A few days ago, I went for a walk around MacRitchie Reservoir with some friends. We strolled for an hour and a half on the winding tree-lined path, sometimes bathed in slanted sunlight, other times cooled by gentle breezes. We even encountered groups of wild monkeys, assertively observing passersby from the middle of the road. I looked it up and found out that this is the largest rainwater storage reservoir in Singapore. Indeed, if rain is destined to fall heavily, shouldn't we prepare a pond in advance?
Today, I want to discuss the concept termed by a friend as "第三性组织" or "第三组织", which in English could be translated as "Third Org" or "Org3".
Let's start by defining "Third Org". It's a new organizational form in the decentralized digital world. It is neither a traditional centralized organization, like a state or company, nor a DAO as commonly defined in the Crypto world. Instead, it's a novel organizational module that delves deeper than pure economics, is more understandable than decentralization, and emphasizes more extensive collaboration.
Firstly, the "Third Org" differs from centralized organizations, especially the typical modern company. The essence of the "Third Org" implies it might not be fully decentralized, but it definitely can't be too centralized. With the current foundation of Crypto, it's evident that most economic activities historically managed by centralized entities can now be executed through decentralized technologies. Within the scope of economics, the "Third Org" can almost replace most functions of a company. This has already been demonstrated by many on-chain economies, notably by Bitcoin, Ethereum, and MakerDAO. The "Third Org" doesn't need to operate within the traditional capitalist economic framework and can choose how assets operate more flexibly.
From this perspective, the "Third Org" can at least decouple economically from traditional companies. Decentralization technologies like blockchain can fully address this. Of course, the "Third Org" mainly utilizes the most advanced decentralized foundational protocols to achieve this decoupling.
Secondly, the "Third Org" also differs from current DAOs in that it's more than just an economically auto-operating organization. Since its inception, a DAO has been a heavily economic or materialistic form of organization, primarily leveraging blockchain technology. The "Third Org", however, conveys a deeper meaning, symbolizing "our" organization, embodying inter-subjectivity, and is not solely calculable in economic terms. It broadens our perspective on DAOs, showing that "Third Org" can achieve a kind of consensus calculation based on various organizational characteristics or, more accurately, a communal calculation.
That is, the "Third Org" is not only profound in definition but also diverse in computation. It isn't restricted to Turing completeness and can include newer forms of computations, like neuronal computations. It extends the future definitions of public organizations, parties, alliances, religious organizations, etc., making collaboration more systematic and multidimensional. It could be a more free and flexible new form of decentralized network organization with evolutionary significance.
Of course, the advanced nature of the "Third Org" that transcends economics might be verified in the new governance concepts. We can incorporate some incentive-less advanced governance concepts into the "Third Org", which to some extent opens up the possibility for us to redefine the minimization of trust in governance.
The "Third Org", in terms of culture or at least language, does not belong to the typical eastern or western cultural attributes. It's neither dominant nor subordinate, neither Chinese nor English, but rather a more neutral new cultural organization. It's obviously more popular and suitable for the general public compared to DAOs. Its popular name, "the third organization," has a neutral, middle-of-the-road, and moderate temperament from the very first day. It chooses balance between openness and closure, neutrality between radical and conservative, and a middle ground between strength and weakness. To some extent, this neutral cultural temperament may more easily establish affinity between people during the adoption process with the general public.
Especially in the next twenty years, in the backdrop of deglobalization, when many economic, political, national, and ethnic conflicts arise, the walls between different cultures become even harder to break or even more solidified. The conflicts between religions, strategies between nations, collaborations between political systems, and trade between economies might indeed need to be mitigated from a cultural or linguistic perspective. The third gender organization can clearly be simplified into a form of self-organization that is integrated, balanced, and peaceful, bringing more widespread adoption.
Of course, a typical example would be the reduction of cultural friction between the elite and the general public, which naturally makes it easier to form synergy. From the perspective of crypto, especially POS, there is a certain level of cultural conflict. Whether it's top-down or bottom-up, this kind of organization is more likely to establish a common cultural and linguistic system, especially one that transcends languages, religions, cultures, and time.
Finally, the "Third Org", from a foundational thought perspective, is both our organization and my organization, embodying a unity of opposites. It's no longer an organization with purely singular or dual characteristics. "From the Dao comes one, from one comes two, from two comes three, from three come all things." The third gender organization represents one form of organization among all things. From the perspective of Western philosophy, it can be seen as an organization that relatively integrates and evolves the conflicts between individuals and the whole. The third gender organization is neither self-centered as in the first gender organization, nor in absolute opposition as in the second gender organization, but a third gender organization.
For instance, even Satoshi Nakamoto's POW in crypto unintentionally established a simple opposition between "past" and "future." To some extent, we can indeed have a more ambiguous and variable logic or even non-logic in organizations. This kind of organization is not necessarily 0, not necessarily 1, but might switch or evolve freely and naturally to reach a balance. The third gender organization does not face the past, nor the future, nor harmonize the present. It can completely have new dimensions and unique thoughtfulness. It's more of an ambiguous, fluid, and communal organization.
Simply put, the "Third Org", or Org3, is a kind of partially decentralized, not entirely economical, more neutral organization that grows on protocols—a kind of ambiguous, fluid, homogeneous organization (group). In other words, DAO is object-oriented, while the third organization is person-oriented. Of course, we might all be deeply involved in it, just like the small group we pin to the top every day.
Anyway, starting from today, I aim to walk 11 kilometers around that reservoir every week, hoping to have some encounters with the long-eared macaques, especially after a downpour.