A set of 3 possibe properties for a good ID/naming system to have: security, decentralisation, and human-meaning/memorability. Conjectured that no single system can achieve all 3 by Zooko Wilcox-O'Hearn (just found out they're also one of the creators of Zcash).
eg. Bitcoin/nostr addresses, which are secure and decentralised but rarely memorable or meaningful, and DNS names, which can be secure and meaningful but quite centrally controlled.
Triangle seems undefeatable at any given point in time, IMO.
Quite similar to the CAP theorem of databases: Consistent, Available, Partition tolerant. You can have any two properties.
Bitcoin solves the CAP theorem by being Available and Partition tolerant at all times. And it accrues Consistency with Proof-of-Work blocks. That is, unconfirmed transactions (mempools) are inconsistent. The tip is inconsistent whenever two blocks are found at roughly the same time. But as miners build on the most work chain, nodes have a consistent view of the chain further back.
So with regards to zooko’s triangle, you can have any two properties at all times. Then perhaps accrue the third property as time passes.
