31 lines
1.9 KiB
Markdown
31 lines
1.9 KiB
Markdown
# public keys (and "cypherspace")
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a public key is the ultimate platform independent, fully decentralised form of
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identity. for most there are still trust dependencies involved, of course: one
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must trust the design of the scheme itself, the programmers who implemented it,
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and all those involved in designing and building the hardware it runs on. as
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suggested in [000-hello-world.md](./000-hello-world.md), these dependencies may
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never be done away with entirely in this increasingly complex world. still, a
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public key is the closest thing to a discrete, physical body that exists in the
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digital world. all other forms of identity either introduce additional power
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imbalances and trustful dependencies, or else may be easily forged.
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keyed entities, signed statements, and encrypted data storage and communications
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together form what may be termed 'cypherspace.' only entities with
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cryptographically sound ways of proving ownership of identities exist in
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cypherspace. cypherspace exists primarily on the internet, but it also exists
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offline, in local networks, and even sneakernets. because it is defined by
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information, it _can_ exist anywhere information may be stored. because
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information is defined as a change from some initial state, this means it can
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technically exist anywhere mutable (though of course many such places may be of
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no utility).
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because information is channel-independent and ubiquitous, cypherspace is nearly
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unstoppable. the weak points in cypherspace are the gaps in one's understanding
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of the _actual behavior_ of one's tools, a lack of knowledge regarding how to
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_use_ one's tools to engage in cypherspace, and the obvious nature of the most
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common ways of engaging with it across long distances. (e.g., two devices
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sending apparently random data back and forth across the continent are almost
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certainly engaging in some form of encrypted communication, which may itself
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be enough to make one a target for malicious actors.)
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