1472 sats \ 2 replies \ @davidw 18 Nov 2023 freebie \ on: Accelerationism, Decelerationism, and Bitcoin bitcoin
Generally, I think it can be summed-up that the world is going through immense change, the likes of which we have not seen before. For our generation or others. Included is a bunch of new tech, good and bad.
This follows a period of immense stagnation, where it seems on the surface many technologies have been suppressed and held-back for years or decades. Perhaps for either the cost-benefit to make sense, or for the moment to cause maximal societal impact.
The reaction we see ‘just stop oil’, ESG hysteria and the call for regulations, is natural. We as humans don’t like change. Especially not of this magnitude. Not to mention, lobbying gets done by incumbent companies with outsized influence or a headstart already. Trying to build a moat and prevent further disruption.
The best we can do, is be open to change and to keep experimenting with new things in my mind. Stick to our values, on privacy and inclusion and transparency. If so, it will be easier for us, than others in society. Those without a critical eye, who are resistant to change are going to find these next 5-10 years ever more challenging to navigate, I believe.
Centralised systems & honeypots are likely to keep failing and leaking data. Hacks, attacks, leaks, downtime… it’s going to be never-ending when SHTF. Soon after, people will be demanding decentralised tech, for fear of being burned ever again. We’ve had peak fiat.
That’s my 2 sats.
yeah good points, it seems like really big changes have been mostly constrained to software over the last couple decades though.
there’s a good book called the rise and fall of american growth which makes a case that a lot of the zero-to-one changes in america happened 50-100 years ago, and that recent paradigm-shifts have been much less frequent.
it covers things like:
- cars
- sewage systems
- electric lighting
- air travel
- television
however, i think you’re right that we are on the cusp of a lot of new changes that will affect both our digital and physical worlds with AI, Bitcoin, 3D printing, biotech, etc…
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100%.
My favourite quote from the diamond age novel is:
now nanotechnology has made nearly anything possible, and so the cultural role in deciding what should be done with it had become far more important than imagining what could be done with it.
We may be a little way off that right now, but an abundant future is not beyond us.
Think of all the product & engineering resource that has been wasted on changing button sizes, or text copy for a 7% conversion gain. Or to fund the advertising suction cup.
Imagine those gains being redirected to open-source propulsion systems or something of the like. How many work hours that would save for people worldwide. We’ve been sooo inefficient with our talents for the last 20 years. And so it certainly feels like an inflexion point.
All these rumours of being able to harness gravity, fusion power or weather. There’s untold potential on the other side of these changes.
I hope we as bitcoiners continue to be open to building on the cutting edge of other verticals also. I do see some disengaging and wishing certain shifts were not happening. But we need cutting edge hardware as well as software. Not just building novelty or nostalgic products. (As much as I value those).
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