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Wealth: "the repertoire of physical transformations that [we] would be capable of causing"
102 sats \ 2 comments \ @cozy 30 Nov 2021 bitcoin
This is a "non-parochial" (long term thinking) definition of wealth from "The Beginning of Infinity". There's a copy of the book here: https://ia800107.us.archive.org/29/items/RichardDawkinsTheSelfishGene_201802/The%20Beginning%20of%20Infinity.pdf . It's probably the single most influential book I've ever read.
If the goal is to increase human civilization's collective (and individual) wealth: how does Bitcoin help?
There's another idea in the book about how error correction for any system comes from what Deutsch calls a "Tradition of Criticism". I think that idea is coded in the language of Bitcoiners as "Censorship-resistance". To me, Bitcoin isn't so much about money, it's about extending the west's Tradition of Criticism, voluntarily, to anyone in the world who wants it. The caveat of course being that they must have a computer and the internet (or, in theory, a satellite, I guess).
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22 sats \ 1 reply \ @k00b 30 Nov 2021
It's probably the single most influential book I've ever read.
I know Naval is a big fan of Deustche and feels the same way but I haven't had a chance to read this one yet.
how does Bitcoin help?
IMO by making value predictable and fair; lowering the latency and cost of value transfer; and reducing the trust load we each carry (kind of like a Dunbar's number but for entities we trust).
I suspect his definition of wealth hinges on knowledge and I think knowledge monetization is more efficient in an economy with sound money.
There's another idea in the book about how error correction for any system comes from what Deutsch calls a "Tradition of Criticism". I think that idea is coded in the language of Bitcoiners as "Censorship-resistance".
I think this is right. Censorship-resistance is a kind of transposed synonym for free speech where each has the goal of maximal variance in either transactions or speech.
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11 sats \ 0 replies \ @cozy OP 30 Nov 2021
IMO by making value predictable and fair; lowering the latency and cost of value transfer; and reducing the trust load we each carry (kind of like a Dunbar's number but for entities we trust).
Yeah, interesting way of putting it, and I hadn't considered Dunbar's number or what that means in the context of Bitcoin. Very interesting. Related: I kinda pressed the guy who's behind "Drivechains" on the epistemology of prediction markets on Twitter and he replied with this:
The current price is the conjectural knowledge and it is maximally vulnerable to replacement by a better candidate. Ultra Hayek/Popper.
I really like this idea that a voluntary market can contain conjectural knowledge, and it's easily replaceable and rewarding to those who create it.
I think this is right. Censorship-resistance is a kind of transposed synonym for free speech where each has the goal of maximal variance in either transactions or speech.
Yeah, what Deutsch calls "A Tradition of Criticism," definitely gets wrapped up in what people refer to as "Free Speech." I heard a Radiolab that kind of came to the conclusion that: "I want the freedom FROM listening to people." Not sure how I feel about that, it seems dangerous to create those kind of bubbles for yourself--freeing yourself from criticism is a great way to stop growing. So the project of, say, a social media site is to delineate good criticism from bad criticismーso as not to waste everyone's time? I dunno.
I feel that this ties in well with what Square is trying to do with their DEX project and decentralized "reputation systems." On page 16 of their whitepaper they kind of get into this: what is a "verifiable credential?" Verifiable credentials are what makes it so hard for people to take Bitcoin seriously, even today.
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