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Bitcoin and Thoughts from Bill Gates

benjamingilbert.net

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Re: Bitcoin and Thoughts from Bill Gates

#4

Post by officialjunk »

harrystone wrote: post #2

I had more optimism for Bitcoin before I saw people so aggressively evangelize it. I think it has great potential as a digital currency but some people are making into what's almost a totem.

i am not familiar with the phrase "totem." care to elaborate?

Re: Bitcoin and Thoughts from Bill Gates

#5

Post by ssdfsdf »

officialjunk wrote: post #4
harrystone wrote: post #2

I had more optimism for Bitcoin before I saw people so aggressively evangelize it. I think it has great potential as a digital currency but some people are making into what's almost a totem.

i am not familiar with the phrase "totem." care to elaborate?

I think he means a symbol of worship. Something that is worshiped because of the desire to worship something, not because of any deep understanding of it's intrinsic worth...

Re: Bitcoin and Thoughts from Bill Gates

#6

Post by fennecfoxen »

officialjunk wrote: post #4
harrystone wrote: post #2

I had more optimism for Bitcoin before I saw people so aggressively evangelize it. I think it has great potential as a digital currency but some people are making into what's almost a totem.

i am not familiar with the phrase "totem." care to elaborate?

"A totem is a being, object, or symbol representing an animal or plant that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, group, lineage, or tribe, reminding them of their ancestry." -- Wikipedia. They may have spiritual/shamanastic uses in certain contexts.

In this context, Bitcoin has been purported to be an emblem of freedom, liberty, anarchy, libertarianism, decentralization, etc.

Re: Bitcoin and Thoughts from Bill Gates

#7

Post by harrystone »

officialjunk wrote: post #4
harrystone wrote: post #2

I had more optimism for Bitcoin before I saw people so aggressively evangelize it. I think it has great potential as a digital currency but some people are making into what's almost a totem.

i am not familiar with the phrase "totem." care to elaborate?

By totem I mean a symbol of belonging to a group. It seems to me that a lot of the Bitcoin community shares a vaguely similar idea of what the future of money should be and the way to achieve that is via technology, not politics. I think that's very naive, or maybe it's nothing more than just a reaction to what seems like an impossible task. Either way, I see a lot of emotion wrapped up in what's supposed to be just a digital currency. It seems like a political movement that wants nothing to do with politics.

Re: Bitcoin and Thoughts from Bill Gates

#8

Post by Xdes »

officialjunk wrote: post #4
harrystone wrote: post #2

I had more optimism for Bitcoin before I saw people so aggressively evangelize it. I think it has great potential as a digital currency but some people are making into what's almost a totem.

i am not familiar with the phrase "totem." care to elaborate?

I think 'icon' fits better.

Re: Bitcoin and Thoughts from Bill Gates

#9

Post by dcc1 »

harrystone wrote: post #2

I had more optimism for Bitcoin before I saw people so aggressively evangelize it. I think it has great potential as a digital currency but some people are making into what's almost a totem.

Well it is an innovative technology/platform that ranks up there with HTTP, html, tcp/ip, usenet, bittorent

Nothing as interesting has come out since 90s, all we had since are "social networks" and "flappy bird" sigh

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