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Cyborg Guide

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Lauro Gripa edited this page Feb 21, 2024 · 2 revisions

Introduction

In technical terms, Kappa Sigma Mu is a collective created using the society pallet 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 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 Founder. The members support this anonymity as the Founder shows commitment to the society by voting on new candidates (and many feel that it makes this game more interesting).

Deeper Meaning

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.

Explore more: https://www.youtube.com/embed/n6wnhLqJqVE

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.

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 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.

Roles

Currently, participants in the Society can be a:

  • Bidder (Human): A user who has submitted an intention of joining the society.
  • Candidate: A user who had their bid accepted and will be voted on to join the society.
  • Member (Cyborg): 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.
  • Candidate Skeptic: A member who was randomly selected to vote on Candidates, if they fail to do so, they can be penalized by each candidate.
  • Defender Skeptic: A member who was randomly selected to vote on the Defender, if they fail to do so, they become the next Defender.
  • Head: A member, usually the last member to join the Society, who is used as a reference for the current Candidates' Proof-of-Ink. Read the Proof-of-Ink Rules for details.
  • Ranked Member: A ranked member is a member who ranked up by either giving up on their payout or waiting for their payout maturity.
  • Founder: An anonymous single member who founded the Society and has the ability to change parameters, resolve votes without clear results, and judge if a suspender member can be reinstituted as a member.

How to Join

A new rotation happens every week. In every rotation users are can bid the amount 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. Every rotation, a certain amount of 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).

Right now, up to 10 bidders can be selected each rotation, but this number is a parameter that can be changed by the Founder. Once bidders pass the bid phase and are approved as candidates, they should execute and provide PoI (Proof-of-Ink).

Once you have submitted your PoI, at the end of the rotation period, all current members will vote to accept or reject your candidacy. A random member is also chosen as Candidate Skeptic: they are expected to vote on the current candidate. If they do not vote, each candidate can punish them and give them a strike (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.

Proof-of-Ink Rules

New candidate members shall be judged on their ability to provide Proof-of-Ink to existing members, where the Ink shall be a permanent tattoo including at least two elements:

  1. An identifier of the Kusama network. One or more of: the Kusama network's canary symbol; the typography; the full logo; or the Kusama genesis hash. Designs may be filled and in outline. The hash must be rendered in full as a barcode, binary or in hex. An artistic derivative of one or more of these is also acceptable, but may not deviate from the style, design or content sufficently that it be no longer obviously identifiable as Kusama.
  2. An identifier of the parent member. The parent member, as defined by the society pallet instance's Head storage item at the time of candidacy. This should be rendered as one of: an SS58 account or index address; decimal accout index; binary account ID; or a machine-readable image capable of being recognised by a mainstream Kusama wallet.

The proof should contain compelling evidence that the tattoo:

  • exists on the body;
  • could fit into a circle no smaller than 2.54cm; and
  • is permanent.

In proving each of these, we recommend:

  • at least t high-quality well-lit photographs;
  • a video of it being done where the equipment is visible is better;
  • live witnessing by other members is best, together with pre-publication of the location and time that the tattooing takes place to allow other members to gather and witness.

The identity of the member need not be discernable nor the specific part of the body on which it is placed.

FAQ

How can I join? Read the How to Join section of this Wiki, and visit the Website (see Links below) to submit your bid.
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 right before the rotation period is over, this is called "bid sniping".
How bids are selected? All candidates get a portion of the pot after they are elected as members: this amount equals their bid. Let's say 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. After the rotation period ends, bids B and C turn into candidates and need to present PoI (Proof-of-Ink).
What PoI (Proof-of-Ink) means? Proof-of-Ink is the process of getting tatooed according to the Society Rules and presenting proof to the members. 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 (see Rules for more details).
Where do I submit my PoI (Proof-of-Ink)? Members expect candidates to submit PoI on the Society's Element channel (see Links below).
How long I need to wait (lock-up time) before receiving my payout? Your payout is unlocked and can be moved to your account after the lock-up time elapses. The lock-up time is calculated using this formula: "y = (100 - 50000) / (x + 500)", where "x" is the current number of members, and "y" is the percentage out of the maximum lock-up time (currently 36 months). For example, if you're the 200th member to join the society, "x" is 200 and "y" results in "28.57". This means you'll have to wait 28.57% of 36 months, or roughly 313 days. You can find a link to the equation in the Links section to help you with your calculation.
Who funds the Society, and what's the difference between the Society Treasury and the Society Pot? At present, the Society Treasury is being funded by a 0.2% burn of Kusama Treasury each spend period (current spend period is 6 days). Meanwhile, at the beginning of every rotation, a constant amount of KSM is sent from the Society Treasury to the Society Pot. This constant amount is defined by runtime upgrades and the current amount is 16.666 KSM per week. The Society Pot works as a limiter of how many bids are accepted every rotation.
What's the difference between voting period, claim period and challenge period?

All periods happen inside a rotation period that lasts 1 week (in current parameters). This means that the voting period and challenge period run in parallel and both last 1 week (in current parameters). The claim period, however, happens inside the voting period.

Voting Period
Purpose: Voting periods are specifically designed for the assessment and selection of candidates who wish to become members of the Society. Candidate Evaluation: During this period, existing members vote on the candidates. Voting Mechanism: Members may vote on any candidate at any time, and a 'clear result' for a candidate is determined when the votes for approval or rejection are twice as many as the votes for the alternative. Outcome: Depending on the voting results, a candidate can be approved as a member, or their candidacy can be rejected. Role of the Candidate Skeptic: The Candidate Skeptic, selected randomly from the members, plays a crucial role during this period. They are accountable for their voting actions and can be penalized for invalid or missing votes.

Claim Period
Purpose: Claim periods are specifically designed for Candidates to claim their membership after achieving a clear approval. Outcome: A Candidate with clear approval claims their membership and becomes a Member (Cyborg).

Challenge Period
Purpose: Challenge periods focus on the continuous assessment of a current members. In every new Challenge Period a member becomes the Defender and needs to defender their membership. Defender Selection: A member is chosen to be the Defender, who must then provide evidence of their continued eligibility and contribution to the Society. The Defender can be randomly selected or the a Defender Skeptic who failed to vote in the previous rotation. Voting on Defender: Other members vote on the Defender's evidence. This can result in the Defender either maintaining their membership or being removed from the Society. Role of the Defender Skeptic: A Defender Skeptic is selected for each period. They are responsible for reviewing the Defender's case and voting accordingly. Like in the voting period, the Defender Skeptic faces consequences for not voting or voting against a clear majority, and becomes the Defender in the next round.

Key Differences
Focus: Voting periods are centered around candidates, while claim periods are centered around approved candidates becoming members. Lastly, challenge periods are about evaluating the ongoing membership of current members. Outcomes: The outcome of a voting period is the acceptance or rejection of new members. For challenge periods, the outcome affects the ongoing membership status of existing members.

Links

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