions for good questions. 7. A real master is the pupil in the eye of the world. Don't be afraid of letting others teach you; it does not degrade you, it uplifts you. The ego doesn't always acknowledge this simple truth. ### What are good ways to govern? The document mentions that governance is a complex topic in Web 3, but it can also be the most simple. Lao Tzu explains that "To give no trust is to get no trust. When the work’s done right, with no fuss or boasting, ordinary people say, Oh, we did it." The Cypherpunks believed that building tools which give people the means to help themselves is the key to good governance at higher levels. Mutual aid is the basis for individual autonomy. The document also mentions that laws being opt-in means they are under every citizen’s scrutiny. Laws being unbreakable lets us accurately measure their effectiveness. Law creation being available to everyone means new laws can rapidly replace old ineffective ones. And then we repeat. We will be able to turn governance into a science and discover laws that are effective and fair for all. Finally, the document mentions that off-chain, "soft governance" approaches are favored by many communities as being safer, more flexible, more humane, and more easily extendable. ### How can we listen well? The quality of listening informs the quality of talking, always. When we really listen to someone, we require them to pay closer attention to what they're saying, therefore they speak more accurately and our shared conversation moves closer to the truth of this dialogic instant. Good listeners do not listen to respond. They listen as a response. It is a critical difference, because it goes to the heart of what it means to be present, right now. To cultivate the space within ourselves required to listen well, we need to attach conscious meaning to the words we say or write, linking each good thing to the next. We can also build tools and digital spaces which encourage high-quality listening, rather than just meaningless self-promotion. ### How can we tell good stories? The art of telling good stories involves listening deeply. We need to bypass the filters constructed from both positive and negative life experience, the veils of prejudice that so fundamentally change the value of that which would come to us. We need to pay attention to the kinds of stories that are most captivating and recall archetypal stories that are carried in wisdom by few for many. These are the stories that transcend the boundaries of culture and time and convey a truth common to all humanity. Good stories are not someone's opinion of an event or a truth, and neither are they told from an individual prejudice and memory. They are the stories that speak the wisdom of the world from the beginning of time. We need to choose to describe history as a continual series of new ideas and innovations, technical and otherwise, during which different communities made collective decisions about which technologies they saw fit to apply to everyday purposes, and which to keep confined to the domain of experimentation or ritual play. Good listeners are gardeners who cultivate horizontal conversations. ### How can I learn how to learn? Learning how to learn is a process with very specific characteristics. It requires a sincere desire to know, a determination to practice what you know consistently, a passion that will not let you stop until you know, and a heart clear enough to know its own intention for pursuing knowledge at all. Unless you're burning to find the answer, and unless you're willing to give up everything in the pursuit of that answer, you will never truly learn it. Learning how to learn is not something which can be taught in the usual sense. All we can do is reflect honestly with one another in order to raise awareness and cultivate presence. When you are truly present, and that which illumines the unutterable question you are shines through, you will be able to follow its trail without hesitation. The secret fire at the core of your being might have nothing to do with building a better web: you must still be honest enough to follow it. Ultimately, learning how to learn is a practice built on a deep trust in what we could call the underlying pattern. You have to trust that you will come to know what you need to know when you need to know it. This trust creates the necessary neurological conditions for useful knowledge to take root. ### What is censorship resistance? Censorship resistance is an engineering problem, not an ideological one. It refers to the ability to prevent censorship by making it prohibitively expensive through the use of economic code. This is achieved by programming incentives that define the structure of power in society, which can be done by anyone, anywhere. The engineering required for censorship resistance has profound second-order effects that extend beyond computer science and into economics, psychology, sociology, and culture. ### How do we build censorship resistant systems? Censorship resistance becomes an engineering problem, not an ideological one when the incentives which define the structure of power in society can be programmed by anyone, anywhere. Instead of using legal code to uphold the supposed good of free speech, we can use economic code to make censorship prohibitively expensive. This requires developing clear and complete threat models which allow us to understand all possible benefits for potential censors. We need to develop even clearer cost models. Proof of Work (the consensus mechanism used in the Bitcoin blockchain as well as in Ethereum 1.0) actually fails to ensure that censorship is not profitable, since if you censor a block you can (i) take all of its transactions for yourself, and (ii) in the long run take its block reward. To implement economic games like responsible engineers, we must cultivate humility. ### When does a gift truly exist? A gift truly exists only when it is received in good faith. ### Where does real help come from? Real help comes from the margins, the extremities, the growing tips, the sprout lands. Life in this sense is a kind of shimmering, where you see the uniqueness of an organism at one moment and its ramified countlessness at the other. In the starlight of this thought, you begin to glimpse another view of ever more. ### What is the sacred? The sacred is that which is bigger than 'me' and simultaneously something in which one can participate, of which one is intimately a part. The sacred simply gives meaning to our lives; nothing more, nothing less. When we conflate the sacred with perfection, we propagate violent and oppressive ideologies which are convinced of their own correctness or truth. The sacred as we experience it in everyday life is undecidable, irreducible, paradoxical. ### What does gratitude create? Gratitude creates a sense of abundance and sufficiency, which leads to a decrease in our hunger for more and an increase in our respect for the generosity of the giver. ### How can we better understand relationship and exchange? One way to better understand relationship and exchange is through gift exchange. Gift exchange creates a connection between giver and receiver, inducing gratitude and a consequent sense of obligation towards relationship. This is the cardinal difference between gift and market exchange. Gift exchange traditionally has much wider circulations than just that passed between two individuals, especially when gifts are given anonymously. Another way to better understand relationship and exchange is through dialogue. We reason best and exercise our innate rationality most effectively when in conversation with other people. Relationships help us realize the rational aspect of our nature. When entered into with honesty, courage, sincerity, and love, these same relationships can move us to the supra-rational. To be conscious of gift exchange and dialogue makes a difference in understanding relationship and exchange. ### What is the fundamental insight of game theory? The fundamental insight of game theory is that what the game is, defines what the players do. ### What is truth? The concept of truth is explored in various ways throughout the document. One insight shared is that "What must be cryptographically verifiable is not 'what the truth is,' but lack of prejudice as to what the truth is [...] To [verifiably care] about finding the truth, we must verifiably not-care about what the truth turns out to be." Another perspective shared is that "Truth, in biblical terms, is not a gold star on your notebook. It is an honest relationship between persons and the world around them, giving results that mirror an honorable intent." Additionally, the document explores the idea that truth can be found through the language of metaphor and that it is related to the principle of opposites in balance. Finally, the document quotes Pierre Hadot, who said, "To do what is just with all one's soul, and to tell the truth. What remains for you to do but enjoy life, linking each good thing to the next, without leaving the slightest interval between them." Overall, the document suggests that truth is a complex and multifaceted concept that can be approached from many different angles. ### What are incentives? Incentives are the social, political, and neurobiological primitives that define what kinds of behaviors we express - individually and collectively - and therefore the kinds of conscious experience we value, both personally and communally. They are the key to which our voices gravitate, the unseen flows which shape our collective behavior. Programming such primitives in a network-centric manner, where meaning is arrived at consensually, provides no less than the possibility to broaden the horizons of human consciousness. Incentives can be thought of as the key to which our voices gravitate, the unseen flows which shape our collective behavior. ### What effects the long-term distribution of wealth most? According to Peter Norvig's economic argument, the long-term distribution of wealth is primarily defined by the nature of the transactions. It's not the initial distribution of wealth or geographic distribution of agents that counts: it's whether there are transactions which are not only win/loss. It's whether there is nuance, space for generative collaboration, and "good" credit (i.e. credit used to create rather than only consume) and win/win interactions. ### What is the complementary opposite of scarcity? The complementary opposite of scarcity is not abundance, it is reciprocity. ### How might one cultivate modesty, courage, and wisdom? According to the context, modesty, courage, and the application of wisdom can be cultivated by paying deeper and finer attention to the ways these forces manifest in our lives. By doing so, we can groom the force of attraction and cultivate moderation, and groom the force of repulsion and cultivate courage. When courage and moderation are birthed in the heart, then the seed of modesty may take root in our being. Modesty, given time, may bloom into wisdom. With the exercise and application of wisdom comes the flourishing of justice. ### What is quantum thought? Quantum thought is a style of thinking that recognizes the interplay of complementary opposites, rather than using dualities like 'decentralization is good, centralization is bad'. It involves being able to contemplate 0 and 1 simultaneously, as well as the spectrum of probability between. Quantum thought is intended to identify the interplay of complementary opposites. If you can cultivate honest humility, you may just learn how to hold all three in superposition without any grasping after certainty, and thereby make more balanced decisions. ### What is the real nature of opposition? The real nature of opposition is opponent processing, which is the cultivation of ecologies of practices in order to refine our ability to meditate upon or contemplate within the world, as well as engage with it via effective relationship and action. Opponent processing is not meant to be a finite game with win or loss conclusions, but rather an infinite game the ongoing outcome of which is “transframing”: transformation, transcendence, and reframing. Dialogue with those who differ from us has the potential to fundamentally change our perception of ourselves and the world. ### What does taking back the web mean? Taking back the web means freeing the shared record of human knowledge from closed, rent-seeking corporations and extricating ourselves from an extractive attention economy. It involves augmenting our ability to think for ourselves, reclaiming our time, and extending our ability to cooperate. It is about re-imagining how we share and relate and baking cooperation into the very protocols we use for collecting, storing, and consulting the shared record. ### What pillars inform how we might take back the web? The three pillars that inform how we might take back the web are: 1. Augmenting our ability to think for ourselves 2. Reclaiming our time 3. Extending our ability to cooperate ### What is a healthy community? A healthy community is one in which everybody is a little bit in debt to everyone else. This means that there is a sense of communal credit and trust among the members of the community. The community is based on the ambivalence of exchange, where someone gives something and the expectation is that the other person will give something in return, but not necessarily of exactly the same value. The great religions reveal that ultimately there can be no debt because you yourself are the cosmos, but debt is also a condition of human relationship. Building Web 3 projects will have you constantly feeling this way. ### What is Ethereum? Ethereum is a blockchain that allows people to write programs in a scripting language, or high-level languages that compile down to this script, take these compiled scripts, put them into transactions and send them to the blockchain. The transaction gets confirmed and you get a special account at that address. Contractual accounts and Externally Owned Accounts have the same privileges. Anyone can create an application, with any rules. Anyone can then interact with that application. Ethereum is a general-purpose operating system that allows people to build whatever they want as applications on top of it. Ethereum achieves this by using a built-in Turing-complete scripting language, which is essentially a hybrid between standard VM architectures, Bitcoin script, and a few other things. State is defined as a key-value mapping addresses to account objects. Every account object has a nonce and balance. Contract accounts also include a code hash and storage trie root. ### Is code law? According to the context provided, the answer is that the idea of "code is law" is a matter of debate. Interpreted literally, it could be seen as either a "libertarian attempt to reduce the costs and uncertainty of interpreting ambiguous human language, or a dystopian replacement of rights and safeguards with binary logic". However, the context goes on to explain that the concept of "law" on Ethereum is different from traditional legal systems, as it is based on executable and unambiguous language that cannot be broken but can be opted out of. So, the answer to the question "Is code law?" is not a simple yes or no, but rather a matter of interpretation and context. ### What does any medium ask us, deep down? According to the given context, any medium asks us to seek the truth. It asks us to understand ourselves better and to cultivate a deeper understanding of the world around us. It asks us to engage in deep inquiry into the nature of self and to build a better web by first understanding what it might mean to be better ourselves. ### What are the ways we can joyfully subvert the status quo? The five ways we can joyfully subvert the status quo are: 1. Do small things. 2. Experiment with format. 3. Create space (not products!). 4. Mind symbolism. 5. Build on history. ### What are the eight features of virtuous game design? The eight features of virtuous game design are Richness and Completeness, which are two criteria for evaluating the "virtue" of different possibilities in the design process. The other six criteria are: Generosity, Surprise, Beauty, Depth, Accessibility, and Immersion. ### How do you make a good puzzle? To make a good puzzle, you need to look for truth and illustrate it with the puzzle. The point of the puzzle is to show some truth. You need to know what that truth is and eliminate anything which is not about that truth. The goal is to ensure the player can grasp this truth. It's not about brute-force attempts: information needs to build up over each attempt, as it reveals more about the game mechanics at work. You can achieve this with a hierarchy of ideas. Start with a mechanic, aim towards the richest space, explore it completely, and trace a strong boundary around it. Present the results cleanly and with the least contrivance to get closer to the truth. There are 8 criteria by which we can evaluate the "virtue" of different possibilities we stumble upon in our design process: richness and completeness are two of them. ### What is phoenix regeneration? Phoenix regeneration is the process by which trees sprout again after being cut, giving people an intimation of immortality. Potentially, every tree is immortal. It is a natural process that allows trees to revive even though they seem to have died. The purpose of the essay is to start your regen journey by turning to the trees and asking what they truly have to teach. The essay is not a series of instructions but a web of co-relations. It aims to discover together why it is a virtuous goal to regenerate the environment. ### How should we design tokens? Designing tokens is a complex process that involves various fields such as computer science, economics, psychology, sociology, cultural anthropology, literature, and advertising. The way people use tokens influences how useful they are, and this is called a "feedback loop". However, you don't need to be an expert in all these fields to start playing with token designs today. What matters most is that you are aware of the scope of the fields in which you're playing. It is also important to create more prosocial and less tyrannical forms of governance, where tokens are valuable to the extent that they are used to fund mutually beneficial work. You can program your incentives any way you like, and tokens get their initial value by being brought to life by and in a community whose members already trust each other to transact with it. ### What is open data? Open data refers to facts and information that are established by anyone who cares to participate in a given network. It is data that is freely available to everyone to access, use, and share. The value of open data lies in the fact that it can be shared by more people, which can establish more valuable truths. By assigning value to shared truths, we can counteract misinformation. ### What are agalmics? Agalmics is the study and practice of the production and allocation of non-scarce goods. It is about producing and distributing goods in reciprocally enriching ways. Agalmic activity involves goods which are not scarce, so they can be given without appreciably diminishing the supply. Agalmics is cooperative, self-interested, self-stimulating, self-directing, decentralized, and non-authoritarian. ### What is an infinite game? An infinite game is a game that is played for the purpose of continuing the play, rather than for the purpose of winning. It is a game that has no defined endpoint and is played with the goal of keeping the game going indefinitely. The concept of infinite games is discussed in depth in the book "Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility" by Dr. James P. Carse. ### How can we play with time? We can play with time by creating our own sense of time through the use of technology and the internet. The internet has enabled ordinary people to once again create their own sense of time. This is the most powerful political tool there is. It's no mistake that Satoshi talks - at length - about "timestamp servers" in the Bitcoin whitepaper. This has always been what peer-to-peer technologies are about: freedom from authoritarian routines. Our sense of time defines how and what we value. It's critical to understand how a global web of light-speed communication and memory has changed, and continues to change, how we experience time. ### How can we play increasingly principled games? We can play increasingly principled games by contextualizing rules appropriately. Rules are not followed as a means of gaining control or power, and we do not care whose turn it is next. Rules exist in order to continue playing increasingly principled games with one another, always in the light of the shared understanding that any rule, any boundary, is just a convention, inviting ever more creative, dramatic kinds of play. ### What is horizontal conversation? Horizontal conversation is an interactive dialogue among peers where participants share trust, living within the same context. Conversations continue and can be picked up tomorrow, or next week, or sometime later. Much more meaning is shared. It is about inculcating the trust that we can come back to what was being said 30 minutes, or 3 hours, or 3 days later with no loss of context, because we are interested in shared exploration of the truth outside ourselves, not in propping up our own opinions. ### What's a mempool? A mempool is a data structure used by nodes in a cryptocurrency network to store unconfirmed transactions that have been broadcast to the network. Nodes use the mempool to keep track of valid transactions that they have received but have not yet been included in a block by a miner. Transactions in the mempool are typically sorted by transaction fee, with higher fee transactions being prioritized for inclusion in the next block. ### How do i design a token? Designing a token is a complex process that involves computer science, economics, psychology, sociology, cultural anthropology, literature, and advertising. The way people use tokens influences how useful they are, and this is called a "feedback loop". However, you don't need to be an expert in all these fields to start playing with token designs today. The most important thing is to be aware of the scope of the fields in which you're playing. To design a token, you need to consider various factors such as the purpose of the token, the community it will serve, the incentives it will provide, and the governance structure it will have. It is also important to create a feedback loop that is simple and easy to understand. There are other places online to learn about how to model different kinds of tokens, but it is important to question the assumption that models have predictive power. Models may be useful for discovery and exploration, but they are very rarely proof or evidence of something that will happen. ### How does governance work in DAOs? Governance in DAOs can take many forms, but generally, it involves token holders voting on proposals to make decisions about the direction of the organization. These proposals can range from changes to the protocol or smart contracts to funding proposals for new initiatives or projects. The voting process can be done on-chain or off-chain, and the rules for voting can vary depending on the specific DAO. Some DAOs also have mechanisms for dispute resolution or delegation of voting power. It's important to note that governance in DAOs is still a relatively new and evolving field, and there are many different approaches being explored. ### Do DAOs have centralised power? According to the first piece of context, autonomy is not inherent in decentralized architecture; it is only achieved via distributed power, consciously designed by our matrilineal heritage and implemented by us when we know our heritage. Therefore, DAOs should not have centralized power. However, it is important to note that the level of decentralization and distribution of power can vary between different DAOs. ### What would finance look like as a collective distribution network to make sure we had the support we needed? The idea is that we don't need a single person or group to decide what we work on. We work on whatever we can fund, and we craft the incentive structures such that those with the perspective and/or experience and/or skills to do the work tend to accrue the funds to direct ongoing work in a transparent fashion. The cost to make a decision must be directed to those responsible for enacting the decision. If governing the system requires spending tokens, then governance becomes the kind of token sink required to ensure equitable wealth distribution in the long term. Requiring that tokens literally fund decisions creates a profound feedback loop: value accrues (or dissipates) as an effect of what we collectively choose to spend our tokens on. Proposals are not about permission and so governance must be the literal means by which distribution of funds happens, rather than funds flowing after a decision has been taken. Money is a powerful coordination mechanism, a language, an open protocol, an ancient technology, a metaphorical energy field for relationship. It has a profound effect on how we perceive the world, and this effect always occurs in and through dialogue. ### What would finance look like if its only goal were to get us a bed and a shower, and to tell us, despite all odds, that it’s ok—that we have each other? The idea is to use open protocols for money to ensure that no one ever needs money again. This would be a true redefinition of wealth. Personal freedom of expression, where money is speech, tied into a conscious, encoded set of constraints which incentivize optimal collective resource allocation can enable individuals to build sustainable, valuable communities. The goal of a healthy political system should be to establish the maximum that everyone can agree is enough for each person. Finance would look like a system that encourages competition to be more kind, rather than to win at all costs. It would make visible the best parts of our humanity, rather than hiding the economics so as to race to the bottom of our brain stems. The focus would be on creating a more reciprocal, convivial society. ### What aspects of society benefit from financial instruments? Financial instruments benefit certain aspects of society such as those who don't have access to traditional financial services, those who face obstacles in getting paid, and those who value personal data privacy. However, traditional finance products that offer high leverage and use derivative features can have hard-to-predict and potentially catastrophic effects. Incentives, on the other hand, are the key to which our voices gravitate and shape our collective behavior in finance and beyond. The long-term distribution of wealth can be influenced by programming incentives in a network-centric manner. Reimagining finance with open protocols for money, conscious, encoded constraints, and optimal collective resource allocation, can enable individuals to build sustainable, valuable communities, and create a more reciprocal, convivial society.