The incompatibility between truth and righteousness
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Truth and righteousness are the two qualities that humanity always wants to pursue. But are they always compatible with each other?
Blog posts
2024
The most heavily fortified EU borders are to prevent migration from Africa to Africa
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Where are the most heavily fortified European Union borders? The answer is surprising: It is in Africa. But why did the European Union set up the border in Africa? It is all because of the two small Spanish enclave towns in Africa: Ceuta and Melilla.
2023
F3B: A practical per-transaction front-running mitigation solution for blockchain
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The name “front-running” came from when a broker needs to deliver the clients’ orders to the trading desk physically. The term vividly describes how it works: an attacker who knows a large order could run ahead to execute a trade before the client’s order goes through.
The sadness of democracy: Example of Argentina
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Argentina was one of the top ten wealthiest countries in the world 100 years ago. However, it is currently suffering one of the worst inflations in the world, and its poverty rate is skyrocketing. What went wrong? It seems that behind the economic crisis is the bad government management, and behind bad government management, it is the failed democracy mechanism that cannot solve the issue, if not make it worse.
Our monetary system is doomed (2): How is wealth “printed” from thin air?
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The previous post introduces how money is created from thin air. In this post, we examine how wealth is created. First, we present an incomplete theory that fails to explain some economic data, then argue that wealth can be created from thin air via a speculative channel.
Our monetary system is doomed (1): How is money “printed” from thin air?
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Since watching the movie, the big short, I have begun to be fascinated by how the economic system works and how it can be so wrong. After years of thinking, I plan to use a series of blog posts to share my insights of what are the issues, where we are heading to, and the potential solutions with our current monetary system.
How to transition from an authoritarian regime to a democratic regime peacefully?
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I recently realized that my current computer science research, which proves that blockchain rationality assumptions are fundamentally insecure, can also potentially provide some insights for helping countries to transition from an authoritarian regime to a democratic regime peacefully. In this post, I will explain everything as simple as possible. For those who want to read the original blockchain paper, you can refer to it here1.
National heroes of one side are the national enemies of another
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It is common to be true that the national heroes of one side are the national enemies of another. But nowhere can demonstrate the absurd behind so profoundly than in Mitrovica, Kosovo, where another side is just 50 meters away.
A dilemma of God
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It seems to be true that if God exists, his power is unlimited, or if he does not exist, simply believing in this imaginary God helps his followers to deal with difficulties and find the meaning of life. But does this almighty God, whether real or imaginary, ever encounter a dilemma?
A decentralized public transportation system
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In conventional wisdom, a local government or companies control and manage its city public transportation in centralized or federated fashions. In this paper, we1 introduce a decentralized public system without centralized control. This public transportation system achieves low cost and low latency overhead with price and traffic flexibility that can adapt to the complex and dynamic operating cost and traffic flow. Those features ensure that such a system is practical, efficient, and optimal to be deployed in a city of low-income developing countries. We demonstrate that it is possible to “design” a suitable city-wised public transportation system without any system designer.
“We” use “we” as a convention in academic writing, even though this article has only one author and I travel alone in this trip. ↩
Border only exists in people’s minds
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I love to observe the national border. At the national border, you may observe things suddenly change, such as religion, language, culture, habits, identity, and quality of life. I always wanted to cross the border illegally, but I am, by large, a rule-abiding person. On my recent trip to Africa, I finally had the chance to practice “illegal” border crossing without showing my identity to anyone to visit another country and back.
The early closing of supermarkets is a symbol of social development
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On my recent trip to Senegal and Mauritania, I found that supermarkets and grocery stores open every day and close late, even during holidays. This observation reminds me of the convenient life back in China, where I could buy a snack at midnight. If this symbolizes social development and convenience, why do supermarkets close on Sundays and early on weekdays in developed European countries like Germany or Switzerland?