188
Decentralised networks are to big tech, what Martin Luther was to the catholic church.
(discuss.tchncs.de)
this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2026
188 points (96.1% liked)
Showerthoughts
42942 readers
424 users here now
A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:
- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
Rules
- All posts must be showerthoughts
- The entire showerthought must be in the title
- No politics
- If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
- A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
- Posts must be original/unique
- Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct and the TOS
If you made it this far, showerthoughts is accepting new mods. This community is generally tame so its not a lot of work, but having a few more mods would help reports get addressed a little sooner.
Whats it like to be a mod? Reports just show up as messages in your Lemmy inbox, and if a different mod has already addressed the report, the message goes away and you never worry about it.
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
That... doesnt bode well for decentralized networks considering how Proteatantism became a force of political power just like the Catholic Church.
That is still more a problem of people and tribalism. People have always found a way or something to try to build a perceived tribe or group around. It doesn't have to be religion.
As someone raised in one of the two sects directly descended from and named for Martin Luther. I find a lot in OP's assessment that I agree with. The reason I consider myself separate or even agnostic these days has more to do with the people and their tribalism in the congregations around me. Than it does the teachings themselves.
The sentiment also resonates with me as an anarchist. Even with very diluted power, negative and evil things can still happen locally. But if you want to have wide spread evil and negative impact you need to concentrate that power. Even today, no one can approach the roman church's record. Not the Mormons, not the Jehovah's Witnesses, not even Scientology. All quite terrible in their own right. Though they may catch up. Who knows.
The ability to choose how you worship (or even if) as well as who you associate with are important and vital. It doesn't guarantee your ability to make good choices and associations. But at least you have the choice.
Imagine if the only public square you had access to was enforced and policed by corrupt bigoted conservatives, or ML. No thank you.
I don't agree with the rest of your post particularly, but this is the central theme. People will fuck anything up and run it into the ground by virtue of being people, and groups of people fuck things up faster.
Fediverse is no silver bullet; nothing is. The monkey that touches the technology and tools is the source of their misuse, and the monkey never changes, although the tool does.
Not a silver bullet. But basic conditions for the right things to happen. Just as anarchism isn't a silver bullet. But its the right conditions for people to actually choose for themselves. And make the right choices society would otherwise deny. There are no silver bullets. Those have always been fictional tropes. And never my intention to imply otherwise.
sure. One can always make a better tool.
Oh I agree, I am still on the side of FOSS and decentralization, still that comparison to the Protestant Reformation just twinged something in me.
Hmm, is that bad though? To have dezentralized networks represented politicly could also be a chance.