Provocation in the form of a Parable xAI
520 sats \ 2 comments \ @Istillhavesatoshis 7 Aug 2023 bitcoin
The owner of the work was a fan of cryptocurrencies. He had invested all his savings in bitcoin, hoping that its value would skyrocket with the next halving. But there was a problem: the builders who worked for him did not share his enthusiasm. They preferred to be paid in euros, and did not understand why they had to accept a virtual currency that fluctuated so much.
One day, the owner of the work had an idea. He decided to hide the cement blocks that the builders needed to raise the walls. He told them that he would only give them one block for each bitcoin they paid him. In this way, he thought, he would force them to use his favorite currency and increase its demand.
The builders were puzzled. They did not know what a bitcoin was, nor how to get it, nor how to pay with it. Some tried to negotiate with the owner of the work, but he refused to change the conditions. Others searched the internet for information about the bitcoin halving, but only found technical and confusing articles.
In the end, the builders got tired of the situation. They decided to leave the work and look for another job. The owner of the work was left alone, surrounded by cement blocks and bitcoin. He hoped that the halving would raise the price of his cryptocurrency, but what he did not know was that the market was full of speculators and manipulators. On the day of the halving, bitcoin collapsed and lost more than half of its value.
The owner of the work realized that he had made a serious mistake. He had lost his workers, his customers and his savings. He regretted being so greedy and hiding the blocks from the builders. He realized that bitcoin was nothing but an illusion, and that the only real thing were the cement blocks.
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @mallardshead 7 Aug 2023
Part II
The owner stares into the sky laying on his back, surrounded by bricks, power tools, and plaster. He's listening to the happy ringtone of his phone reach into the abandoned construction site. And finally, on the count of three, he gets to his feet, knocking over the empty vodka bottle, and stumbles towards his truck. It's ringing again when he leans in the open window and takes it from the driver's seat.
"You donkey," the voice on the other end says.
"What?" the owner looks at the screen, but his antagonist hangs up. A blocked number shows at the top of the recent call log, and returning to the home screen, his bitcoin price widget is still red. He recognized the voice, it was Brock, his best employee.
He loses track of time on the tailgate of his pickup, feeling like a small figure, waiting for the liquor to work from his body enough to drive home. He's more than halfway through a new pack of cigarettes when his wife pulls up the unpaved driveway beeping. He doesn't make eye contact or acknowledge her. She gets out:
"Honey, I tried calling you, where's your phone?"
He nods a few yards from where his feet dangle; a face-up phone with a cracked screen is there in the gravel.
"Did you hear honey?"
"Hear what?" he says taking another drag, staring somewhere beyond her.
"Blackrock, that ETF you always talk about, it's been approved!" She shoves her phone into his face.
The price of bitcoin has doubled. It's on the homepage of the WSJ. Twitter is full of emoji. His cigarette is glowing where it fell. His arms are around his wife. His former employees are speeding back to the construction site. He's discharging the firearm from his glove compartment into the heavens. Sirens wail in the distance.
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100 sats \ 0 replies \ @Istillhavesatoshis OP 7 Aug 2023
Yessss!!!!
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