Legendary scientist and cryptography pioneer Ralph Merkle joined us to discuss his recent paper on DAOs. Merkle examined how the voting mechanisms in today's democracies are flawed and how a decentralized, transparent DAO making decisions using prediction markets could create more efficient democratic systems. Topics discussed in this episode:Merkle proofs, Merkle Roots and his early forays into cryptographyBlockchains as living organismsWhy DAOs will be subject to a Darwinian evolutionary processWhy voting is flawed and we need new governance methods to save democracyThe concept of a DAO democracyHow prediction markets and futarchy would help govern a DAO democracy Links mentioned in this episode: Ralph Merkle DAO Democracy Paper [PDF]Ralph Merkle's HomepageRalph Merkle's Wikipedia pageEpisode 98 with Robin Hanson on futarchy & prediction marketsTim Urban: Why Cryonics Makes SenseAlcor - Life Extension Foundation Sponsors: DutchX: The open, decentralized trading protocol for ERC20 tokens using the Dutch auction mechanism Support the show, consider donating: BTC: 1CD83r9EzFinDNWwmRW4ssgCbhsM5bxXwg (https://epicenter.tv/tipbtc)BCC: 1M4dvWxjL5N9WniNtatKtxW7RcGV73TQTd (http://epicenter.tv/tipbch)ETH: 0x8cdb49ca5103Ce06717C4daBBFD4857183f50935 (https://epicenter.tv/tipeth) This episode is also available on :Epicenter.tvYouTubeSouncloud Watch or listen, Epicenter is available wherever you get your podcasts. Epicenter is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain, Sƒbastien Couture & Meher Roy.