Design 📑

The design of the S.A.G.E. is dynamic. In a way, almost a never-ending cycle of innovation. Exactly how an educational system should be. Multiple components updating & renewing alongside us.

Designing a System of Autonomous Global Education

S.A.G.E. is dynamic and is designed with the idea of having multiple contributors towards an autonomous, decentralized, open-source platform. Focused on information, the distribution of knowledge and deliverance of credentials in a highly efficient manner. By design, the program acts similarly to a vertically integrated arrangement by compiling the many components of functional processes of inputs and outputs in educational and information-based systems. However, it is designed to avoid the hold-up problem, AKA the commitment problem.

Fair Transaction; "A fair transaction is one in which the surplus is divided (approximately) equally. The transaction becomes increasingly unfair as the division increasingly deviates from equality."

Frank, Robert H. Passions within reason: The strategic role of the emotions. WW Norton & Co. (1988) [2]

Not allowing any single party to become any better off than another party without an equal sacrifice to the entire community, by enabling the completion and establishment of contracts that are automated and designed with 'smart' principles. Preventing a 'lock-up' of resources/knowledge and the availability for a community to identify flaws or imbalances within a system of distributed information.

Allowing Fair Transactions

Fair transactions are essential to the function of a system based on truth and honesty. Information and knowledge is a form of truth and honesty being passed down from one generation to the next, as facts separable from fiction. Various instruction manuals, quotes, perspectives, ideas, thoughts, experiments and other human expressions of creativity and intellect. Without a basis for understanding what truth means or when a fact truly stands for honesty and reality, we lose our grip on our own perceptions and ideas. The design of the S.A.G.E. intends to align economic incentives/ideas with the pursuit of knowledge. The advantages of fair transactions within educational based systems are;

• Categorization of institutes and teachers by teaching type, ability/skills and rank/prestige.

• Community influence on the reputation and viability of an institution, individual mentor or peer-group.

• Highlight the reasonings for pursuing a branch of education and receiving a particular credential.

• Showcase advantages of knowing specific topics, the connections between knowledge, skill-sets and real-world applications.

• Display or allow the individual access to relevant statistics and information related to credentials and career paths.

Motivation can be invoked and then capitalized on when an individual realizes the reasonings behind pursuing a particular path.

Encouraging Fair Value Exchange

An individual must first provide collateral in two forms to any smart contract offering or asking for a knowledge transfer. A 50/50 split. For verified, credentialed peers; Collateral consists of a verified credential already in their possession and the required token amount proportional to their course offer/ask. A credential is worth approximately 50% of the value of the course being offered and the remaining 50% must consist of tokens for collateral purposes. Credentials used as collateral can only be offered under the same type of course or a branch of the course type. or For non-verified, non-credentialed peers; Twice as many tokens are proportional to the course/contract being offered. Approximately 50% is designated for the course for time spent and minting fees and 50% is reserved for extra transactions, time spent or effort wasted. This prevents spam and spoof accounts by making the first transaction twice as expensive as recurring transactions within the network. The credential guarantees a teacher does not renege or rug pull their offer prematurely before a student can submit the right answers/proofs without affecting their own reputation and their own verifiability. A double payment ensures that aspiring students and non-verified individuals asking for knowledge do not abuse the providers and teachers by wasting their time, effort and money. Double payment raises the bar for attack just high enough to make it harder to exploit another participant than it is being honest with your transactions and agreements.

It's within an individual's best interest to transact fairly on the network with good intentions or risk losing some or all collateral pre-assigned to the contract. note- all collateral minus what's already been transacted and paid for is returned to both parties in the case of agreement expiration or renegotiation of terms.

The structure of payment and the amounts are up for negotiation between students, teachers and institutions. Giving equal opportunity and the chance for knowledge to be provided and received by anyone.