Faction/block/key
From eg
The faction/block/key living ontology pattern describes mechanisms for a faction to retain social cohesion, expand its epistemic community and apply epistemic filters via credentials; When there are inadequate operational distinctions to define locks strictly in terms of such filters and credentials, the looser faction/repute/key pattern is said to apply (repute is a tendency to unlock). When an explicit but social permission is used, the pattern becomes faction/forbid/key.
See enactivist net for an advanced view, enacTOR for an example.
This description focuses on instructional capital, avoiding the social factors (except those re repute) to focus only on the mechanics and instructions and infrastructure required: only the block and key.
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[edit] closely related patterns
The faction/role/order pattern explains how factions assign roles, issue orders;
The idea/tendency/faction pattern explains how decisions to advocate/obey/silence affect experience/credential/repute in factions;
[edit] repute unblocks, disrepute excludes
A faction often defines repute (including credit and individual roles) any way it wants, and the definition is usually not very operational and relies on personal trust, e.g. advogato trust metric. In a single command hierarchy, leader favour is enough to provide access even to command and control systems. However, these systems are simply not reliable, accountable, verifiable, resilient, responsible, regretful, remorseful or restorative enough to cope with decisions that have many victims. Also, the fact that very few have social contact with each other can lead quickly to the bunker mentality, preventing new actors from being trusted or even trained or recruited. See recruit/train/trust for more on this. Finally these systems are not transformative nor reflexive insofar as they don't teach and don't learn very well. Worst, such mechanisms don't reliably exclude.
Accordingly, many formal and informal mechanisms are required to let factions distribute keys which permit actions for which the faction itself will be held jointly responsible, exclude others, and provide a transformative and reflexive means by which to propagate and examine the values that the faction holds in common to justify such trust, i.e. such distribution of social capital to specific persons playing individual roles.
These mechanisms, collectively, are usually called repute, but operationally they serve to block/forbid/exclude. An infrastructural block is called a lock. If a given key only unlocks, permits or includes, it can be said to apply the more specific faction/lock/key, /forbid/key, /include/key. See verb:lock for the most generic and physically-oriented description of all this.
[edit] distrust blocks
Most operationally, distrust can be defined as the instructional capital leading to the instructional and infrastructural capital locks, preventing dilution of social capital. However, distrust is a much more generic concept requiring more detail.
A more calculable, but less operational, definition of distrust is the degree to which due processing requires multiple parties to agree before unlocking.
[edit] credentials
To reflect and formalize repute or impose blocks, locks or due processing, a faction may impose credential systems for particular transactions involving its adherents, either amongst themselves or in inter-factional deals. Use of factionally defined terms provide some clues as to faction membership, but not reliable ones, as imposters can use them. See doctrine:mole, biometric credential, doctrine:void and war. See hospital credential for an extensive description of a good example.
[edit] need not be defined by the faction
Despite the fact that they are not themselves factionally defined, web of trust and execution control systems, a revert currency or barter or other social credit system, even financial credit mechanisms, can serve as credentials. In politics certain roles are so important, like union leader, shop steward, corporate executive and journalist, that anyone holding these individual roles will have some status merely for the power they can exercise. Roles that imply managerial discretion will likewise command some additional attention, as resources can be directed towards the faction from the sphere of manager control. See corporatist.
[edit] keys
A generic repute key or role key like an infra trade ticket key is simply an indication that the holder has sufficient repute or status or trust or insurance to hold it. It must be verifiable by some means, e.g. biometric as in a biometric quorum credential, or challenge-response (more typical), to be actually held by the individiual with this rightful repute or role.
[edit] no need for names
Such means need not be tied to names, but can be tied to bodies via voices. A biometric credential verifies biometrically that someone has a status or is a member of a group. Unlike a biometric ID it does not identify which member, i.e. which biometric was matched, though it may have safeguards against suspicious situations, e.g. data updates shortly before major decisions. Nor need the means be mechanical or algorithmic. A biometric credential quorum key lets any credential, including membership, be verifiable only when, and thus remain secret until, a certain number of persons who have the same credential or an authorizing credential are present. A variant of this system is used in the Star Trek self-destruct sequence in which which the ship is the faction, the officers have repute, and the keys are a sequence of numbers and the biometric identification of voices by the computer.
There is however no need to add the individual's body-identifying information or real name as it may compromise the individual's political privacy or other privacy: see outable factions for exceptions. Biometric or challenge-response information may reveal their identity indirectly though its normal use is to let a service provider verify identity without using any names. See use real names for advantages and disadvantages of this method.
[edit] transactions based on repute
A key will normally serve purposes other than merely factional repute or role statements. There's more to do than self-destruct! The use of a USB key in particular opens the possibility to tie many possible functions to a repute:
To add digital cash to the key permits purchases. To add OpenID or jabber or PayPal or e-gold information specific to an individual role allows use of bank accounts or credit cards and use of online services to which one subscribes.
[edit] rent/use/return
The most obvious function is building access which is often controlled by key. Holding it indicates infrastructure owners trust, and basically nothing else, so in this instance faction/repute/key implements a rent/use/return pattern.
By contrast, use/rent/return requires those with infrastructure owners trust to effectively sublet the space or access to others with compatible repute or exclude mechanisms.
