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Profile of Vitalik Buterin and Ethereum

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Re: Profile of Vitalik Buterin and Ethereum

#11

Post by haywirez »

drcode wrote: post #4
pfraze wrote: post #3

Eugh. Wow. > In Miami, Buterin’s army was small, but already keenly aware of the importance of beatifying its leader. Joseph Lubin, one of the developers staying at the house, and one of the few people who seemed to understand Ethereum enough to decipher its potential, told me in an endearing, paternal tone that Buterin was a genius alien that had arrived on this planet to deliver the sacrosanct gift of decentralizat…

I agree the article is distasteful in its focus on personalitiy... ...but as someone who's deeply involved in this technology (and an unabashed believer in the ethereum technology stack) I personally consider Vitalik's combination of skills in systems architecture design, cryptocurrency protocol coding, and cryptoeconomic analysis to be unmatched by anyone else in the community.

I think the HN crowd tends to forget that most people are simply hardwired to be interested in stories about other people, rather than concepts (or things)[0]. It's the best way to disseminate ideas to the general public.

[0] http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11031-011-9273-2

Re: Profile of Vitalik Buterin and Ethereum

#12

Post by erikpukinskis »

pfraze wrote: post #3

Eugh. Wow. > In Miami, Buterin’s army was small, but already keenly aware of the importance of beatifying its leader. Joseph Lubin, one of the developers staying at the house, and one of the few people who seemed to understand Ethereum enough to decipher its potential, told me in an endearing, paternal tone that Buterin was a genius alien that had arrived on this planet to deliver the sacrosanct gift of decentralizat…

In the case of Ethereum, maybe a little of both.

The plan is to create an entirely new form of social organization. I'm not making any claims about the likelihood of success, but their vision is wholesale replacement of capitalism and democracy among other things.

There are some cultlike aspects to that. It is a form of abandonment of your friends and family. Since it's not yet realized, it requires some blind faith in Vitalik.

... in some ways every startup is cultlike though.

Re: Profile of Vitalik Buterin and Ethereum

#13

Post by TDL »

fit2rule wrote: post #7
pfraze wrote: post #3

Eugh. Wow. > In Miami, Buterin’s army was small, but already keenly aware of the importance of beatifying its leader. Joseph Lubin, one of the developers staying at the house, and one of the few people who seemed to understand Ethereum enough to decipher its potential, told me in an endearing, paternal tone that Buterin was a genius alien that had arrived on this planet to deliver the sacrosanct gift of decentralizat…

Cults and Software go hand in hand. Don't be so terrified of cults if you're just getting into software - they're important in this industry. Very little of any import actually gets done without them ... and despite what you may think, the cult model is very useful when it comes to software development. Without a stable individual around which to rally, technology wheels spin and spin. However, with a cult figure mak…

"There are many, many positive software cults in our world today."

Care to name some? I don't believe cultivating religious fervor over anything and rejecting information that disconfirms or challenges your beliefs as a positive thing.

Re: Profile of Vitalik Buterin and Ethereum

#15

Post by heliumcraft »

brighton36 wrote: post #9

No one needs ethereum. It's a penny stock scam that sells the cure to whatever ails you to any willing solutionist that's looking to get rich quick.

You and ChrisDeRose have no regard for truth and certainly have no problem spreading FUD for your own gain. You don't truly care about crypto, decentralization nor freedom but only about counterparty and bitcoin going up for your own selfish gain. Hope you can sleep well at night.

Re: Profile of Vitalik Buterin and Ethereum

#16

Post by fit2rule »

TDL wrote: post #13
fit2rule wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cults and Software go hand in hand. Don't be so terrified of cults if you're just getting into software - they're important in this industry. Very little of any import actually gets done without them ... and despite what you may think, the cult model is very useful when it comes to software development. Without a stable individual around which to rally, technology wheels spin and spin. However, with a cult figure mak…

"There are many, many positive software cults in our world today." Care to name some? I don't believe cultivating religious fervor over anything and rejecting information that disconfirms or challenges your beliefs as a positive thing.

The Cult of Linus.

The Cult of RMS.

The Cult of Carmack.

The Cult of antirez.

The Cult of Pike.

Cult, definition:

... (religious definition skipped) ...

4. a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc. 5. Sociology. a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.

Re: Profile of Vitalik Buterin and Ethereum

#17

Post by Olscore »

amaks wrote: post #5
pfraze wrote: post #3

Eugh. Wow. > In Miami, Buterin’s army was small, but already keenly aware of the importance of beatifying its leader. Joseph Lubin, one of the developers staying at the house, and one of the few people who seemed to understand Ethereum enough to decipher its potential, told me in an endearing, paternal tone that Buterin was a genius alien that had arrived on this planet to deliver the sacrosanct gift of decentralizat…

Digital currency is a cult.

It's true. I'm inclined to vouch for this so any unfamiliar get a sense of the culture surrounding cryptocurrencies. There is a religiousness to digital currencies. They almost have to be this way, because their initial value depends on Ponzi-like marketing and proliferation is a very grass-roots effort.

Re: Profile of Vitalik Buterin and Ethereum

#18

Post by blankchain »

heliumcraft wrote: post #15
brighton36 wrote: post #9

No one needs ethereum. It's a penny stock scam that sells the cure to whatever ails you to any willing solutionist that's looking to get rich quick.

You and ChrisDeRose have no regard for truth and certainly have no problem spreading FUD for your own gain. You don't truly care about crypto, decentralization nor freedom but only about counterparty and bitcoin going up for your own selfish gain. Hope you can sleep well at night.

He is Chris De Rose.
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