Thread by @UrbitHost

Many ask _what_ Urbit is and are dissatisfied with the answer. Perhaps what they really want to know is the _why_ behind Urbit. Once you understand that, the other parts make much more sense.
Mega🧵👇

Behind Urbit there is a central thesis: that you cannot be in control of your digital identity or persona without being in control of the computation related to that identity.

Let’s look at three basic premises underlying this argument:

1) For digital social networks, compute and identity are intrinsically intertwined. You construct your identity out of a series of computations, and you cannot separate the two. How the identity-compute dyad is constructed will give you the properties of your social interactions.

2) Digital identities must and will evolve to control a Turing-complete compute stack. Anything less would not allow the true potential of individual expression and social cooperation. (That’s why most current social networks are so flat and superficial)

3) If you want control over your identity, you need complete control over the compute stack behind your identity.

Consequently, you will only find digital freedom and autonomy if you control your identity _and_ compute stack, while maximizing the power of expression in your compute stack.

Now, here's why what we currently have does not work:

The walled gardens of Facebook and Twitter are one example where identity and compute are intertwined to allow deep integration and social connections, but at the expense of individual control and autonomy. They go against #2 and #3.

The old blogosphere is a different example where control does exist but not expression through computation. Plus, there is no strong concept of identity. It goes against #1 and #2.

Current desktop and server operating systems give you control over your computations but have no native notion of your digital identity. And, no, OS users are not identities. So, OSs go against #1, and let's not even bring up mobile OSs.

Nonetheless, full control is only possible with traditional run-bits-on-storage-and-CPU-you-control kind of compute. You need a lot of compute, so things like the EVM are not an option.

Perhaps homomorphic encryption, zk-SNARK schemes, or some other future technology will make #3 a moot point, but so far these things are not ready for general purpose compute. You need your own computer!

So, if you accept the premises and central thesis, you see why something like Urbit is necessary:

Urbit ID gives you cryptographic control over your identity. Your Urbit OS is booted into a peer-to-peer network by means of your Urbit ID, linking the running Urbit stack to your ID and all other identities.

Urbit fulfills #1, #2, and #3. And so it promises to give you maximum expression and autonomy.

Why @urbit. #urbit, #whyurbit