The story of "Raksha Haishi" will eventually be forgotten, but the blockchain can keep the truth forever

Under the impact of the flood of data, how long can those passionate voices last? Will we forget these voices in the near future, and even become difficult to distinguish the beauty and ugliness of things, gradually submerged in the vortex of narrative? We need a tool to mark and record those shocking events.

Text / Weng Hao, co-founder of Crooked Neck Three Views

Edit / Kaka

01. Starting from Rakshahai City

I heard that Dao Lang's new song "Luocha Haishi" has exceeded 8 billion views. It is equivalent to every person on earth listening to it once. I also contributed two plays. But I have to be honest, the singing voice of Dolan I expected at the beginning didn't make me so "fascinated". But the story of the lyrics is another matter.

In Pu Songling's original work, the story of a Raksha kingdom is described in detail, which is opposite to the dragon kingdom. There is also a warrior among them—Ma Ji, who traveled across the ocean, experienced the vicissitudes of the two kingdoms, and finally chose to return to his homeland. And the people of this Rakshasa country have a unique aesthetic—they think that ugliness is beauty. In other words, this is a world where everything is turned upside down.

Although the story sounds absurd, it is not uncommon in our real world. In this era of increasingly impetuous social atmosphere, every time I see a cute and shy popular singer in a variety show, but wearing a fancy dress and singing a weird song at his own concert, I am puzzled.

Many videos and article interpretations say that "Raksha Haishi" is Dao Lang's "fire" against those big names in the music world. Yes, his lyrics hit the nail on the head. But in my opinion, the key to the song’s ability to resonate so much is that it touches the heart of the masses. 99% of the working people found their own voice in this song, and they voted for it in their own way. Those who are busy with their lives and working hard for their families, they may have no right to speak under the spotlight on the traffic platform, and they cannot talk about it. But their feelings, experiences and efforts form the cornerstone of society. "Raksha Haishi" provides these people with a voice, a melody that can resonate with them.

And the 1% of the "elites" were undoubtedly disturbed by the information in this song. Because they find that their values are not completely consistent with the public. They may be used to seeing people from above, but this song reminds them that the real power comes from the masses.

In the coming era, in music, art and even in life, true emotion and resonance are far more powerful than superficial titles and status.

02. The Wisdom of the Public

"The people need elites to lead", this narrative is regarded as the standard by many people who consider themselves elites. But is that the truth? Does the progress of human society have to rely on a few "geniuses" instead of the general public?

James Surowiecki wrote "The Wisdom of the Crowd" in 2004. He did not use fancy words, but told us with real examples: under certain conditions, the judgment of the public may even surpass that of experts. One of the oft-cited stories concerns a public campaign to guess the weight of a bull.

In 1906, Francis Galton from England, a famous statistician and cousin of Darwin, visited a country fair. At the fair, there is a contest in which the public is invited to guess the weight of a bull that is on display. Those who participate pay a fee, then write down their guesses, and the closest guesser wins a prize.

Galton was intrigued by this activity and decided to analyze it. He collected all the guesses, hoping to verify "the stupidity of the public" through this experiment. But when he averaged all his guesses, he was surprised to find that the average (1,208 pounds) was very close to the actual weight of the bull (1,198 pounds). My own experiment of "verifying the stupidity of the public" finally became an ironclad proof to overthrow this judgment.

On the other hand, I have to mention the negative textbook "The Crowd" that is often cited as the ignorance of groups. This headline alone is like an invisible sledgehammer, hitting those "ordinary" people who try to express their views. But in fact, the groups described in the book are actually groups brainwashed by specific narratives.

For example, in "The Crowd," an example is depicted when there are newspaper reports of two young girls drowning in the Seine. So many witnesses said they recognized the two children, and all the testimonies seemed to be so consistent that the examining judge didn't hesitate to sign the death certificate. However, on the eve of the funeral, it was suddenly discovered that the two little girls who were thought to be dead were actually alive. Because of the guidance of the media, there have been group misjudgments from ordinary people to professionals.

The notorious Goebbels had a famous saying: A lie repeated a thousand times will not become the truth, but if a lie is repeated a thousand times without being exposed, many people will regard it as the truth. But if there is no public platform to allow people with critical thinking to speak out, how can lies be exposed.

Once the narrative power is highly controlled, the original personality of most people in such a group will disappear, and they will no longer be able to think independently, but will follow the trend, and the unconscious will gain the upper hand. These are typical characteristics of crowd psychology. Their behavior just illustrates a fact: when individuals lose their critical thinking and become adrift, they may become the "rabble".

Therefore, in my previous discourse on "Data Resonance: Reconstructing the Trust System", I expressed the importance of social diversity. A group of individuals with independent thinking and critical abilities, the wisdom contained in them is unfathomable. On the other hand, those groups that are manipulated by a single narrative are often the real "crowd".

03. The Power of Narrative

Sitting on the sofa, holding a cup of hot coffee in his hand, watching the information flow scrolling on the screen of the mobile phone. Google's search results, ChatGPT's AI answers, Facebook friends' sharing, CNN, Associated Press, Reuters and other mainstream media are constantly feeding me the "colorful" world. Without hesitation, I thought: "This is the real world." But, is it really?

To understand the forces behind this, first look at the giants who control these sources of information.

Current mainstream Internet media:

*Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin *Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg

• YouTube的CEO Susan Wojcicki *Adam Mosseri, CEO of Instagram

Go to traditional media:

• FOXNews, Rupert Murdoch, owner of The Times
• CNN的CEO Jeff Zucker
• Paul Julius Reuters, founder of Reuters
• Associated Press founder Moses Yale Beach
• Charles-Louis Havas, founder of Agence France-Presse
• Another example is the Hollywood film company:
• Marcus Loew of MGM
• Warner Brothers *Coen Brothers, Columbia Pictures

Of course, we cannot ignore the recent high-profile OpenAI and Sam Altman of World Coin. AI is likely to dominate the narrative power of the future.

In a way, their group holds the narrative power of the world.

Not long ago, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd launched a national petition against the Australian News Corp controlled by Murdoch, with more than 500,000 signatures, pointing out the actions of this media empire in manipulating public opinion and suppressing reports that are not in line with its interests. When the government speaks against this multinational group, all local newspapers controlled by News Corp will attack it on the front page. Truth, or our understanding of it, is often shaped by this small group of institutions and individuals.

I would say that the next time you see a news item or a story, ask yourself, "Is this true?" We should all seek the truth, not accept the narrative that someone else feeds us.

04. The Guardian of the Truth

Today, with the prevalence of capital and big data, 99% of us face a challenge: how to dig out a real grain of sand from the ocean of information that drowns us? Although everyone has a pair of independent eyes, on this vast virtual beach, how can we avoid being blocked by the powerful double shadow of capital and data?

Then, another question follows: How should we preserve this real grain of sand?

This reminds me of the lyrics of the singer Dolan, full of challenges to the times. However, under the impact of the torrent of data, how long can the passionate singing last? Or, will we forget these voices in the near future, and even become difficult to distinguish the beauty and ugliness of things, gradually submerged in the vortex of narrative?

In this era, how important is the beacon of truth. We need a tool that can not only help us filter and parse information, but also mark and record those shocking events. This tool, which should counter narrative manipulation, provides us with a choice to hear the voice of the masses.

And what capabilities does this tool need to have?

• Timestamp and verification: Whenever you encounter a piece of news or rumor, this tool will give the information a timestamp and verification mechanism to confirm its source and timeliness, just like labeling it with a quality assurance label.
• Immutable modification: Imagine that once a certain piece of information is approved by the critical public, it will be like a milestone in history, indestructible and timeless.
• Distributed storage and decentralization: This system can ensure that everyone holds a part of the information, ensuring that it is not controlled or tampered by any single entity, increasing the credibility of the information.
• Transparency and openness: This technology can ensure that everyone can view and verify information openly and freely, so that the truth will no longer be concealed or manipulated by a certain party.

Crucially, anyone can access this network and store time-stamped information. This is the beauty of the blockchain, and what I would like to call the "network of truth". Here, everyone with the ability to think independently can critically challenge and record every phenomenon, pursue the truth, and protect our history.

For example, when you see a news headline proclaiming “Chocolate can help you lose weight!” you wonder, “Really?” With such a tool, various independent studies could be aggregated In fact, the public with critical thinking directly checks all the research related to this statement, understands the truth behind it, and finally makes its own independent judgment and gradually converges into a group consensus.

Finding the truth is never easy. The truth is often far away from us only by the simple browsing of mobile phones and casual watching of videos. The onus of upholding the truth falls to each of us, and it requires deep thought. Every time we start questioning, verifying or sharing information, we are actually adding value to the network of truth.

Finally, I want to ask you a simple question: would you like to store a copy of the truth?