According to Wikipedia, Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the Universe. This agreed upon understanding of Science is an example of subjective empirical consensus. In contrast, the Scientific Method seeks to explain – objectively – the events of Nature in a reproducible way (e.g., acceleration of gravity = 9.8m/s^2; or more recently, the proof of existence of gravitational waves theorized by Einstein nearly a century ago). The integration of empirical subjectivity and mathematical objectivity, we can agree (haha) to understand as Consensual Reality.

And indeed, herein lies the problem. How do we establish Consensus on Consensual Reality? 

The Philosophy of Science addresses such related important questions pertaining to the reliability of Scientific Theories, which studies qualify as Science, and what the ultimate purpose of Science should be. According to the National Research Council of the United States, “Scientific Inquiry refers to the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence derived from their work.” Emphasis is placed on diversity here, because I believe the fundamental purpose of Science should be:

Discovery of Truth about our World & Universe, and its Application directed towards the advancement of Humanity for Well-Being & Prosperity.

In Decentralization of Science lies the Solution to Truth Discovery. Fortuitously, the Distributed Ledger Technology of Ethereum combines Discovery with Application through Smart Contracts. At a micro-scale we experience this reality each time we interact with a dApp; e.g., in Decentralized Finance, “truth” about a counterparty is “discovered” and verified from the immutable chain of data that has been added to the distributed ledger, and the resultant collective consensus on this reality is “applied” towards a conceptual non-zero-sum outcome or yield for all interacting entities. Though MEV on Ethereum is undeniable, in comparison to Traditional Finance, Value Extraction remains inside the Markov Blanket – thereby facilitating a positive sum outcome. We go from theory to practice - and from Decentralized Finance to Decentralized Science – by chaining truth verification & application of events (consensus) across nodes on the programmable distributed ledger; mechanistically like our Nervous System engages in hierarchical message passing in order to minimize prediction errors (Free Energy). 

In other words, Consensus on Reality employs a “Bottom-Up” mechanism. Since the time when a modern set of standards for the scientific method grounded in critical rationalism and falsification parametrized our contemporary scientific paradigm, scientific progress has prospered via the “development-by-accumulation” mechanism. Simultaneously, institutions have also become centralized and gated – and along with them, so has Science & Academia. The COVID pandemic was a wake-up call which should be interpreted as a signal to modify and evolve our paradigm. An asymmetrically weighted approach of “Top-Down” decision making and Centralized Science has, in this context, resulted in many negative externalities – or “anomalies” – as Thomas Kuhn has written, which cannot be accounted for.

More accurately then, Consensus on Reality can come closer to Truth when a new equilibrium between “Bottom-Up” and “Top-Down” is established. Decentralization of Science will lead the way.

Roadmap and timeline for implementation will be updated as these ideas are disseminated, debated, and ideally agreed upon within the broader DeSci community. At this time, we are motivated to onboard the next wave of users to web3 in order to prioritize decentralization and value creation for the people. Money, DeFi, DeID, DAOs, Hybrid Applications (Vitalik’s app wishlist for Ethereum) and more will be integrated in this “grand coalition” (to use John Nash’s lingo) which has been depicted as the Archimedes’ Lever.

Please refer to Scientific Methods and the Decentralization of Science for further context:
https://mirror.xyz/bhau.eth/kyQAP2pQgCfysn7iGyL3KgtoM1-lWUfObHUA3HqM050
