# The Human Blockchain: Join the Kappa Sigma Mu Society on Kusama Network *Due to gorwing interest in the Kappa Sigma Mu Society in the last weeks, I have made a detailed overview on what the Society is about, what the rationale behind it is and what to expect from Kappa Sigma Mu.* ### What's All This Fuss About? In technical terms, Kappa Sigma Mu is a collective created using the [society pallet](https://github.com/paritytech/substrate/tree/master/frame/society) on Substrate, which in principle, is defined as an economic game incentivizing users to participate and maintain membership through rewards paid by the collective treasury. But in actuality, the Society is more than just that: It aims to make the Kusama network and its functionalities known to non-technical users, raise awareness of new forms of organization and identify the link between the onchain and offchain worlds. The Kappa Sigma Mu Society has specific conditions for users to join as members: An [onchain convention of membership approval](https://polkascan.io/kusama/transaction/0x948d3a4378914341dc7af9220a4c73acb2b3f72a70f14ee8089799da16d94c17) exists for candidates to follow. In order to become part of the Society, the candidate must show "Proof-of-Ink" (PoI) to existing members: in other words, to become a member you must get a tattoo meeting the specific requirements. The Society was founded by an anonymous single member who automatically became the original Head. The members support this anonymity as the Head shows commitment to the society by voting on new candidates (and many feel that it makes this game more interesting). ### How to Become a Member in a Few Simple Steps Currently, participants in the Society can be a: **Bidder:** A user who has submitted an intention of joining the society. **Candidate:** A user who will be voted on to join the society. **Suspended Candidate:** A user who failed to win a vote. **Member:** A user who is a member of the society. **Defender:** A member whose membership is under question and voted on again. **Suspended Member:** A member of the society who has accumulated too many strikes or failed their membership challenge. Once a user submits their candidacy to become a member the bid phase begins. This phase extends for the length of the ongoing rotation period - up to three days and eight hours. During this time, other users can also submit their candidacy. Bidders currently need to make a deposit of 1.66 KSM to sign the transaction when bidding. When signing the transaction, the bidder then stipulates how much they think it is worth to become part of the collective. The bidder can request however much is in the pot at the time of their bid. If voted in, the candidate will receive their bid reward as a future payout, after a [lock-up time](https://wiki.polkadot.network/docs/en/maintain-guides-society-kusama#lock-up-time). Up to ten bidders can pass to the candidacy phase at a single time, as long as the total sum of all their bids equals or is smaller than the total KSM in the Society pot (See **Where is the fun** for more information). Once bidders pass the bid phase and are approved as candidates, they should execute POI. **Where is the fun?** Bidders can "outbid" each other, meaning that if one bidder decides to try to bid for the total amount of the pot, others can submit smaller bids and eventually push the first bidder out of the game after the rotation period is over. All candidates get a portion of the pot after they are elected as members: this amount equals their bid. *E.g. There is 100 KSM in the pot. Person A bids 100, but then person B bids 40 and person C bids 55. Since both person B and C's bids add up to less than the pot, both their bids would be accepted and person A's wouldn't.* **Who funds the Society pot?** At present, the pot is being funded by a 0.2% burn of Kusama Treasury each spend period (current spend period is 6 days). Additionally, in the near future, a new funding mechanism will be set in place following a recent treasury proposal (see below for more details). Once the next rotation period begins, the bidders who made it to the next phase become candidates. Both periods last for three days and eight hours. In practice, this means candidates have roughly three days to submit Proof-of-Ink, following the convention of membership approval. **Where do I submit my PoI?** Members expect candidates to submit POI on the [Society's Element channel](https://matrix.to/#/!BUmiAAnAYSRGarqwOt:matrix.parity.io?via=matrix.parity.io&via=matrix.org&via=web3.foundation). The proof should contain compelling evidence that the tattoo exists on the body, it is larger than 2.54cm, and is permanent. In order to validate each of these requirements, we recommend high-quality well-lit photographs, a video of it being done where the equipment is visible, or have a current Society member present as a witness. If you wish to have a Society member present as a witness, please provide the Society members prior with the date, time, location of the in the Kappa Sigma Mu Element channel. The identity of the candidate or the specific part of the body on which it is placed does not need to be disclosed. Once you have submitted your PoI, at the end of the rotation period, all current memebers will vote to accept or reject your candidacy. The system will then randomly select yes or no based on the votes by existing members. A random set of existing members are also chosen as skeptics: they are expected to vote on the current candidate. If they do not vote, their skeptic status is treated as a rejection vote, the member is deemed "lazy" and is given a strike per missing vote (if they accumulate ten strikes, they are suspended). After the candidate becomes a member, they are expected to monitor the channels closely, vote on each rotation period and help fellow candidates migrate through the process. ### The Deeper Meaning Behind Collective Identities: Connecting Two Worlds and the Concept of Self-Obliteration What's behind the economic game? The Society's goal is to identify the link between the onchain and offchain worlds. These two universes often join forces in an eternal alliance between human and machine, and the Society is the tangible representation of this union: we use the machine to create our bodies, and they end up defining part of who we are. <iframe width="710" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/n6wnhLqJqVE" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> -------- **THIS IS AN ALLIANCE BETWEEN HUMANS AND MACHINES.** We are a product of science and technology, we cannot distance ourselves from it. We can forge an alliance to embrace what technology can do for us and what we can do for others. **WE ARE PART HUMAN AND MACHINE**. We are part of hybrid networks living and reproducing in our bodies. The dichotomy of natural/artificial is no longer relevant in our times. We are here to understand how hybrid networks can help human development. We are [cyborgs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Cyborg_Manifesto). **The Kusama Human Blockchain Project aims to forge an eternal alliance between human and machine**, and to make this alliance tangible through the Kusama network. By joining the collective, we live in the machine and the machine lives in us. This is a social movement triggered by the immutable hash-chain as a concept, with the goal of erasing the division between human and machine. By erasing the division between both worlds, [self-obliteration](http://filmslie.com/watch-yayoi-kusama-self-obliteration-dissolve-identity/) is achieved. The Society aims to gather Kusama aficionados and experiment with new ways of organization while playing with individual and collective identity sets. The use of an identifier representing the parent member on each member's PoI combined with the immutable hash of Kusama creates a human chain in which each member represents a block. ![](https://i.imgur.com/soLzgue.png) *Donna Haraway as portrayed by Existential Comics. Fragment from "[Dungeons & Dragons & Philosophers VIII, The Sci-Fi debate](https://existentialcomics.com/comic/305)"* ### The Future of The Human Blockchain The Society is a movement aiming to invest a great part of its resources to onboard new members into the new generation of Web3 tech stack. We aim to become a collective in which members can learn how to make use of the network's assets via proposals and fund projects to enhance their understanding. Kusama's economic design is the aggregation of all individual behaviors: by selfish specialization we create collective wealth. Our goal is to incentivize the initiative of individual action on the network. Developer engagement is an important part of the Kusama ecosystem, but it is essential we also provide as many straightforward and simple on-ramps to allow non-technical end-users to participate. With this in mind, the Society submitted a [proposal](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q6kFyznrDnyctZViK29J2OvBrr4D1LNo/view) to the Kusama council to fund the next phase of its development. This was [approved](https://polkascan.io/kusama/council/motion/186) a few weeks ago. The project focuses its efforts on the development of a communications strategy, brand development, educational resources for new members wishing to understand Kusama and its benefits further, and funds for the pot. The Society plans to extend the roles in the collective by adding a key member in the future: the Maker – responsible for vouching for and executing PoI on new candidates. In order to develop a structured set of materials for non-technical users the KSM Society will be working closely with some of the W3F employees in the development of challenges using Polkadot Pathways. Pathways allows us to design a learning strategy for Society members that promotes competition, imparts a sense of achievement, engages users in desired behaviors and motivates them to take action. The further gamification of the Society dynamics will assure knowledge retention and learner engagement levels for non-technical users. This project is in the initial phase of development and new updates will be released soon. Are you ready to join the experiment?
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RRTTI
- A runtime is a political instrument, but also a consequence of it. - All views expressed here are my own. - https://twitter.com/nachortti
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Of Memberships, Bids And Rewards: Claim Your Bid on Kappa Sigma Mu

Kappa Sigma Mu is a membership club using the Substrate Society pallet. The society can be understood as an economic game to incentivize users to join around whatever the rules are decided to be. In essence, the society looks to experiment with the connection between the onchain and offchain worlds. Members are incentivized to participate in the society via the rewards paid by the pot. These rewards will be available to be claimed once a specific locking period passed: but how to know when and how to receive your bid? Here are a few simple steps to find out. When Can I Claim My Reward? Members are incentivized to participate in the society through rewards paid by the Society treasury. New users must have a bid to join the society. A user can make a bid by reserving a deposit. Alternatively, an already existing member can create a bid on a user's behalf by "vouching" for them. A bid includes reward information that the user would like to receive for joining the society. A vouching bid can additionally request some portion of that reward as a tip to the voucher for vouching for the prospective candidate. These payments have a maturity period for new members before they are able to access the funds. In the Society pallet, the locking period can be seen here. It is important to note that as the number of members grows, the lock period approaches the maximum.

10/8/2020
Having Lunch with Alex I: Alex Had Pasta and I Had a Salad, We Talked About Lesbians Falling In Love.

Alex had pasta, again: I guess it is hard to figure out what to eat now that she is lactose-intolerant, or claims to be. Honestly, until I see the tests I can't tell if it is actually happening, although I guess we need to trust her doctor. She says she is not eating pasta because she cannot eat lactose: this is only the leftovers from the weekend. Alex prefers to be referred as she/her or they/them. Right after we sit down to eat at the big table on the third floor, Alex tells me she is super happy her partner is coming back soon from the work trip. She has been away for a while. Then she makes a joke about how she seems to have settled down. I ask instantly: "What do you think about this stereotype of the lesbian that looks for a partner, meets one she likes, falls in love fast and settles for a long time? Do you think this is true? and if yes, why?" A stereotype? Definitely. Then again, stereotypes have some type of truth in them. The issue I have with stereotypes lays on how they manage to homogenise a group. Alex tells me she thinks a lot about this. At first glance, she believes it is a consequence of a combination of things: it seems too reductionist for her if we see it as a consequence of one reason only. She is is right. Firstly, our heteronormative traditions come to mind - Ohh Normality, how we missed you - we meet again: It is expected for anyone who has been educated inside an heteronormative society to aim at holding long term relationships, and in a more normative way to have a monogamist long-term relationship. These conditions are a sign of success: it seems if we choose these types of relationships our peers will approve: we are the good children in the weirdos' group. We both agree monogamy as well as the long-term element in relationships (more in the sense of Eternal Love) are elements that Heteronormativity teaches us. The lessons are everywhere: think of the TV shows you watch, the books you read, the ads you consume, the friends you have. Our bodies are not capable of heroic feats. Instead, they do not withstand the various forms of oppression within which we experience. They adapt to these conditions by becoming submissive or by altering their boundaries in a dynamic way because coercion is subtle, but present at all times—and even the idea of ‘time’ should be capitalised as it is already regulated and fractionated to be understood in certain manner. Long-term, Long, Long, time. Eternal. Love. Success.

8/12/2020
Vox Populi, Vox Dei: Kusama and The Decentralised Benevolent Governance Design

Tags: Council, Kusama, Governance Shortly after the birth of Kusama Network (Polkadot’s wild cousin), Web3 Foundation launched Polkadot’s first candidate chain. In my opinion, both networks are designed to explore how governance can find an appropriate resistance to change, start thinking of immutability as a spectrum and essentially model a political entity on a blockchain. Kusama’s logic is a result of referenda submitted by the community. This reflects the network’s understanding of the meaning behind decentralized governance mechanisms. Its configuration allows us to upgrade the logic of the blockchain and make changes to its runtime using these processes, and both actions have the goal to try and fix unpredictable human errors in place with new processes once the network is running. The Polkadot Claim Process and The Use of Multisig Wallets For both Polkadot and Kusama Networks, the claim process for users who participated in the sale of 2017 required them to sign a message with the private key of an Ethereum account - the same private key used by participants during the sale. When the sale mechanism was designed, the use of Ethereum private keys for the claim process was not taken into consideration and this became an issue for some users who used multisig wallets to participate in order to prevent problems caused by the loss or theft of a private key. In the last weeks, I worked with Web3 Foundation to solve a particular claim issue caused by the use of a Gnosis multisig wallet. These wallets operate as a smart contract in the Ethereum blockchain, so while there is an address, there is no way to sign a message since the contract does not have a corresponding private key. This means multisig users had no way to claim the tokens, given the current process.

7/9/2020
Kusama Treasury Funds Seven Teams in Seven Weeks

By Raul Romanutti, Kusama Council Member The Kusama Treasury plays a fundamental role when incentivizing organic development and growth of our community. At the time of writing this post, more than 190,000 KSM (Kusama tokens) sit on the Treasury with no effective use whatsoever: we need to put them to work, right? What is the Treasury? Its role in the economic design The Treasury is essentially a pot of tokens collected through transaction fees, slashing and staking inefficiencies on the Kusama Network. This repository of tokens is managed by the Kusama Council, whose main role is to represent passive stakeholders. In order to incentivize the complete spend of all tokens at every period, a system of burning KSM is built into the design, with a subsequent deflationary pressure on its standard implementation. However, on Kusama the treasury burn is currently set to 0 (subject to a change on the runtime) meaning that no repository KSMs are burned at the moment. Initially, much doubt surrounded the use of spending proposal submissions, primarily as a consequence of the lack of off-chain mechanisms for designing and planning proposals that would effectively be approved by council members; this caused much inaction when it came to the use of the Treasury. We are slowly changing this through new spending mechanisms and alternative ways of using the current methods.

6/25/2020
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