Matticus

I'm seeing increase in X posts that are blatant appeals to authority from the usual suspects. I'm not sure why, but it's obvious that the average person (a.k.a. normies) have a lost a lot of respect and trust in so-called "experts." In a recent post, someone compared not trusting an expert to a passenger asking an airline pilot to stand aside so the passenger could fly the plane. In so doing, it reveals ignorance regarding types of information and skill. I think it's worthwhile to explain three forms of statements in order of their trustworthiness: 1. Is statement---which is information regarding the current state of reality. This is most reliable when based upon empirical observations that can be critiqued or replicated in tests. As such, these statements can often be verified and, more importantly, falsified. This is "knowledge" and is that in which a person can be an "expert." 2. Prediction---which is self explanatory, but it's an attempt to predict what is going to be or happen in the future, or what an empirical study may reveal. This is a "guess" and the value of it depends partly on the expertise (see above) of the person making it, but a better measure of its worth is the predictor's track record of making accurate prior guesses. Also, I am more inclined to trust a prediction if it's made with some equivocation, which reveals the predictor's humility and their signaling to their audience that it's merely a guess. 3. Ought statement---which is a normative claim that the person speaking wants to happen based on their subjective values or preferences. This is nothing more then an "opinion." Opinions are the weakest form of "information" because underlying almost always involves an arbitrary hierarchy of values that may or may not be consistent with the listeners subjective preferences. Put simply, a suggestion may have hidden trade offs that are not subjectively worthwhile for the intended goal. One side note; a person who applies knowledge to reality can perfect that action into a skill, which can be passed on to others who may or may not have the knowledge underlying that skill. Through practice and testing, a skill can be mastered. That's what a pilot is, for example. A pilot may know how to fly a plane but may not be able to build a plane or calculate the physics underlying the flight of a plane. That information may be helpful but not necessarily necessary. A lot of people saying "trust the experts" are often referring to ideologues in positions of authority making "ought statements," or in other words it is the opinions of a person with fancy titles. These "experts" are not always conveying knowledge or engaging in a skill, and as such, their capacity for being "correct" cannot be measured empirically. Blindly trusting them, then, is ignorant at best, and literally dangerous at worst. Although it was not my intention, this also can apply to some of the Core v. Knox debate that I have seen. I see a lot of appeals to authority on the Core side of the debate, in which Core developers or their supporters make normative claims about what something ought to be, which is fine, but when questioned resort to hand waving about it being a technical issue beyond the understanding of the uninitiated, although this may no longer be the case (I haven't kept up). Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Bitcoin is dead. Long live Bitcoin.

Good morning, nostriches! Jesus loves you so much he died for you.

"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag."

Good morning, nostriches! Go out there and become ungovernable.

I knew one day nostr was going to become necessary if we wanted to maintain freedom on the Internet, but I didn't realize that day was approaching so quickly.

Bitcoin Knots is cool but I'm already on board for the next Bitcoin implementation. Let's have like 5 of them. Having only one or two is a vulnerability.

Now that we have the Bitcoin protocol and the Nostr protocol are there any other freedom/ decentralized protocols left to discover?

Fedimint is bullish AF! I'm excited to see what people do with these tools. #Bitcoin

who are the best NOSTR follows?

All the nostriches saw this right?

GM plebs

How do you do autozaps? Is it possible with Amethyst and WoS?

Can someone zap me 1 sat? I'm trying to see if my zaps are working.

I wish I could sort notes by zaps amount. That would a good way to sort signal from noise.