Humans have often not been able to explain things and turned to magic for explanations. Just because you don't have the answer today doesn't mean we should make one up to make yourself more comfortable. Here are just a few examples of this in the past:

Examples: Greek Mythology (Zeus): Zeus, the king of the gods, was believed to hurl lightning bolts as a display of his authority or to punish mortals. Thunder was the sound of his bolts or chariot. Hesiod’s Theogony describes Zeus using lightning to defeat the Titans, symbolizing his control over the cosmos.

Norse Mythology (Thor): Thor, the god of thunder, was thought to create lightning with his hammer, Mjölnir, as he rode his chariot across the sky. Thunder was the hammer’s strike or the chariot’s rumble. The Poetic Edda recounts Thor’s battles with giants, where storms reflect his might.

Yoruba Mythology (Shango): In West African Yoruba tradition, Shango, the god of thunder and lightning, was believed to unleash lightning as a sign of his fiery temper or justice. His double-headed axe symbolized lightning’s destructive power, and thunder was his voice. Oral traditions link Shango to storms over Oyo.

Hindu Mythology (Indra): Indra, the Vedic god of war and weather, wielded the vajra (thunderbolt) to slay demons like Vritra and bring rain. The Rigveda describes Indra’s lightning as a cosmic weapon, with thunder as his roar.

Scientific Explanation: Lightning is an electrostatic discharge between clouds or between a cloud and the ground, caused by charge separation in thunderstorms. Thunder is the sound of rapidly expanding air heated by the lightning. Benjamin Franklin’s 1752 kite experiment and later studies of atmospheric electricity debunked divine causes.

Examples: Greek Mythology (Poseidon): Poseidon, god of the sea and earthquakes, was called the “Earth-Shaker.” His trident strikes were believed to cause quakes, especially in coastal regions like Greece. The Iliad links Poseidon’s anger to seismic events.

**Japanese Mythology theologians, who believed the god stirred under the islands, causing quakes. The Nihon Shoki chronicles Namazu’s role in seismic myths.

Māori Mythology (Rūaumoko): In New Zealand, Rūaumoko, the unborn god of earthquakes and volcanoes, was said to rumble within his mother, Papatūānuku (Earth), causing tremors. Māori oral traditions tie his movements to volcanic and seismic activity.

Scientific Explanation: Earthquakes result from tectonic plate movements along faults, releasing stored elastic energy. The development of plate tectonics in the 20th century, building on Alfred Wegener’s 1912 continental drift theory, explained quakes as natural, not divine.

Examples: Chinese Mythology (Heavenly Dog): Ancient Chinese believed a celestial dragon or dog devoured the sun or moon during eclipses, prompting rituals like banging drums to scare it away. The Shujing (Book of Documents) references such beliefs.

Hindu Mythology (Rahu): The demon Rahu, a severed head, was said to swallow the sun or moon during eclipses as revenge against the gods. The Mahabharata and Bhagavata Purana describe Rahu’s pursuit, with eclipses ending when the sun or moon escapes his mouth.

Inuit Mythology (Malina and Anningan): In Inuit lore, the sun goddess Malina and her brother, the moon god Anningan, chased each other. During an eclipse, one caught the other, temporarily extinguishing their light. Oral traditions link this to sibling rivalry.

Scientific Explanation: A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and sun, casting a shadow. A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth’s shadow blocks sunlight from the moon. Ancient astronomers like Ptolemy (2nd century CE) began modeling these events, and modern astronomy confirms they follow predictable orbital mechanics.

Examples: Hawaiian Mythology (Pele): Pele, the goddess of volcanoes and fire, was believed to reside in Kīlauea’s Halemaʻumaʻu crater. Eruptions were her anger or creative acts, forming new land. Hawaiian chants and hula honor Pele’s power over lava flows.

Greek Mythology (Hephaestus): Hephaestus, the god of fire and smithing, was linked to volcanic activity, with his forge under mountains like Etna. The Odyssey and other texts associate his work with volcanic fumes and eruptions.

Roman Mythology (Vulcan): Vulcan, the Roman equivalent of Hephaestus, was tied to volcanoes (hence “volcano”). His forge under Mount Vesuvius was thought to cause eruptions, as seen in Pliny the Younger’s accounts of the 79 CE eruption.

Scientific Explanation: Volcanic eruptions occur when magma, gas, and ash escape from Earth’s crust, often at tectonic boundaries. The 19th-century study of volcanology, advanced by figures like James Dwight Dana, explained eruptions as geological processes driven by mantle convection and pressure.

Examples: Aztec Mythology (Tlaloc): Tlaloc, the rain god, controlled precipitation, bringing life-giving rain or destructive floods. The Florentine Codex describes sacrifices to Tlaloc to ensure rain for crops, with droughts signaling his displeasure.

Egyptian Mythology (Tefnut): Tefnut, goddess of moisture, was linked to rain and dew in Egypt’s arid climate. Her absence caused drought, and myths in the Pyramid Texts connect her to the Nile’s cycles.

Slavic Mythology (Perun): Perun, a thunder and rain god, was believed to bring storms and fertility. His battles with the serpent Veles, per Slavic folklore, caused rain to fall, nourishing crops.

Scientific Explanation: Rain results from the water cycle, where evaporation, condensation, and atmospheric circulation produce precipitation. Droughts stem from prolonged high-pressure systems or climate patterns like El Niño. John Dalton’s 18th-century work on meteorology laid the groundwork for understanding these processes.

Examples: Norse Mythology (Valkyries): The aurora was thought to be light reflecting off the Valkyries’ shields as they guided warriors to Valhalla. The Prose Edda hints at such celestial phenomena tied to divine activity.

Sámi Mythology (Ancestors): In Sámi tradition, the aurora represented ancestral spirits or the souls of the dead, with gods like Beaivi (the sun deity) influencing its appearance. Whistling at the lights was taboo, as it could anger the spirits.

Algonquian Mythology (Creator’s Fire): Some Algonquian tribes believed the aurora was a divine fire lit by the Creator or Nanabozho to signal hope. Oral traditions tied it to spiritual communication.

Scientific Explanation: The aurora borealis is caused by charged particles from the sun hitting gases in Earth’s atmosphere, exciting them to emit light. Kristian Birkeland’s early 20th-century research on geomagnetic storms explained this phenomenon.

When you make a big claim, of magic, you need big evidence to back it up.

Instead you want everyone to disprove your fairy tales. Laughable. Save your prayers for someone who cares for them.

Nope. I and you see/experience reality around us. There is no god in that reality.

Now, if there was a bearded man walking around doing magic like jesus, then the burden of proof would be on me to provide an alternative explanation to magic.

But I see reality, not magic. You claim there is magic. Prove the magic.

I agree with you that bitcoin should go up more in percentage terms than gold in 10 years. But I'd be willing to wager gold will have a higher market cap than bitcoin in a decade.

The powers that be prefer the fact that gold is hard to audit and is difficult to self custody and so in the midst of this tariff upheaval we see central banks hoovering up as much gold as they can. I have yet to hear of one country that is (at least publicly) saying they are buying meaningful amounts of bitcoin (and the price action reflects this).

What we perceive as gold's weaknesses, to a nation state actor, are a feature not a bug. They don't want easy custody, 10 minute settlement, the ability to move across borders with 12 words in your head, etc...

Bitcoin is substantially better than gold in every respect except for lifespan.

I don't think people will ever go back to using gold as a money, but its usefulness would be as a reserve asset or a savings asset. To be fair, that is how the vast majority of bitcoin is used today. Unlike gold though, bitcoin has the potential to be used as a day to day money as well, although gun to my head I would bet that doesn't happen.

My guess is, at least in my lifetime, bitcoin will be a savings tool and fiat will continue to be the medium of exchange. Best case, something like e-cash may gain some adoption which can easily be converted to bitcoin, but again I would guess this is a sub 5% adoption across the world in my lifetime.

Mostly they've just gone to shit. What bitcoin did is a slog to get through, rabbit hole recap is just a current events/politics podcast, the jack mallers thing is so hard to listen to with his repetitive ranting style, etc...

There was a golden age of these and I think it ended sometime last year, if you're a newbie, you're probably better off listening to some older pods to get the good stuff

As someone who is retired with the majority of my wealth in bitcoin (and without a pension, social security yet), price drops can be a struggle.

I think the total net worth number is much more anxiety inducing than the % profit you're in, particularly when you're past your sat stacking days. That would apply even to a traditional retiree with a stock portfolio. It doesn't matter that you bought Apple at 1/4 of today's price, what matters is how much your net worth is fluctuating to the downside.

Bitcoin is money, magical internet money, but still money. The point of money is to be able to buy things of actual value to a finite human life. Things like shelter, transportation, food. Purchasing power of a money going down is bad. I don't want to be able to buy less bananas today than I could yesterday.

Now, I believe on a long timescale the purchasing power of bitcoin will go up and it has proven a very worthy store of my life's monetary value thus far. But drops still hurt.

To be honest, I think at some point, I will diversify a little bit and put some amount into more 'stable' stores of value that I know can hold me over for 5ish years. That way I don't have to think about bitcoin price as much or selling during a bear market.

Yeah, perhaps we just disagree on the percentages? My guesstimate is that 80%+ of material wants/desires of man are driven by the advertising industry.

I think there are natural evolutionary desires that push humans (or any animal for that matter) to survive, make themselves an attractive mate in order to procreate and pass on their genes.

Advertising/PR industries have bastardized those desires by making brainwashing society into believing that the Rolex or BMW or Prada shoes signify you are an attractive mate. Their advertisements make it clear they are trying to brainwash the population into believing these things. The man with the Rolex is a jetsetter with an attractive lady at his side. The gorgeous lady with the Prada shoes is an attractive mate.

They are trying as hard as possible to link their product to the fundamental human desires of survival, procreation, love, happiness, etc... and I must say they are quite successful at it!

I think I'm well informed about certain things and less informed about other things. With that said, I'm a minimalist, at least by typical American standards so I'm less of a consumer in general (despite how uninformed or informed I may be).

"Your personal experiences make up maybe 0.00000001% of what's happened in the world, but maybe 80% of how you think the world works." -Morgan Housel (The Psychology of Money)

Capitalism/marketing has made people feel these "unlimited wants of human desire". Those are not natural feelings, but rather ones that we have been conditioned to believe. In the words of Noam Chomsky:

It quickly became very clear that it wasn't going to be very easy to control the population by force —too much freedom had been won.

(...) It was understood and expressed that you have to control them [the people] by the control of beliefs and attitudes. And the best way to do this is by "fabricating consumers."

You spend your time and effort gaining those things which you don't need, you don't want, and maybe you will throw them away...

But that's the measure of a decent life.

If you have taken an economics course, you know that markets are based on "informed consumers making rational choices."

Well, if we had a market system like that, a market system, then a television ad of, say, General Motors, putting up information, saying, "Here's what we have for sale."

That's not what an ad for a car is.

An ad for a car is a football hero, and actress, a car doing some crazy thing like going up a mountain or something.

The point [of advertising] is to create uninformed consumers who will make irrational choices —and for politics, it works in the same way.

Folks, let me tell you, cryptocurrencies, they're unbelievable, just the best. I mean, Bitcoin, it's like a big league baseball, it's gonna hit a home run, and Ethereum, it's like a fantastic wall, it's gonna keep all the bad guys out. And the other ones, Litecoin, Ripple, they're all tremendous, folks, they're all gonna be so big, so strong, so powerful, that it's gonna make your head spin. I mean, I've made some of the greatest deals, the greatest, with cryptocurrencies, and I'm telling you, nobody, nobody, is better at cryptocurrency than I am. I've got the best words, the best brain, and I know more about blockchain than any expert, any expert, folks. In fact, I'm pretty sure I invented blockchain, it's a great word, a fantastic word, and I'm gonna trademark it, just watch. And let me tell you, folks, cryptocurrency is gonna be so huge, so massive, that we're gonna have to build a wall around it, a beautiful wall, to keep all the fake coins out. And I'm gonna make the hackers pay for it, mark my words. Believe me, folks, it's gonna be yuge, just yuge, the future of cryptocurrency is gonna be so big, so strong, so powerful, that it's gonna make America great again, again, and again.

Generally agree with you. But the market price is the market price.

While I believe bitcoin is worth more than $500k/coin, the market will only give me $78k for that coin should I require trading my money for a car or a banana.

Hopefully over time, more people will understand bitcoin's value, but it increasingly looks like the market rate of increase in price is slowing dramatically cycle after cycle.

Yeah, I mean we can all do many different analysis to get different results. But I think intuitively, most bitcoiners would believe that if you hodl for any 4 year period, your purchasing power should go up tremendously. Instead, it hasn't kept up with the nasdaq and barely held up compared to s&p500.

it was around 60k in March 2021.

I wholeheartedly agree that the purchasing power of money is very important. Bitcoin is money. It literally serves no other purpose than to be exchanged at some point of time for a real world good. You can't eat a bitcoin, live in a bitcoin, drive to the park in your bitcoin, etc... I agree its stupid for people who are heavily invested in bitcoin to act all happy that the price is going down, this is just a "the grapes are sour" type of coping mechanism.

But markets are a fickle beast. 80%+ of the wealth is owned by a tiny fraction of the population, and they tend to have insider knowledge of policies before they are implemented. Prices are also set on the edge, based on the last trade.

Humans tend to follow herd behavior and the algos that do the vast majority of trading are even worse and are hard trend followers.

Throw in the extreme uncertainty and chaos of Trump into the global mix, and yes we have a chaotic stock market which bitcoin is a tiny tiny tiny little subset of.

I am leaning towards the theory that Trump wants to crash the market hard in 2025. Why? Because he can then blame it on Biden and his followers are stupid enough to parrot and believe it. Interest rates will plummet alongside the stock market which will allow Bessent to roll over much of the debt at lower rates. The federal reserve will then implement several cuts this year to combat the weakening economy. The end of 2025 and 2026 will begin the roaring comeback, which plays very nicely politically for Trump going into the midterms.

I wouldn't be shocked if we've seen the bitcoin high for several months and don't revisit the 100k+ until Q4 of this year. But on a positive note, we may not have the typical cycle crash next year and could have another up year...

Are we surprised? Lifelong grifters gonna grift