Thread
₿ ~ C: WHY WE NEED A MONETARY CONSTANT
Latest essay for @BitcoinMagazine
#Bitcoin, like other constants in the universe, is a foundation upon which humanity can interpret information to establish order from chaos.
Inspired by conversation with @saylor
bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/why-we-need-a-monetary-constant
Latest essay for @BitcoinMagazine
#Bitcoin, like other constants in the universe, is a foundation upon which humanity can interpret information to establish order from chaos.
Inspired by conversation with @saylor
bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/why-we-need-a-monetary-constant
2/ If life could be described as some form of anti-entropic force, then humans could be regarded as the most advanced, complex structure that has emerged from it (at least that we’re certain of).
This force of “life” seems to transform chaos into order.
This force of “life” seems to transform chaos into order.
3/ It manifests as the very edge line of this universal substance we call energy and like “energetic fingertips,” it reaches for greater order. In this sense, we are the very fingertips of life.
It’s an extraordinary thing to think about.
It’s an extraordinary thing to think about.
4/ We are composed of matter, existing in particular order. Throughout our lifetimes, we consume & transform energy, move in temporal & spatial directions of all kinds, doing our best to locally defy entropy before passing the torch onto the next generation to do the same.
Why?
Why?
5/ This I cannot answer for you. It’s my belief that we must answer that question for ourselves individually.
My personal view is that we’re part of a cosmic balance between entropy and life. You could call it light and dark, Yin & Yang, positive & negative, or heaven and hell.
My personal view is that we’re part of a cosmic balance between entropy and life. You could call it light and dark, Yin & Yang, positive & negative, or heaven and hell.
6/ As humans, we represent, on net, the life side of the equation. So whether we like it or not, we all possess some internal, intelligent volition to build, order, create, produce and, in some way, defy entropy. 
7/ Whether you’d like to call this volition to order “God,” “life,” “consciousness,” “randomness” or “intelligence,” it matters not. You cannot deny its existence and if you stop for a moment, you cannot help but marvel at its defiance.
Why am I talking about this? 👇
Why am I talking about this? 👇
8/ ART AND SCIENCE
In The @Un_Communist Manifesto, @1MarkMoss & I argued that capitalism is not a “political modality” but an organic process that all complex living species undertake.
In this sense, economics is the study of capitalism.
In The @Un_Communist Manifesto, @1MarkMoss & I argued that capitalism is not a “political modality” but an organic process that all complex living species undertake.
In this sense, economics is the study of capitalism.
9/ It’s an attempt to try and understand this process, measure it and use the data to make better value judgements and decisions in the future.
@BitcoinErrorLog calls it a game.
I call it life.
The goal of the game is to economize.
@BitcoinErrorLog calls it a game.
I call it life.
The goal of the game is to economize.
10/ To economize is to literally maximize the efficient and effective use of scarce resources to a particular end; survive or thrive.
Humans happen to be the most adept at this game, hence why we are the apex species.
Humans happen to be the most adept at this game, hence why we are the apex species.
11/ ENGINEERING AS A “PURSUIT OF THE DIVINE”
We engineer to economize.
@saylor argues that humans are engineers by nature. I wholeheartedly agree. It’s in our DNA. Being the highest incarnations of life, we operate as vehicles for this same progressive, transformational force.
We engineer to economize.
@saylor argues that humans are engineers by nature. I wholeheartedly agree. It’s in our DNA. Being the highest incarnations of life, we operate as vehicles for this same progressive, transformational force.
12/ We’re consistently using a combination of analysis and imagination to produce something 'new'.
We’re a blend of art and science. Incredibly designed, emergent, biological and spiritual machinery that is both unique (there is nobody like you) and similar (we are all alike).
We’re a blend of art and science. Incredibly designed, emergent, biological and spiritual machinery that is both unique (there is nobody like you) and similar (we are all alike).
13/ As engineers and artists, we’ve managed to architect the world around us using a blend of math and intuition. We use games to sharpen our skills and value-judgment processes in order to play better at the grander game of life.
14/ Each accurate intuitive leap has taken us to a new threshold of understanding, which in turn enables the conversion of our environment into a new static, higher-order pattern that is reproducible.
15/ This upward-ratcheting standardization — so long as it is not based on fairy tales, but rooted in reality — becomes a foundation upon which to build greater and greater social and physical monuments.
bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/why-we-need-a-monetary-constant
bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/why-we-need-a-monetary-constant
16/ Functional standards come in two forms:
1. Lindy-compatible, bc the longer they’ve lasted, the longer they tend to last.
2. Empirically, energetically or mathematically sound.
1 & 2 are often the same, but not in every case.
Some standards are a little more arbitrary, eg:
1. Lindy-compatible, bc the longer they’ve lasted, the longer they tend to last.
2. Empirically, energetically or mathematically sound.
1 & 2 are often the same, but not in every case.
Some standards are a little more arbitrary, eg:
17/ The QWERTY keyboard, the width of a railway gauge and perhaps even 21 million bitcoin.
So long as the arbitrariness is not incongruent with some physical law, then it’s fine. Time then does its job.
The genesis of the #Bitcoin standard occurred in 2009.
So long as the arbitrariness is not incongruent with some physical law, then it’s fine. Time then does its job.
The genesis of the #Bitcoin standard occurred in 2009.
18/ 13 years later, it’s not just 'still there', but it's exponentially more sound socially, economically and thermodynamically.
This is an extraordinary feat and most importantly, a solid foundation we can build upon.
It is engineering at its finest.
This is an extraordinary feat and most importantly, a solid foundation we can build upon.
It is engineering at its finest.
19/ PLAYING PRETEND LEADS TO POVERTY
Problems arise when functional standards are ignored or when arbitrary standards are simply decreed, with no regard to the conservation of energy or the natural order of things.
“You cannot pretend your way into prosperity”
Problems arise when functional standards are ignored or when arbitrary standards are simply decreed, with no regard to the conservation of energy or the natural order of things.
“You cannot pretend your way into prosperity”
20/ Politicians spend their entire lives playing the worst kind of pretend; they do so with everyone else’s resources.
Instead of impoverishing themselves, which would be the case in a free market, they impoverish all of us.
Worse yet, by virtue of the political apparatus they..
Instead of impoverishing themselves, which would be the case in a free market, they impoverish all of us.
Worse yet, by virtue of the political apparatus they..
21/ ...actually enrich themselves in the process!
There’s something deeply wrong with this.
But I ask you. Is it entirely their fault? Of course each individual is responsible for their actions & in time shall be held accountable, but in a world where power...
There’s something deeply wrong with this.
But I ask you. Is it entirely their fault? Of course each individual is responsible for their actions & in time shall be held accountable, but in a world where power...
22/ ...economic force and macro decision making are so concentrated, does it not make sense that such actors believe that they can will their way into fixing everything?
They’ve surely drunk their own Kool-Aid and, sitting atop their perch in Davos, Brussels or D.C., ...
They’ve surely drunk their own Kool-Aid and, sitting atop their perch in Davos, Brussels or D.C., ...
23/ ...they see the problems of the world as a lack of their supervision and involvement.
“If only they could direct us all better.”
If only they, like The Almighty, decreed it so, then all the problems shall be gone.
.....Unfortunately, reality doesn’t work like this.
“If only they could direct us all better.”
If only they, like The Almighty, decreed it so, then all the problems shall be gone.
.....Unfortunately, reality doesn’t work like this.
24/ Every time we play along and pretend our way toward empty promises of prosperity, every time we build atop a lie or a false premise, our structures have come crashing down.
The time has come to change this. The point of maximum leverage in the modern age is THE MONEY
The time has come to change this. The point of maximum leverage in the modern age is THE MONEY
25/ ENGINEERED ENERGY MONEY
The one area where we’ve never had a perfect standard is the money. Humans, being social & money being the most important social invention of all, makes it critical for us to engineer a standard that is closely representative of that which it measures
The one area where we’ve never had a perfect standard is the money. Humans, being social & money being the most important social invention of all, makes it critical for us to engineer a standard that is closely representative of that which it measures
26/ We’ve had the zero-to-one moment for money.
All that came before was a necessary experiment. All that will come after shall be structures built atop this bedrock discovery/invention.
I call it that because it is both.
medium.com/the-bitcoin-times/fire-bitcoin-teleportation-337ba677fdd2
All that came before was a necessary experiment. All that will come after shall be structures built atop this bedrock discovery/invention.
I call it that because it is both.
medium.com/the-bitcoin-times/fire-bitcoin-teleportation-337ba677fdd2
27/ As a species, we had to discover energy money. It is a crucial part of a sentient species’ pathway through the Great Filter.
bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/bitcoin-and-the-great-filter
bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/bitcoin-and-the-great-filter
28/ Bitcoin is humanity’s version of perfect money, and although we invented it, it was something we had to discover, like electricity, the internet or the speed of light.
It lives in those realms.
It is the first “information-element,” as @knutsvanholm would call it.
It lives in those realms.
It is the first “information-element,” as @knutsvanholm would call it.
29/ With this, everything changes.
Physics is how we discover universal scientific truths that we can apply to engineering.
Economics is how we examine action, incentives and what matters in order to make value judgments and decisions.
#Bitcoin is like economics meets physics
Physics is how we discover universal scientific truths that we can apply to engineering.
Economics is how we examine action, incentives and what matters in order to make value judgments and decisions.
#Bitcoin is like economics meets physics
30/ #Bitcoin bridges the gap between the metaphysical nature of money & its physical, energetically-conservative reality.
As such, we can apply a physics-like approach to engineering civilization, within a framework of value that has true local consequences + accurate feedback.
As such, we can apply a physics-like approach to engineering civilization, within a framework of value that has true local consequences + accurate feedback.
31/ For the first time in human history, we have real money.
I know I sound like a raving lunatic, but this is absolutely monumental in the grand scheme of things.
I know I sound like a raving lunatic, but this is absolutely monumental in the grand scheme of things.
32/ B4 th keyboard warriors come out in force to denounce my 'utopianism'
I do not presume some unicorn-laden utopia where we’re all just “happy and peaceful” all the time
We’ll have just as many problems, but they'll be better, higher quality problems.
bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/why-bitcoiners-are-not-utopians
I do not presume some unicorn-laden utopia where we’re all just “happy and peaceful” all the time
We’ll have just as many problems, but they'll be better, higher quality problems.
bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/why-bitcoiners-are-not-utopians
33/ This may in fact be where the true definition of evolution exists, at least in a social, “intelligent” or “consciousness” sense. What we are striving for is not the elimination of problems (that’s a load of Marxist garbage), but the enhancement of the quality of our problems.
34/ Akin to the force of life I described earlier, we seek to reach further or, perhaps better stated: life seeks to reach further through us. As I said, we are but a vehicle, the very fingertips of life.
The article delves deeper..
But in closing...
The article delves deeper..
But in closing...
35/ Much has been built and produced in the past 5000 years of human civilization. The last 500 have brought with it massive technological progress that has further been accelerated with the advent and use of things like steel, oil, electricity and, more recently, the internet.
36/ The last big thing that awaits — that can and should be: fixed, robust and constant — is The Money.
And it may well be the most important one of all.
We must transcend the current state.
And it may well be the most important one of all.
We must transcend the current state.
37/ Imagine trying to do physics, let alone any sort of useful modern engineering without constants like “c,” or the laws of thermodynamics. Nothing would work. In fact, imagine using 200 different measurement units for length! That’s the global economy in a nutshell.
38/ The biggest problem we have in the world today is The Money. Nobody actually knows what it is, how much of it there is or what’s actually going on, but we go on building complex models on top of this quicksand, using assumptions and approximations conjured up on a whim.
39/ #BitcoinFixesThis
It has all the key attributes for a functional, efficient, open and performant economic network.
Clear, precise, robust, conservative, Lindy, antifragile, voluntary.
And because of its recursive nature, it’s a runaway train.
Nobody is catching this one.
It has all the key attributes for a functional, efficient, open and performant economic network.
Clear, precise, robust, conservative, Lindy, antifragile, voluntary.
And because of its recursive nature, it’s a runaway train.
Nobody is catching this one.
40/ The question you must answer is will you be aboard that train or watch as it passes?
Bitcoin is our Monetary Constant.
It changes everything.
Thankyou for reading.
bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/why-we-need-a-monetary-constant
Bitcoin is our Monetary Constant.
It changes everything.
Thankyou for reading.
bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/why-we-need-a-monetary-constant
