Bitself : A Peer-to-Peer Decentralized Identity
While I was rereading Satoshi’s white paper lately, I was struck by the fact that there was much more to it than just a creating an electronic cash system. More than just a technical or governance statement.
More than the idea of implementing trust or consensus in a network, as many authors have already outlined.
There is much more to it in regard to one’s “self”.
Why so?
Because the “self” or one’s identity is commonly conceived as a centralized entity ; something that defines us. In a way, it’s our foundation. The “I” that we use to designate our-selves is the center of who we are.
But that’s just the common sense way of considering the “self”. In fact, the “self” or one’s identity is not a stable entity. It is not something definite.
Of course, there are official documents backed by institutions or the government that vouch for our identity. But still, identity is not about central authorities (CAs) that sign our identity.That’s not what the “self” is all about.
It’s all about distribution.
It’s all about the peer-to-peer network of things and humans that define us at every moment, thus making identity a decentralized entity. Our-selves are constantly in the making, in the process of adding new experience to the ledger of our past experience.

Obviously, our open blockchain starts somewhere. It has its genesis block. But it constantly adds new blocks, it constantly processes new inputs. And our “self” constantly hashes them with new outputs.
The “self” is a constantly secured hash protocol that redefines itself through new inputs, that is: new experience.
That being said, our-selves too are an assemblage of bits — basic units of information — , or in other words : bitselves. Distributed selves, peer-to-peer selves…
And Satoshi’s whateverself provided the most eloquent example of the bitself, as a decentralized self.
Satoshi’s identity was constantly defined and redefined by the multiple agents who wrote and speculated about his whateverself (and still do).
So our-selves are much like bitcoin. They’re always on the making, always moving, always thriving in an open world. Otherwise, the self would be a static entity, an entity that never evolves.
“Creative destruction” or constant controversy is at work in everyone’s self : new believes destroy ancient ones, old thoughts are replaced by new ones all the time (this process by which individuals settle into new opinions was best described by pragmatist philosopher William James, “What Pragmatism Means”, 1907).

Everything is on the making, nothing’s definite. And any innovative mind should embrace this uncertainty and be willing to act upon it, rather than gravitate around a central entity providing us with finite answers or, otherwise said, a turnkey solution for our lives and thoughts.
I think by now you get the point.
If you’re still not convinced about the process of your bitself, you should remind yourself that you just read this blog post. Or should I say “block” post…
