CDR: Re: why should it be trusted?

[Steve Furlong]

Nathan Saper wrote:
> I came because I'm interested in (though admittedly naieve about)
> cryptography, and I like debating with people who hold different
> opinions than I do.

Well, you came to the right place. Most of the posters on c-punks reject
the notions of statism, redistributionism, and forced commercial
compliance, and despise and lambaste those who hold them. If you don't
have a thick skin, you might as well pull out now.

Ignorance on crypto can be cured, if you have the brains to follow light
math and protocols. I recommend _Applied Cryptography_ by Bruce Scheier
for protocols, cyphers, and the like. Naivete is more problematic, as it
often involves dearly-held notions. To bring the topic back to
particulars (ie, you), you are going to have to dump some notions of how
things "should" work. As Tim says, "Wait until you finally grasp the
full implications of crypto anarchy." Some aspects of contemporary
American life will not work in a world of widespread, strong crypto. See
many of the recent posts for examples.

-- 
Steve Furlong, Computer Condottiere     Have GNU, will travel
   518-374-4720     sfurlong at acmenet.net