Scaling Trust in DAOs: Trustware vs Socialware
There's some interesting framing in this article by Orca Protocol to separate these two pillars of trust:
Socialware -Mechanisms that create assurances through human relationships, incurring a high social coordination cost
Trustware -Mechanisms that create assurances through technology, incurring a low social coordination cost
DAOs are hoping to create organizations that are mostly, if not wholly, reliant on Trustware for decision-making. At least, that's the end goal. We're a long way from that, but many people are working on it because blockchain technology (permanent, decentralized data) enables full transparency of all decisions.
I'm a little skeptical that the DAO dream of "code at the center, humans at the edges" of an organization will ever be fully realized. There are too many variables in our social systems, and as soon as our time is freed up by technology, we create more.
That is until we all stop worshipping at the Altar of Economic Growth and learn to be content with fixing what we have and living peacefully with each other.