A Look Into the Future 未来奇缘

 


 Author(作者):Gray Train

 

Nearly seven decades ago, the cover story of the January 3rd, 2009 issue of The Times read:“Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks”

约七十年前,公元200913日“泰晤士报”的封面上赫然印着:“为银行寻找第二波财政援助大臣”


It was during this time that the world saw one of the most spectacular displays of large-scale misplaced trust in our world had yet to see. Loans you couldnt afford were easy to come by and people were clambering over each other for them. After a while, enough people couldnt pay back what they were given and it caused one of the largest financial crises of all time. Many of these banks, instead of being allowed to go bankrupt and fail, were given bailouts from the government to allow those that caused this mess to go unpunished and to keep their doors open. From this great collapse of trust in government and financial institutions birthed a revolution.

正是在此期间,发生了迄今世界上规模最大范围最广的由信任危机引发的游行示威。人们开始还不起贷款,甚至出现恶性攀比。渐渐地,越来越多的人无力偿还贷款,一场前所未有的金融危机爆发。然而,许多银行却没有倒闭或破产,反而得到了政府的“援助”,那些混乱制造者也未得到应有的惩罚,反而依旧照常营业。对金融机构和政府的信任危机触发了一场革命。

 

From this came Bitcoin, A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, which few knew would become the primary settlement layer of the future. Its success in proving that we had a technology that could give power back to the people started a wave of change that slowly overthrew the traditional centralized trust structure of the day. The change was slow at first, but once it gained momentum, nothing could stop it. It wasn’t really until banks started requiring “Purpose of Use” slips for cash withdrawal which lead to the eventual great cash ban that people started looking for a simpler and less permissioned way of spending their money. The nail in the coffin was when the government began requiring your bank account information for tax purposes, selling it as easy and thoughtless taxes for the busy citizen. People started seeing governments acting upon what should have been peoples private details. Cryptographic, decentralized banking began to be the norm.

比特币—— “一种点对点的电子现金系统” 由此诞生,几乎没有人料到它会成为未来的主要结算币种。它的成功向人类证明了这项技术足以赋能一场变革,后来甚至慢慢推翻了以往传统的中心化信任结构。这场变革起初发展缓慢,一旦势头强健,便没有任何力量能够阻挡。当银行发布“提现必须填写现金用途 ”的法规以及禁止大额提现的时候,人们便开始寻求更简单、更少限制的支付方式,比特币逐渐进入人们的视野。当政府开始索要纳税用的银行账户信息,并贩卖此类信息时,比特币的普及已经成为了板上钉钉的事实。当发现政府毫不保护人民的隐私时,加密去中心化的银行业务已然成为常态。

 

Eventually, the same shift occurred with data but remarkably, it took a bit longer to happen. People were losing their privacy at an exponential rate. Google, Facebook, and others gathered more and more data under the guise of better integration of their technology. Google and Amazon analyzing your email, texts and internet history to better force upon you all the things that you never knew you couldnt live without and Facebook listening in to your conversations to better match you with people and possible relationships. Maybe their intentions were pure but after the great personal data leak of 2023 people finally woke up to the danger of centralized systems in general. Almost 80% of the people in developed countries, nearly 1.7 billion people, had almost every bit of digital information on them released to the Internet. Their whole lives became publicly accessible. Bank accounts, addresses, social security numbers, passwords, email, text history, audio recording of phone calls, Internet usage history, photo libraries, personality and interest profiles; everything. A simple Googling of a person now resulted in having access to enough information to know more about someone than they do. Of course, governments tried to outlaw the sharing of this data and erase this from the Internet but even Beyoncé could tell you the outcome of that undertaking. The resulting mass freezing of bank accounts, name change requests, movement of people to different houses, jobs, states, and countries caused another crisis, a psychological one. The economy tanked, not because of banks, but because the world came to a standstill, the foundation of people’s existence shaken to the core.

最终,这一变革也扩展到了数据领域,但花费了更长的时间。人们正以指数的速度失去他们的隐私。谷歌,Facebook及其他一些公司以“为了更好的进行技术整合”为幌子收集了越来越多的数据。谷歌和亚马逊分析电子邮件或短信内容和互联网历史记录,以便强制性地精准推送信息。而Facebook则窃听聊天记录,从而更好地把你与其他人或者可能的关系网进行匹配。也许他们的意图是纯粹的,但在2023年出现大量个人数据泄漏之后,人们终于意识到了中心化系统的风险。发达国家中近80%的人口(近17亿人)的数字化信息被发布到网上,任何人都可以随意访问这些信息,其中包括银行账户,地址,社会保障码,密码,电子邮件,文本历史记录,电话录音,互联网使用历史,图片库,个性和兴趣资料,几乎囊括了一个人一生所有的隐私信息。你只需“谷歌”一下人名,即可获取全部资料,当事人或许都没你了解。当然,政府试图删除这些数据并禁止人们共享,然而结果可想而知,甚至碧昂斯也能告诉你,政府的这些尝试都是徒劳。由此引发了大规模银行账户冻结、姓名更改申请、搬家和跳槽,各州和各国家开始出现另一大危机——心理危机。经济困局并非银行造成的,而是世界的发展进入了停滞阶段。人民生存基础的核心出现动摇。

 

From the Trust Crisis came the new world. Decentralized technology was the only widely adopted technology to survive. Anything that used money, the transfer of data or something of worth was done over a decentralized and trustless network. The giants of this era are not Google, Amazon or Facebook. They are the ones that these networks stand upon, that tie them together to form a new Internet where value and data are cryptographically secure and the systems are not owned or controlled by any centralized entity.

信任危机逐渐波及到全球。去中心化技术成为熬过信任危机唯一被广泛采用的技术。所有金钱交易,数据或价值传输都可以通过一个去中心化去信任的网络来完成。这个时代的巨人不再是谷歌、亚马逊或Facebook,而是建立起这个去中心去信任网络并将它们联成一个全新的互联网的那些企业。这条网络上的价值和数据都是加密安全的,并且不属于任何中心化机构或者为他们所控制。


…………


INT is one of those giants that stood up after the Trust Crisis. Having already laid the foundation for an interoperating network, they connected an ever-growing web of subnetworks for everything from payment with your cryptocurrency of choice, to cryptographically secured data storage for use with computers and cellphones alike, and later with the incorporation of more complex systems like loans and insurance.

INT就是这场信任危机后逆袭的巨头之一。早已为互操作性网络奠定好基础的INT,创建了一个万物互联,且不断发展的子网络:从加密货币到用于计算机和手机数据的安全加密存储,以及应用到复杂的网络,例如贷款和保险等系统。

 

In this future, identity profiles are at the center of our daily existence. Everything has been decentralized, from banking to communications to employment, and everything is connected. Many networks coexist, collecting data on everything and communicating freely. The entire earth is covered in a web of interconnected everything, the true Internet of Things. The volume is so tremendous and computing ability so high that fees are basically zero.

未来,身份档案是我们日常生活的中心。那时,生活中的一切都是去中心化的,从银行业到通信业再到就业,同时又是互联的。众多网络共存,自由采集数据和传输。整个地球被一张万物相连所组成的网覆盖,实现了真正意义上的物联网。 体量巨大,算力高超,然后费用却近乎于零。

 

Every person has a unique public key identifier which is linked to private keys on every network, hid behind a zero-knowledge proof to prevent any association. All the data is linked, from the RFID tag embedded in your arm to your asset wallets, your grocery profile to your calendar, your browsing history to your interests profile. Your 4FA (fingerprint, iris print, heartbeat signature, subvocal confirmation) code is the unstealable key to everything in your life.

每个人都有一个唯一的公钥标识符,该标识符链接到每个网络上的私钥,同时受零知识证明的保护以防止任何关联。 所有数据相互关联,从你手臂中嵌入的芯片到你的资产钱包,从你的杂货店购买记录到你的日历,从你的浏览历史记录再到你的兴趣档案...... 你的4FA(指纹,虹膜打印,心跳签名,语音确认)代码是你生活中一切的密钥,且无法被盗取。

 

And all data in existence is available on an interconnected network,Banking, investment, Internet, transportation, Traffic, secure communication, television, music, insurance, electricity, and other services. Automated decentralized exchanges remove the need for central currencies and open work markets allow you to do small jobs anonymously. In this hyperconnected world, data exists in an ocean of continuity, each new data event being written in immutable digital rock, creating ripples of activity through countless systems which are listening.

同时,现存所有数据都可以在一个互联网络上获得,包括:银行、投资、互联网、交通、运输、安全通信、电视、音乐、保险、电力以及其他服务。自动去中心化的交易削弱了对中央货币的需求,同时开放的就业市场允许了匿名工作。在这个超级互联的世界中,数据从未间断,每个新数据都被记录在无法篡改的数字区块中,通过无数被收听着的系统串联出活动曲线。


……

 

2078

Theo, your house AI, wakes you up at the perfect moment in your REM cycle by slowly brightening your wall panel to simulate sunshine.Good morning, Nicolas

Theo,你的室内智能机器人。当你处于REM睡眠(快速眼球睡眠或异相睡眠)中时,他会选择在最恰当的时机,在房间的墙壁上模拟出阳光,把你叫醒。“早上好,Nicolas。”

 

Laying there, you check the price of bitcoin, a habit that you picked up from your grandfather. Gone are the days of volatility and cheap prices like he used to talk about, in my day it was all over the news when Bitcoin hit 20k!! you can almost hear him now as you stare at the bitcoin chart projected into your vision. The number is so big it doesnt mean anything anymore. As you slowly push yourself up on the edge of the bed, Theo notifies you that your car was involved in an accident last night while it rented itself out.

你躺在床上,查看了下比特币的价格,这一习惯源自你的祖父。祖父说的没错,未来比特币的价格将十分高昂且非常稳定,“在我那个年代,比特币只是涨到2万,上涨的新闻就遍布了全球!”你盯着视野范围内的比特币图表,祖父的言语仿佛还在耳边。这个数字的确很大,但是已经不再有任何意义了。你慢慢挪到床边,Theo向你汇报,你的车把自己租出去后,发生了交通事故。

 

It was a minor collision, no one was hurt. The one responsible was a gentleman manually driving his vehicle. We notified the authorities and the insurance company and I had the car drive itself to a body shop. The report and repair details are in your inbox. It will be a few days so the body shop sent a rental, it is in the driveway. Theo says in his typical nonjudgemental tone.

“这只是一次轻微的碰撞,没有人受伤。肇事的是一位男士,开着一辆手动驾驶的轿车。我们已经通知了当局和保险公司,并对你的车下达了自动驾驶到汽修店的指令。 报告和维修清单已经发送到了你的邮箱。车还需要几日才能修理好,汽修店已经送来另一辆车,暂租给我们使用。车已经停在了马路上。”Theo用他一贯的不带任何评论色彩的语气说道。


Despite all the advances, we still have those hipsters who like to hold onto the past by manually driving their vintage Teslas. They just dont know how dangerous it is. You say as you check the revenue you made last night.Huh, insurance already reimbursed me for the lost rental time due to repairs…”

“社会都已经发展到现在的程度了,怎么还有‘潮人’保留着这些陈年旧习,喜欢手动驾驶他们的老式特斯拉。 他们真是不知道有多危险。”你边说着边确认昨晚的收入情况。“嗯,因为需要维修,保险公司已经赔偿了我损失的租赁时间......


…………


Daydreaming as you get dressed about what it would be like to just go back to the times of sub-million dollar Bitcoin, Theo, which is connected to the INT network, notifies your place of work as to when you will get in based on the projected traffic conditions and a quick stop for coffee on the way. As you approach your car, the RFID identifier imbedded in your arm, sets the environment to your preferences and loads the personal entertainment device in the dashboard with the article you were reading, right where you left off. You have been reading old articles around the time of the creation of the INT network. Nobody seemed to understand the technology they had at their fingertips or where it would lead the world. You came across an article titled, “A Look Into the Future” by Graytrain.

你穿好衣服,开始幻想比特币低于百万美金的时候世界是什么样的,这时,Theo,已经连上了INT网络,看了下现在的交通状况,算上中途停车买咖啡的时间,把预估的到达时间通知到了工作单位。当你走向你的车,手臂上嵌入的RFID标识符会根据你的喜好设置车载环境,并将仪表板中的娱乐设备与你正在阅读的文章重新加载到你离开时的位置。INT创立时期,你一直在读些旧文。当时似乎没有人理解这项技术,尽管它触手可及,甚至可以引领世界。 你刚好读到了Graytrain的一篇题为“未来奇缘”的文章。


Its creepy how close he was to the truth.

“真不可思议,他与真相的距离是那么的近。”

 

Before you can even think of coffee, Theo notifies the coffee shop that you will be there shortly and that based on the weather, and your changing grocery requests, you will be wanting to change your normal coffee selection from the normal black with a dab of cream, to something a bit sweeter. Theo then transfers some of your deflationary assets through the decentralized exchange into a stable coin, akin to fiat, to pay for the coffee once you pick it up.

在你想到咖啡之前,Theo已经通知咖啡店说你很快就要到了,根据天气和自己的需求变化,你准备换一换口味,从加少许奶的黑咖,换成稍稍有点甜儿的咖啡。然后,Theo通过去中心化的交易所,将一部分你通货紧缩的资产转换成一种稳定的货币,类似于法定货币,你一端起咖啡就可以进行支付。


…………


When you walk into the coffee shop, the shop AI chimes in your ear, Good morning Nicolas, we notice you were out a little late last night, would you like to have an extra shot added to your drink?You stare at your portable AI unit on your wrist and subvocalize, “Theo, remind me to dial up the privacy settings on the BPK controller.”

你走进咖啡店,店里AI的问候已在耳边响起,“早上好,Nicolas,我们注意到您昨晚睡得有点晚了,您需要加浓咖啡吗?”你盯着手腕上的便携式人工智能装置并进行亚文本化,说道:“Theo,提醒我拨打BPK控制器上的隐私设置。”


Sure, Ill take that extra shot.

“当然,我选择加浓。”


Some people like to allow AI to read every bit of data in their life so it can be as decision-free as possible. You are a little bit more old school.

有些人喜欢让AI读取他们生活中的每一处数据,如此就不需要自己做决定了,你的想法略有点老派。

 

…………


Once you arrive at work and log into your workstation, Theo begins feeding you chunks of buggy code from the decentralized work market. In all the advancements of AI, there is still some code that it cant write. Each time you finish a piece of code, its proper function is validated and a proof of the work is sent back to the work market. You are paid automatically in stable coin which Theo then exchanges into other assets based on current market positions and your chosen risk profile.

你一上班并登录进工作站,Theo就会开始从去中心化的工作市场中替你获取大量的错误代码。 尽管AI很先进,但仍然存在一些它们无法编写的代码。 每当你完成一段代码,其本征函数被验证后,就会将该项工作证明发回工作市场。 你将收到一笔稳定货币作为酬劳,然后Theo会根据当前市场定位和你选择的风险状况转移成其他资产。

 

Theo, will you order me lunch? You subvocalize, leaning back in your chair.

Theo,你能帮我点午餐吗?”你倚靠在椅子上低语道。


 Yes, would you like your regular from the Deli?

“没问题,点Deli常规套餐可以吗?”


Come on Theo! You know the drill, guess it right and you get another point toward me upgrading your memory!

“拜托Theo! 你知道规矩的,猜对了,你又可以升级一次内存了!“


Well, technically, you have wanted the same sandwich on 98 of the past 112 work days, and based on that, if I assume…”

“呃,从技术上讲,你在过去的112个工作日中有98次点了同一款三明治,所以基于此,我假设......


OKAY! Okay. You nailed it. I need to make my choices harder.

“好吧! 好吧。 你说的没错。 我需要更加努力地多做选择。“


Yes you do. It will be there in 10 minutes.

“是的。 中餐将在10分钟后送到。“


…………


Nearing the end of your day, Theo notifies you that this evening you have a date, which he has confirmed with her AI and based on her BPK preferences, he had booked reservations with three restaurants at varying price points.

一天快结束了,Theo通知你,今天晚上你有一个约会,他已经和她的AI进行了确认,并根据她的BPK偏好,已经预订了三家不同价位的餐厅。


Or I could have it delivered to your apartment, Theo said sensing your intention after a pause.

“或者我可以将约会的消息发送到你的公寓,”Theo停顿了一下,察觉到了你的意向,说道。


Lets do that. Pull her movie preferences and find where they overlap with mine and find a movie that neither of us has seen.

“可以。 了解下她的电影喜好,找一部我也喜欢的,然后我们俩都没有看过的电影。“


It doesnt look like that will work…” Theo whispers after a pause.

“好像这行不通......Theo停顿了一下后低声说道。


Why!?

“为什么!?”


She seems to only enjoy romantic comedies, Theo said almost apologetically.

“她似乎只喜欢浪漫喜剧,”Theo几乎抱歉地说道。


Sighing, you add, better get an extra bottle of wine delivered too.

你叹了口气,补充道,“最好再来一瓶葡萄酒。” 


…………


You decide to head home a bit early to pick up the house and get ready for the evening.On the way home, you sit, staring out the window as your lane of cars seamlessly mesh onto traffic on the highway, the cars imperceptibly creating gaps for merging cars, whole fields of vehicles moving in concert to let some on and others off.

你决定早点回家装饰屋子,为晚上做好准备。回家路上,你坐在车里,望向窗外,你所在的车道无缝地连接上了高速公路,车道上的车辆在不知不觉中就给那些汇流的车腾出了空间,整片区域的车都在一并移动,一些驶进来,剩下的则驶出去。

 

Theo, wondering aloud as you shut down the projected billboard ads so you could watch it all happen before you. how did people drive this fast, side by side, MANUALLY, in the past without getting in wrecks all the time?It was a lot of trust to put in others. One small movement would be enough to lose control.

Theo,”你关掉了车里亮着的广告牌,这样你就能看清面前发生的一切,你大声问道, “以前大家是怎么做到手动开车开那么快,还能并行,还不会出现事故的?”“这是基于对他人的非常信任吧。 一个小小的动作就足以让车失控。“

 

AND all they could do to show their intention to move around was flash lights on the sides of their cars, you say, slightly shaking your head.I dont quite understand it either sir, if you could hear all of the communication I am receiving from the other vehicles in order to make this work, it would make your head swim. Some of them are rather chatty also. It makes the average, at the time, of 5.5 million car wrecks per year in the United States alone seem reasonable. Speaking of, there is a broken down vehicle on our exit, we will be taking an alternate route.At this time, Theo knows you like a cup of tea when you return home after work and begins heating the water.

“还有,他们只能用车两侧的灯光告诉别人车会往哪个方向开”你轻轻地摇摇头说。“我也不太能理解,先生。如果你听到我这所有从其他车辆发送过来的为了保证车辆正常行驶消息,你一定会懵圈的。有一些相当爱闲聊。这样看起来,当时美国每年平均550万辆汽车残骸似乎是合理的。 说到这,我们出口处有一辆抛锚的车辆,我们要换另一条路线了。这时,Theo知道你下班回家后喜欢泡杯茶喝,所以开始烧水。


…………


As you pull up to your house, the lights turn on and the tea water is hot. Upon entering, Theo, observing your tense and nervous body language, begins playing softly in the background your favorite Chopin, Ballade 4 in F minor Op. 52.

你到家了,灯亮了,茶水已经热好。 进屋后,察觉到你紧绷着的肢体语言,Theo开始播放舒缓的音乐,是你最喜欢的肖邦F小调第四叙事曲,作品52

 

Traffic always gets you tense and the goings-on of this evening dont exactly help the situation.You pour your cup of tea and migrate over to your favorite leather chair and sit for a moment, staring at the gray wall before you.

每次上下班都会让你变得精神紧绷,今晚的这一切也并不能帮你得到缓解。你倒了一杯茶,挪到你最喜欢的皮椅上,坐了一会儿,凝视着面前的灰色墙壁。

 

Theo, will you pull up the fall rain in the redwoods on the view screen?It’s done without a word, the quiet hiss of rain adding to the background of the music.

Theo,你可以在银幕上播放红杉的秋雨吗?”话音未落,安静的雨声和入背景音乐。


…………


Sir, the delivery drone will be on its way shortly, you should begin getting ready. Theo says delicately, as if he was trying to avoid interrupting something.

“先生,无人接送机很快就到,你应该开始做准备了。”Theo婉转地说,好像在试图避免打断某些东西。


 Well, so much for picking up. Theo, will you just gather the mess into the spare bedroom while I shower?

“好吧,这么多要收拾的。Theo,在我洗澡时,你能把这些烂摊子收进备用卧室吗?


Of course.

“当然可以。”


The night goes smoothly, or as smoothly as it can when you force down another glass of wine just so you can keep your sanity through her favorite movie that she promised you will love.After a reasonable amount of socializing after the movie and multiple agreements to “yes, we should do this again sometime,” you eventually corral her toward the door and send her on her way.

当你再灌下一杯酒时夜晚变的更加宁静,你们一起观看那部她最爱的电影,她觉得你也一定会爱上它,电影使你保持着头脑清醒。电影结束后,经过一番合乎情理的交谈,你们多次达成 “是的,我们应该某个时间再一起看电影”的共识,你最终将她带到门口并送她离开。

 

Flailing yourself down onto the bed, you lay wondering what life would have been back before computers controlled everything and you had to do things yourself. Imagine a world where you actually had to talk to people to get a coffee or your lunch. The idea that you might come across someone randomly and hit it off instead of this auto generated matching system was something that made your heart race just thinking about it. The matching system just never seemed to get it quite right.

你摊倒在床,躺着想如果回到在计算机控制一切之前生活会是怎样,你必须自己做所有事。 想象一下一个世界,你必须亲自和人们交流,来获取咖啡或者午餐。 你可能会偶然遇到一个人,而不是通过自动生成的匹配系统,这使你的心跳加速。你从未想过这样的匹配系统会使这一切变的如此的顺利。


Maybe its me…”

“也许是我......



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