# Information technology

`kaal:entity:information-technology`

**Status.** derived

This node is assembled mechanically from the 6 claims that carry the concept tag `information-technology`. It is a roster of what the corpus says under this term. It is **not** an adjudicated definition: no single statement here has been ruled canonical, and no first-appearance call has been made. Read the claims and judge for yourself.

## Every claim under this term

6 claims across 3 works, 2021 to 2021.

**2021**

- [3782192-028](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3782192-028) [mechanism/argued] -- Advances in information technology explain each historical leap in organizational efficiency and reach, from kinship tribes through nation states to the emerging global society.
  > Advances in information technology explain each historical leap in organizational ef- ficiency and reach.
  Craig Calcaterra, Wulf A. Kaal, Introduction to Decentralization (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3782192
- [3782192-031](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3782192-031) [failure/asserted] *(failure mode)* -- Western democracies still run on structures developed decades or centuries ago and have no formal interaction with the new data stream produced by modern information technology.
  > Western democracies are still using the structures developed decades or centuries ago, and lack any formal interaction with this new data stream.
  Craig Calcaterra, Wulf A. Kaal, Introduction to Decentralization (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3782192
- [3782193-005](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3782193-005) [failure/argued] *(failure mode)* -- Imperial China invented the printing press and applied it to centralize power through uniform edicts and the first printed money; the resulting bureaucratic rigidity left the hierarchy unable to respond to internal corruption and to external invaders.
  > China invented the printing press and used it to centralize power—politically with uniform edicts and economically with the first printed money. Eventually, the hierarchy couldn't re- spond to internal corruption and external threats such as Mongolian, Manchurian, and Western imperial invaders.
  Craig Calcaterra, Wulf A. Kaal, Historical Sketches of Centralization vs. Decentralization (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3782193
- [3782193-006](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3782193-006) [mechanism/argued] -- Europe, unlike Imperial China, used the printing press to decentralize knowledge rather than to centralize power, and this different application of the same information technology produced a cultural transformation that undermined Europe's centralized powers.
  > Europe started its own printing presses a few centuries later. Instead of using the press to centralize power like the Chinese Empire did, Europe's use of the printing press greatly decentralized knowledge.
  Craig Calcaterra, Wulf A. Kaal, Historical Sketches of Centralization vs. Decentralization (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3782193
- [3782193-033](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3782193-033) [condition/argued] -- Reputation permits business with any member of a network regardless of personal acquaintance, but only if the network is closed and its size is limited by the ability to police reputation with the available information technology.
  > First, reputation allows business dealings with any member of the network, regard- less of personal acquaintance. This requires the network to be closed, however, with a size limited by the ability to police reputation using the information technology available.
  Craig Calcaterra, Wulf A. Kaal, Historical Sketches of Centralization vs. Decentralization (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3782193
- [3782214-038](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3782214-038) [failure/argued] *(failure mode)* -- Direct democracy failed to reflect the will of the group once villages grew into cities, because the information technology of the spoken word imposes a hard limit on how many people can speak and on the patience and endurance of listeners.
  > As villages grew to cities, direct democracy failed to reflect the will of the group. There is a limit to how many people can speak, even at an am- phitheater, because there is a limit to peoples' patience and endurance.
  Craig Calcaterra, Wulf A. Kaal, Decentralized Governance (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3782214

## Verify

Every claim above resolves to a record carrying a verbatim source quote, the sha256 of the source PDF, and a preformatted citation. Nothing here asks to be taken on trust.

    curl -s https://wulfkaal.github.io/entities/information-technology.md | sha256sum

**Canonical form.** This markdown file is the canonical hashed representation of this entity node. Its sha256 is the content hash.