131–140 of 150 posts
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No, it's called absolute automation, and it's hard but possible within realm of capitalism.
You assume that homo sapiens would be satisfied at an arbitrary stage of the Maslow pyramid
This article has some substance to it that is worth discussion, but I feel it's value is greatly diminished by the sheer amount of ad hominem in it. Don't buy Bitcoin because Michael Saylor and Elon Musk also own some? That's terrible advice. The USD is also owned by terrible people, and is used to fund terrible things. I agree with the author that many people rationalize or fall into some of the standard Bitcoin bel…
Thank you, I appreciate that.
>“sheer amount of ad hominem in it.”
I wouldn't say sheer, but admittedly yes, I couldn't help myself since that's part of the reason I opted out. I just don't like to invest in things associated with shady people. And if calling Saylor shady is an ad hominem, then I'll live with that. Rebuke accepted.
>“The USD is also owned by terrible people, and is used to fund terrible things.”
This is whataboutism which I mention in the article as well.
>“but to project their own case of that on all Bitcoin enthusiasts is completely unfair.”
I'm not doing that, or at least it wasn't my intention. That's why I opened with “Realizing the extent”. By using “extent” I mean a lot, not everyone. That why I also added: “So, governments are not without faults, but likewise not the evil bogeymen as many people make them out to be, and neither are bitcoin enthusiasts.” I am definitely aware that not everyone is toxic. Although I could've given it some more weight throughout the article. But I stand by my observation that cryptocurrencies really are the most toxic communities I've ever encountered, on par with religious fanatics. Anyway, I'll look where I can add some extra nuance.
>“Some of the smartest engineers I know work on Bitcoin”
Anyone can say about anyone that they're the smartest people they know. It carries zero validity. I'll just copy-paste my reaction to an identical comment, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26448833:
«“you'll see some of the smartest engineers of our generation working real hard”
“I've been reading those cheap empty words way too much lately. Unless they are the likes of John von Neumann I'll just assume they're people of average intelligence working on things that look incredibly intimidating to outsiders.”
Also, an excerpt from Marcus Aurelius - Meditations: “How corrupt and two-faced is one who claims, 'I intend to be fair and honest in my dealings with you.' What are you up to, my friend? There is really no need for this preamble. The matter will soon become plain. It should be written on your face,* it should ring out immediately in your voice, and shine out at once in your eyes, as the loved one at once knows everything about his lovers from the manner of their glance. In short, a good and honest person should resemble one who smells like a goat in this respect, that anyone who comes near him is immediately aware of it whether he wishes it or not. But the mere pretence of simplicity is like an open blade. There is nothing more odious than the friendship of the wolf for the lamb; avoid this above all. A good, straightforward, and kindly person reveals these qualities in his eyes, and they will not escape you.”»
That being said, I appreciate your civility. Have a great one.
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I think the Bitcoin people on Twitter are quite fun, actually. When Bitcoin crashes, they flood Twitter with HODL memes, which helps through the dark times.
This sounds like a cult
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I think the Bitcoin people on Twitter are quite fun, actually. When Bitcoin crashes, they flood Twitter with HODL memes, which helps through the dark times.
Nonsense! When bitcoin crashes you must sell, not hodl, because it is clearly DOOMED! Buy only when it is nearing ATH.
Just HODL!
"Relieving humans from having to worry about or deal with money would be an actual Copernican revolution. How that would work is beyond me, but that's precisely why it would be revolutionary." This
It's called communism and everytime it's tried it ends in genocide and hundreds of millions murdered.
I have thought about this with Bitcoin: if the protocol and potential capabilities are so interesting, why is 99% of the conversation related to Bitcoin about the current price. It does make me believe that greed is the predominant driver of most Bitcoin holders, which to me makes the whole concept a lot less principled than people pretend it is.
Bitcoin looks like it should solve something, but it doesn't. Except makes crime easier. Just the tax evasion alone must be staggering.
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I agree completely, and to push this a little further - name a community that isn't toxic. The worst part about virtue signalling nowadays is that it throws out the accumulated history and cultural knowledge of humanity - as expressed in art, literature, etc. Which in a million repeated ways demonstrate that evil in humanity is ubiquitous and ever-present. There's so many people soap-boxing acting like they don't suf…
Skateboarders, rock climbers, mathematics, tractor enthusiasts, Britney Spears fanclubs (hence Britney Spears' Guide to Semiconductor Physics http://britneyspears.ac/lasers.htm ), book clubs, permaculture, meteorologists, bobbin lacers, et cetera. The world is not as toxic when profit isn't involved.
Got it - this evinces a certain idealism that ignores some pretty glaring stuff that defined the Soviet Union, Cuba, Venezuela, etc. All the places that either outright outlawed profit, or otherwise viewed it as evil.
Also regarding your list - what a weird view - that there's angelic spheres where we somehow transcend human behavior.
You only have to look at the scandals of the knitting community to see that no one is immune to toxicity.
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> take unfounded trust away from individual organisations and governments, and instead puts that trust in maths and the collective If by "collective" you mean a tiny portion of the community that are core developers, megaminers, megapools, exchanges and whales, uhh, then sure, but that doesn't seem much different than fiat. There is still an elite minority in control.
Sure, but not everyone can foresee everything. Email was meant to be a decentralised, self-hosted service, yet here we are, gmail, outlook have the majority of users. In addition to that, most of those megaminers, and megapools, can't do much without working with a large chunk of other miners. Without it, the worse they can do is not fulfill individual transactions (which other miners can continue to accept). Just be…
No it does not. There are already complaints of vested interests holding back technological advances to BTC. Nothing technically prevents vested interests from colluding to fork the chain ala the ETH DAO scandal. It's not a minority hoarding bitcoin, it's minority controlling bitcoin. You could say you haven't seen enough evidence of this being a problem, but then BTC hasn't been around for centuries or nor does it run a global economy at scale yet.