We were joined by Mark S. Miller, Chief Scientist at Agoric. Mark is a computer scientist who has done ground-breaking work on many topics relevant to blockchain and smart contracts going back decades. We discussed his visionary 1988 Agoric papers, which explored how markets could be applied to the world of software. We also covered how his view of smart contracts, which focused on secure bilateral agreements complements and converges with blockchain. Finally, we covered his new company Agoric and their conceptualization of higher order smart contracts. Topics discussed in this episode:Mark's effort to prevent the government from suppressing the discovery of public key cryptography in the 1970sThe legendary project Xanadu and its attempt to create censorship-resistant web publishingMark's Agoric papers and the vision of markets for computationWhy AI hasn't changed the shortcomings of central planningThe difference between his view of smart contracts and Nick Szabo'sTheir decade-spanning work on making JavaScript the best language for smart contractsAgoric's work on higher order smart contracting Links mentioned in this episode: The Agoric PapersComputer Security as the Future of Law - YouTubeCapability-based Financial Instruments (2000)Distributed Electronic Rights in JavaScript '" Google AIAgoric at SF Cryptocurrency Devs - Programming Secure Smart Contracts - YouTubeThe Duality of Smart Contracts and Electronic Rights by Dean Tribble at Web3 Summit 2018 - YouTube Sponsors: Azure: Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicksCosmos: Join the most interoperable ecosystem of connected blockchains 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 hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/286