A way of mapping human readable names to cryptographically secure names
Petnames are potentially a method of achieving all 3 properties of Zooko’s Triangle by having “names with each of the three pairs of properties, and [building] a naming system involving several of these kinds of names, in order to make use of all three properties.”
We are already familiar with this concept actually: the contact list on your phone! Each contact in your phone doesn’t actually represent that person, but rather your relationship with that person. John (neighbour) could be Dad in someone else’s phone, even though they refer to the same physical person.
Supposes that we have three names:
- Keys (global and unique): no one has the same key as you
- Petnames (unique and memorable): specific to a relationship between two entities
- Nicknames (global and memorable): self-proclaimed
Then, keys and petnames are interchangeable with each other. Nicknames are suggestions by users for petnames that others can set for them.
Maybe another version of Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem?