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The Face Behind Bitcoin?

mag.newsweek.com

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Re: The Face Behind Bitcoin?

#521

Post by anigbrowl »

Yorn wrote: post #430
rthomas6 wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's an interesting observation and now that you pointed it out, I think I agree with you. However, I think that more than autistic people lack interest in "being rich". If I had $400m, I'd buy a house and pay off our car. The remaining $399.5m would be invested. I'd take out $40-50k per year for spending. Extravagant lifestyles are overrated, I think.

Speaking as a sometimes paranoid libertarian with a reasonable amount of Bitcoin, myself, I can say the two things preventing me from cashing out of any portion of it is the likelihood I would be identified and the fact that any sales of it I have to pay taxes on. I purchased a house this year that I could have afforded several times over in Bitcoin, but instead took out a loan just like anyone else.

I don't understand this. the amount you'd pay in capital gains is probably less than what you're going to pay out in interest, notwithstanding the mortgage interest deduction to your taxes (in which the government subsidizes you at the expense of other taxpayers).

I mean, perhaps you ran the numbers and it works out better financially, but I get the impression from your post that you don't want to pay any taxes on it on principle, which seems economically irrational.

Re: The Face Behind Bitcoin?

#522

Post by wpietri »

peterwwillis wrote: post #331
wpietri wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's legitimate to talk about cognitive dissonance here because it explains the behavior patterns. When I was a kid I hung around a farm; on the inside of the wooden fence was a wire that regularly got an electric pulse. After the first time it bit me, I spend a couple of weeks being very careful not to touch it again. Hypocrisy can happen in a variety of ways. But there's a particular sort of doublethink and…

Ah, you're actually really close to understanding the correct principle here! You've just confused a couple of different ideas. First off, cognitive dissonance does not explain any behavior patterns other than those prompted by feeling distressed. If these people were exhibiting symptoms of depression, distress, confusion, etc, or were making their decisions under duress of emotion, you could classify it as cognitive…

Do you find condescending to people gets them to take you more seriously? It has always had the opposite effect for me.

Re: The Face Behind Bitcoin?

#523

Post by TDL »

bane wrote: post #443
TDL wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever considered the fact that former military personnel harbor some anti-government sentiments because of the experience with military? They have lived a fairly authoritarian lifestyle for an extended period of time, it's understandable that they develop a distaste for govenrment.

Yes. Again, growing up and living in the D.C. area, I think everybody in these parts has distaste for government in some way.

I suppose that is probably a fair assessment. That is my impression of the few people I know who have worked for the USG or grew up in the D.C. area.

Re: The Face Behind Bitcoin?

#524

Post by anigbrowl »

alasdair_ wrote: post #352

"I obtained Nakamoto's email through a company he buys model trains from." In Europe, this would be completely illegal. I'd suspect that in the US this at least breaks the privacy policy of whatever site Nakamoto was using. "Two weeks before our meeting in Temple City, I struck up an email correspondence with Satoshi Nakamoto, mostly discussing his interest in upgrading and modifying model steam trains with computer-…

A lot of journalism is just plain old social engineering.

Re: The Face Behind Bitcoin?

#525

Post by tomasien »

xg15 wrote: post #418
tomasien wrote: post #297

A lot of people are calling this "doxxing" which it isn't - identifying someone based on their ACTUAL NAME and profession isn't doxxing. It may be horrible, irresponsible, dangerous, I don't know - still forming an opinion about that, but that's not doxxing as I know it or see it defined anywhere.

I actually don't care if it matches the strict definition of doxxing - it's enough that it was horrible, irresponsible and dangerous.

Definitions matter, words matter. That is all.

Re: The Face Behind Bitcoin?

#526

Post by john_b »

anigbrowl wrote: post #464
john_b wrote: post #413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So a person loses their right to privacy when enough strangers take an interest in them? Nakamoto barely provided Newsweek with any information at all. The rest was obtained (possibly illegally?) by snatching his email from a website he had done business with. After that, she pretended to have an interest in trains to spark a conversation and get initial information. She then stalked him and interviewed his family.

You don't have a right to privacy. Perhaps you should, and I've argued in favor of a constitutional amendment to that effect, but in the meantime privacy is just a polite social fiction.

It's more than a polite social fiction. It's a moral requirement for many of the rights guaranteed by the US Constitution to have any meaning. E.g. try exercising your right to an attorney when the prosecution logs all your communications. Or try exercising your right of assembly to discussion union membership while your employer monitors the meeting. If Americans give up on privacy and decide it's not worth fighting for, they will eventually cede the rest of their rights as well. There are simply too many powerful interests with strong incentives to create a world without a right to privacy.

Re: The Face Behind Bitcoin?

#527

Post by rayiner »

TDL wrote: post #523
bane wrote: post #443

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Again, growing up and living in the D.C. area, I think everybody in these parts has distaste for government in some way.

I suppose that is probably a fair assessment. That is my impression of the few people I know who have worked for the USG or grew up in the D.C. area.

I dunno. My parents have been living in the D.C. area for about 25 years and my dad loves government, at least as long as there's a Democrat in the White House. I mean, he thinks we spend too much on defense, but doesn't everyone dislike some of the "other side's" policies? I think you meet a lot more "true believers in government" in D.C. than anywhere else in the country.

Re: The Face Behind Bitcoin?

#528

Post by anigbrowl »

vezzy-fnord wrote: post #329

Very few people here seem to be discussing the fact that the article offers little real evidence that this is the Satoshi Nakamoto of Bitcoin, and that most likely they just set up an eccentric old man with an unfortunate name collision to end up getting mobbed by the public.

Apart from the guy not saying 'no, I am not the inventor of Bitcoin, you have the wrong Satoshi Nakamoto.'

Re: The Face Behind Bitcoin?

#529

Post by api »

bane wrote: post #101

Topic other than discussing the irresponsibility of "outing" a guy using the clever tricks of using his name and public records look ups. > A libertarian, Nakamoto encouraged his daughter to be independent, start her own business and "not be under the government's thumb," she says. "He was very wary of the government, taxes and people in charge." > What you don't know about him is that he's worked on classified stuff…

It's an ideology. Ideologies are sort of intellectual trinkets that people keep for various reasons such as aesthetics or social acceptance, but they often bear no connection whatsoever to actual behavior.

Re: The Face Behind Bitcoin?

#530

Post by nether »

johngalt wrote: post #217
bane wrote: post #101

Topic other than discussing the irresponsibility of "outing" a guy using the clever tricks of using his name and public records look ups. > A libertarian, Nakamoto encouraged his daughter to be independent, start her own business and "not be under the government's thumb," she says. "He was very wary of the government, taxes and people in charge." > What you don't know about him is that he's worked on classified stuff…

If anti-government and inexperienced then: 'These libertarians are just backwards and don't understand government' If anti-government and experienced then: 'Hypocrites!' else: more government It's a stronger position to oppose something you are experienced with and benefit from. Imagine a nuclear engineer who's advocating that the new plant she's working on is being built dangerously by the people in charge. Would yo…

John Galt hid in plain sight too...
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