The Computing & Psychology-Neurology Layers. Centralized and Decentralized Approaches.

I’ve been always fascinated by high-tech and human psychology, neurology, and the brain, and all the biochemistry involved. With this post, I just want to draw some parallels between basic internet and blockchain architectural layers and explore of these have an overlap with psychological and neurological human behavioral layers?

This is the OSI layer, the basic infrastructure on how the internet works!

When two computers are connected this is the process and layers that are used, But now let's explore how a decentralized layer like the Blockchain looks like.

From a user perspective, there is not a notable difference and detect a centralized vs a decentralized application, the application and presentation layers ultimately look and feel the same. Except of course the infrastructure, network, protocol, and service layer are very different! The typical internet is centralized by a group of computers, vs any computer can participate in this network.

Now let's look at some mental behavioral layers and influential factors.

• A second before perception: neurological
• Previous seconds to minutes before: environment and sensory stimuli
• Hours to days before: hormones (Testosterone, Oxytocin)
• Thousands of years before: genetics
• The Brain (The frontal cortex, ventromedial prefrontal cortex/vmPFC emotion — dorsolateral prefrontal cortex/dlPFC -logic)
• Neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin)
• Culture
• Us vs Them
• Status
• Group Identity / Belonging
• Context & Perception (Add list from the ascent of money)

1. The availability bias is the human tendency to think that examples of things that come readily to mind are more representative than is actually the case.
2. Hindsight bias, also known as the knew-it-all-along phenomenon or creeping determinism, is the common tendency for people to perceive past events as having been more predictable than they actually were.
3. The problem of induction which lead us to formulate general rules on the basis of insufficient information
4. The fallacy of conjunction is a formal fallacy that occurs when it is assumed that specific conditions are more probable than a single general one
5. Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one’s prior beliefs or values.
6. Contamination effects, which inclines us to look for confirming evidence of an initial hypothesis, rather than falsifying evidence that would disprove it.
7. The affect heuristic is a mental shortcut that allows people to make decisions and solve problems quickly and efficiently, in which current emotion — fear, pleasure, surprise, etc. — influences decisions.
8. Scope neglect or scope insensitivity is a cognitive bias that occurs when the valuation of a problem is not valued with a multiplicative relationship to its size.
9. Bystander apathy - individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when there are other people present.

All this information and layers is telling us that is hard to understand the complexity and interplat between technology and our psychology — specifically related with our daily behaviours and emotional responses— Technology is influencing our phsychology and behavior every hour and minute of the day! And I’m becoming very skeptical on us consciously having a connection with out free will whatsoever.

Therefore is very important that we take our interactions and daily use of technology very serious. I will continue to write more post about this.