From: blancw@pylon.com
Date: Thu, 1 Sep 94 13:43:41 PDT
To: solman@MIT.EDU
Subject: (Fwd) Re: Problems with anonymous escrow 2--response
Message-ID: <199409012044.NAA09075@deepthought.pylon.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Responding to msg by solman@MIT.EDU

The skills of an entity  without any reputation capital are 
absolutely worthless. But usually an anonymous entity will come 
around brandishing all sorts of certifications (reputation 
capital).
..........................................................

Well, I was thinking that certifications & reputations wouldn't 
mean all that much to me, nor either knowing or being 
unfamiliar with someone's identity (or pseudonymousness).  I 
would be more convinced with a demo.  Something which could 
demostrate facility or ability would be more valuable to me 
than a second-hand proof.  I realize some professions cannot 
provide such demonstrations, but I myself would rather have a 
way of making decisions based on the excercise of first-hand 
judgement whenever possible. 

This anonymity/identity and certification/reputation business 
appears something like trying to have one's cake and eat it, 
too, as the expression goes.  A featureless landscape with 
remote associations to actual substance so as to both please 
the aloof-ers & appease the uncertain.  It's a bit paradoxical 
that for every method which is found by which to hide, another 
method is found by which to reveal what was heretofore 
undetectable in Nature.   While scientists push back the 
envelope & reveal what was previously 'invisible' to our eyes, 
others work to effect stealth techniques against the tools of 
Consciousness.  Kind of strange, though interesting.

Blanc