The promise and paradox of decentralization
The author touches on some of the weaknesses of true decentralization but does not directly address the fundamental paradox.<p>True decentralization is a natural but ephemeral quality of networks with <i>relatively few</i> nodes. That is, scales where each individual node has enough internal resources to accurately represent the <i>entire</i> network. Human networks are parameterized _very roughly_ by Dunbar&#x27;s Number (100-250), while modern computer networks are much more capable.<p>As a small network scales up, decentralization becomes unnatural;  nodes and links require too many resources to accurately model and communicate the network state. It becomes net energy efficient to introduce layers of dedicated networking nodes, routing protocols, and entire subnets. It is not a fluke that &quot;Web3.0&#x2F;DeFi&quot; technologies so far are either a) tremendously inefficient or b) end up centralized.<p>If you want to preserve true decentralization at this scale,  you need to <i>enforce</i> it. Prohibit centralization in any form. No more central networking&#x2F;control nodes. Perhaps there are clever schemes where you can e.g. shard the entire network uniformly across its nodes, but the bottom line--the paradox--is that some <i>central authority</i> must decide on and enforce the sharding&#x2F;decentralization policies and <i>actively</i> prevent centralization from emerging.<p>Frankly, decentralization at <i>almost</i> any meaningful scale in our modern global society is a myth. It&#x27;s a myth tightly coupled to the American origin story and its philosophical roots in the classical liberalism of Locke et al. and Western&#x2F;Reformation Christianity.<p>From a hard scientific perspective, it makes no sense why to sacrifice the welfare of a system for the sake of maximizing the welfare of an arbitrary component <i>that depends on the welfare of the system</i>. <i>Especially</i> when we are confronted with systemic I&#x2F;O imbalances on a global scale. To arrive at the myth of decentralization, you need the ingredient of (hyper)individualist ideology.