Feedback/Discussion on Eterna Players Alliance and Eterna Commons Proposals

I transcripted one of the talks from eteRNAcon and was now able to post it as a comment document. I think that an aspect to really motivate long term players is have a system similar to a vested ESOP program so that there is seniority on players that have been playing longer and have a deeper perspective on the general direction of the game. An idea that would mitigate the lack of sharing of information due to a monetary prize would be to have groups that would share in the prize and compete against others. Yes there would still be a non-sharing competitive aspect although there would a huge push for progress due to the rewards of scientific credit and financial rewards (royalties, etc.) No matter how I see it I sense that eteRNA is going to end up moving in a direction to produce profitability especially once Eterna creates it’s first viable medicine. This will really set the stage for eterna’s progression to the next level. 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T_cK8hK2eCgyrc2WA1VrbDV1U5cFKEl3ufJRGWwxKWM/edit?usp=sharing

As an eterna member, I have had conflicting feelings/views about EPA/Commons structural development.  But after listening to both the EPA presentation and David Magus’s thoughts, I am now a supporter.

The keystone for my view shift was when David suggested that we should think of ourselves/eterna as developing a new type of community.  For me, the notion of being in and developing a new type of community gave all the structural development efforts meaning.

There are five existing fundamental principles/features to eterna which I believe our community strongly supports, but that I haven’t heard spoken of explicitly. These aspects are both rare and integral in protecting eterna from problems that arise within communities that lack them. 

The fundamental problems that our community is currently relatively free from are:

1.      Principal – agent problems

2.      Mission drift

3.      Lack of Resiliency

 

Key Existing Eterna Principle/Features:

1.      Idea meritocracy[1]

2.      When consensus cannot be easily reached, we use believability weight decision-making.

3.      Transparency

4.      Resilient systems[2]

5.      Focus on discovery and what is novel

_______________________________________________  

[1] Idea Meritocracy:  An idea meritocracy is a decision-making system where the best ideas win out. In idea meritocracy, people commit to doing these three things:

  1. Put their honest thoughts on the table for everyone to see.

  2. Have thoughtful disagreements in which there are reasonable back-and-forths in which people evolve their thinking to come up with better decisions than they could come up with individually.

  3. If disagreements remain, use agreed upon protocols, such as believability weighted decision making, to get people past disagreements in idea-meritocratic way.   (source: Ray Dalio, Bridgewater)

2] https://applyingresilience.org/en/the-7-principles/

 

 

Dr Magnus’s presentation also significantly changed my view on the importance of another eterna function – players voting on what research to pursue and not to pursue.

This function could become an integral and highly valued part of public governance/participation in how to pursue science and how to get public’s involvement and approval of.  One of several ways, but very important and valued by research organizations, governments and the public.

1 Like