Bitcoin as foundation layer of an emerging economic biosphere (long-ish post... hopefully not a strained analogy) A distinguishing characteristic of a living system that I have found useful is the ability to counteract entropy. Indeed an informal definition of "life" could be formulated as: any closed system within which entropy is reversed or suspended and order is maintained or established. This holds true for the single-celled microbe as it does for the blue whale. Building on this assertion, it becomes evident that all life is in a continuous struggle against entropy. Most life forms (organisms) must continually fend off entropy by regularly sacrificing other organisms to this unyielding force. This is the case when a cow consumes grass. It is the case when a tiger consumes a deer. One life form converts the structure or Mass of another into biochemical Energy. Stated differently, the predator species breaks down - digests - its prey, disintegrating it from order into entropy (calories, micro/macronutrients, minerals, etc.), and absorbing it for the purpose of staving off the predator's own entropic decay. Entropic decay in this context represents death and disease. This relationship applies irrespective of whether the predator/prey diad is represented by: brown bear and cow; cow and grass; or krill and plankton. Not even herbivores escape this axiomatic reality of Life. Ultimately, all biological complexity rests upon one miraculous reaction: photosynthesis. Only organisms capable of this metabolic process are capable of ingesting entropy in its purest form, electromagnetic energy, thereby side-stepping the need to essentially rob another organism of its ordered/integrated state to fortify its own. As such, these organisms are the basis of all life. Every other, albeit transient, triumph of order over entropy (e.g. every other living system) owes its very existence to these foundational life forms. This is the biosphere. This is the primordial resistance to the universal process that extends back to the stars: the inexorable conquest of entropy over order. Life is that which claws back, deriving order from entropy. Satoshi's innovation, which cannot be overstated, mathematically encodes a novel means of accomplishing what only photosynthesis has. Energy/entropy is directly converted into order via Bitcoin's proof of work protocol. In no other manmade process is Energy truly captured and converted into order. All comparable applications are actually variations on two related but dissimlar processes: capture/storage of energy (as in a battery); use/harnessing of energy (as in a water mill). In a manner similar to photosynthesis, Bitcoin accomplishes a true phase change of its supplied energy. A battery CAPTURES energy in kinetic form - whether solar, thermal or electrical - and converts it to potential energy for use at another time/place. The watermill CHANNELS the kinetic energy of flowing water for use in a productive enterprise, such as milling grain. These are definitionally distinct from what plants - and I am proposing Bitcoin - accomplish. By means of photosynthesis, plants do not merely store energy. Instead they convert the energy into a complex substructure of carbohydrate (e.g. cellulose/starch), peptide (e.g. protein) and nucleic acid (e.g. DNA) polymers - curiously analogous to blockchains. This allows for the encoding of complex information and synthesis of complex proteins, enzymes and tissues. The energy of the sun is not merely being stored or harnessed. It is being converted into Order. By performing a similar function for the first time in human history, does Bitcoin represent the base layer of an entirely new economic biosphere? Are we witnessing the birth of a novel economic building block? If so, what superstructures can we expect to see built atop this foundation? My thesis here is that, in Bitcoin's proof of work protocol, we have a massively underestimated innovation that will take humanity in unimaginable directions. Unimaginable within a restrictive paradigm that seems only interested in the obvious monetary implications of this peer-to-peer electronic cash system. But Bitcoin is more than money. #bitcoin #thinkstr

Stay humble.

What are Litecoin sats called?

Perhaps an unpopular take, but after much reflection, I have concluded that the Cybertruck is cool in EXACTLY the same way that Batman's costume is cool: infinitely cool to look at it; infinitely uncool to wear (drive).¹ ¹Even on Halloween

Bitcoin as Fitness (longish post)..... One of the topics I've heard wrestled with on multiple podcasts is the principle of trustlessness as relates to bitcoin. Other variations on this theme are the "trust but verify" and bitcoin as a "trust-minimizing money" memes. Why this recurring theme of Trust? I would argue that trustlessness is of central importance BECAUSE of humans' limitless capacity for deception. Now, in the natural world, deception is certainly not the exclusive domain of homo sapiens - animals are capable of camouflage, mimicry, and misdirection. But humans have certainly perfected this unholy art. For the most part, animals tend to be trusting because in their simpler social hierarchies, complex deception is uncommon. Because false altruism tends not to happen amongst animals, gestures such as sharing of food or social grooming are unambiguous acts of social bonding (as opposed to self-serving Machiavelian manipulations). Further, in matters of fitness and/or survival, most animal behavior (whether in higher vertebrates or "simpler" organisms) tends to rely on unfalsifiable signals. Unfalsifiable signals serve as incontrovertible evidence of an individual's fitness, their status as friend or foe, and thus their suitability as a mate and their rightful place in the pecking order. Examples of unfalsifiable signals are the bright coloration of male peacocks, birds of paradise, or mandrills. The bright coloration both demonstrates the nutritional/physiological health of the individual and serves as proof that the individual is fit enough to survive a hostile environment while flouting any attempt at effective camouflage. In modern parlance, this is a "flex." This conspicuous display is unfalsifiable. There is no faking it. Other examples are the thick mane, imposing size, large rack of antlers, and combat prowess of dominant male lions, brown bears, red deer, and elephant seals, respectively. These markers of fitness are unfalsifiable, and in a sense demonstrate inarguably a sort of proof of work. Humans, by virtue of our capacity for complex abstract thought, are in a constant quest to attempt falsify any and all markers of fitness. Thus we invent cosmetic surgery, botox, and all manner of prosthetic enhancers (wigs, false eyelashes, spanks, penis pumps) in order to game the physiological indicators selected for by millions of years of evolution to communicate to our peers our level of fitness. We have devised creative feats of financial engineering to allow any consumer to flaunt any luxury good that society has deemed a status symbol (e.g. the working class person purchasing an extravagant vehicle on a usurious loan with a minimal down payment). We have innovated buy now/pay later schemes to finance any and all fiscal indiscretions. The cumulative effect of all this is to warp and distort any signal in the social marketplace that projects fitness (of an individual/mate; of a corporation; of a nation state). This is Fiat: the falsifier of signal. Enter #Bitcoin. By virtue of its proof-of-work-based tethering to physical reality, Bitcoin reemphasizes the unfalsifiable signal. It reifies the primacy of uncompromising Truth. This is the basis of Bitcoin's nature as a trust-minimizing protocol. Yet another thing Bitcoin fixes. In keeping with the theme of Fitness, muscle glycogen and our bodies' fat stores are storehouses of caloric energy that equip us to survive periods of deprivation. A derivative of this, further extending our fitness, external food storage also equips us against hardship and uncertainty. Yet another derivative beyond this, a true and sound money protects against uncertainty extending well beyond what glycogen, fat, and stored food can accomplish. This is unfalsifiable. Trustless. This is Bitcoin. Bitcoin is Fitness. #thinkstr

The human mind is a Time Machine (long-ish post)... Before elaborating on this point, it is important to clarify terms. The term "time machine" as commonly used conjures notions of a fictional device that allows the operator to travel back and forth through time. This definition is one manufactured by science fiction and Hollywood (e.g. Back to the Future). However, strictly speaking, "time machine" can be used to describe a category of instruments that would include the clock, hourglass, or metronome: a device or technology used specifically for its relationship with or ability to measure time. It is in this sense that I theorize that the human mind - or, perhaps more accurately, human consciousness - is a time machine. The basis for this claim is that, the more thought I give to the unique attributes of homo sapien and/or human civilization writ large, the more I come back to Man's relationship with time. By my estimation, all of the features pointed to as the potential sine qua non of human-ness (complex thought/planning behavior; art/culture; awareness of death; religiosity; abstract symbolism) distill down, whether directly or indirectly to time. Any capacity for sacrifice REQUIRES as a prerequisite a sophisticated conceptualization of the interplay between the present and the future. This undergirds any possibility for low time preference thinking/behavior. It undergirds any belief in the eternal or afterlife. Sophisticated orientation within some sort of timeline is also a necessary precursor for any consideration of legacy. This also leads to the notion of money as an abstract symbolic framework. In a world absent the concept of time (presumably the world occupied by the majority of sentient life forms), tokenizing time and/or work into a tradeable commodity would seem an absurd behavior. With this perspective in mind, it does seem plausible that the major breakthrough of human consciousness is its ability to more fully appreciate this metaphysical dimension. Humans are not unique in this, by the way, as dolphins, orcas, elephants, apes, and in some instances dogs (to name a few species) have demonstrated at least a rudimentary ability to mourn. While not proof of a deep awareness of time, these are glimmers of this capacity elsewhere in the animal kingdom. That said, humans exhibit time awareness at a level far in excess of these other species. As it has been put forth by Saifedean Ammous, among others, one plausible definition of civilization is the gradual lowering of time preference, at scale. So if the human mind is indeed a time machine, it is little wonder that #bitcoin's innovative timechain would be as profound a breakthrough as it appears to be. Where fiat attempts to surreptitiously distort the integrity of man's bearing in the expansive matrix of Time, #bitcoin manages to re-anchor this relationship. As the saying goes: Nature to be commanded must be obeyed. Bitcoin obeys one of the most foundational principles of human flourishing, the absolute subordination to time, and therefore truth, as the only bedrock on which to build enduring Value. #thinkstr

I recall @Guy Swann writing a post some time ago about the link between the ability to save and having dignity. The dignity to say 'no.' The dignity to stand up for yourself or demand a minimum standard of respect. I would equate this with agency or sovereignty. I believe this very dynamic is playing out on a national level. Anywhere America - or its institutions - appears to be flouting basic matters of national sovereignty (e.g. maintenance of borders; policing acquisition of strategically sensitive land by foreign adversaries; retaining a healthy domestic industrial base), the underlying root traces back to fiat. Because we have opted to eat our proverbial seed corn through fiat chicanery, we end up ceding the ability to credibly enforce our sovereignty. We become whores willing to sacrifice the very foundations of our security to the highest bidder. All to satisfy the high time preference existential decay that is fiat.

#Bitcoin as a fortuitous rebuttal to AI (another long-ish post) As artificial intelligence emerges as a miraculous economizer of human labor and effort, an interesting downstream phenomenon is emerging: the commoditization of mass-produced flawlessness. Coding, composing, writing, and artistic expression are all falling prey to AI's automation - perfection at scale. As this impact becomes increasingly ubiquitous, an inevitable counterfunction will emerge: the human appreciation of human-produced works. The presence of flaws or imperfections will become the mark of the human touch. Whether in a written email, a game of chess, or a work of art, imperfection will become the basis of a growing premium placed on non-AI-generated crafts. This highlights an implicit and often overlooked reality: humans do (and indeed always have) possess an innate appreciation of proof of work. Though seldom acknowledged as such - and often misappropriated to different attributes of a thing - proof of work is THE ultimate consideration that gives rise to awe, beauty, and value. This is why we value gold. This is why shells in ancient societies were cherished. This is why we stand in amazement before a gothic cathedral or a sculpture by Michaelangelo. Imbued in these expressions of human ingenuity and industry is the proof of work. I posit that "value" as we often think of it, is merely a short hand for proof of work. When gold bugs refer to the physicality or tangibility of gold, as opposed to the abstractness of #Bitcoin, without realizing it, what they are fumbling to describe is proof of work. Erroneously, they assume that gold's physicality affords it a proof of work that #Bitcoin's abstractness inherently lacks. Coded into our very being, the tendency to view as real anything we can touch is a proxy for proof of work detection. Anything physical represents some degree of proof of work, with the scarcity of said thing being the ultimate grading mechanism for determining where on the continuum of value to place it. What bitcoin uniquely accomplishes is the first-ever distillation of the proof of work quality of a valuable good from the cumbersome vestiges of physical instantiation. As we now enter the era of effortless precision ushered in by AI, humanity will be forced to more intentionally grapple with what truly undergirds value. This will only further underscore the primacy of proof of work (i.e. a poem written by a human over one written by an LLM). Bitcoin was, serendipitously or not, created for this. As the human element and labor cost of all abstract goods is ground down to zero, the absolute genius of #Bitcoin's proof of work backbone will only accentuate its seemingly metaphysical significance. In yet another sense, #Bitcoin emerges as an antidote to the ills of our time. Stated differently: Bitcoin fixes this.

Farewell Oslo #off

Any plebs at Oslo?

Sowell on the tariffs.

Imagine you had a rat infestation. So to deal with it, you released snakes in your house. Would be effective, but.... #DOGE

🍞 ➕️ 🎪

It's almost like America doesn't deserve having heroes. We seem incapable of acknowledging their flaws/failures.... whether it's Obama, Trump, Musk or Kamala. Those that support them refuse to hold them accountable when they fall short

I feel like a common ending to big monster movies (Jurassic Park, Kong v Gozilla, etc.) is that the monsters end up destroying each other while the protagonists make their dramatic escape. This is my hope for Trump/Musk v the State.