Financial Atheism | Sovereignty Through Mathematics Chapter 2 | Bitcoin Infinity Academy #3

1
00:00:00,212 --> 00:00:03,512
Welcome to the Bitcoin Infinity
Academy, brought to you by the

2
00:00:03,512 --> 00:00:05,402
Plan B Network and Bit Box.

3
00:00:05,759 --> 00:00:09,598
I'm Kwano, and, uh, I'm here
as always with Luke de Wolff.

4
00:00:09,718 --> 00:00:10,558
Good morning, Luke.

5
00:00:10,618 --> 00:00:11,518
Good morning, Cano.

6
00:00:11,608 --> 00:00:12,268
Happy to be here.

7
00:00:12,268 --> 00:00:13,558
This is gonna be a fun one, isn't it?

8
00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:18,400
Yes, thi this is our third episode
covering the second chapter of

9
00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:22,510
Sovereignty Through Mathematics, a
a chapter called Financial Atheism.

10
00:00:22,978 --> 00:00:23,428
Yeah.

11
00:00:23,428 --> 00:00:26,668
And, uh, I know you're excited about
this one and it's, uh, certainly

12
00:00:26,668 --> 00:00:29,728
a little bit more controversial, I
think, than than the last one here.

13
00:00:29,728 --> 00:00:31,918
So I'm, I'm excited to dive in.

14
00:00:32,338 --> 00:00:35,788
And first I'll just mention that if,
if you want to get involved with the

15
00:00:35,788 --> 00:00:40,618
discussion such as, for example, attending
the recordings of these episodes live,

16
00:00:40,918 --> 00:00:44,878
uh, check out our Geyser Fund page
where you can see all the details

17
00:00:44,878 --> 00:00:46,618
about how to support this project.

18
00:00:46,918 --> 00:00:51,058
And as a reminder, the project
is involving releasing all of the

19
00:00:51,058 --> 00:00:55,348
chapters of these books for free on
noster, and these video explanations

20
00:00:55,348 --> 00:00:57,208
are also released for free.

21
00:00:57,538 --> 00:01:00,928
So if you, if you get value outta this
and want to join the discussion, the

22
00:01:00,928 --> 00:01:05,788
best way to support us is to get involved
and join the Bitcoin Infinity Academy.

23
00:01:06,139 --> 00:01:10,639
Absolutely, and you can also get the
books on bitcoin infinity store.com.

24
00:01:10,761 --> 00:01:16,385
Alright, This is financial atheism chapter
two of Sovereignty through Mathematics.

25
00:01:17,817 --> 00:01:22,287
Don't trust, verify is a common saying
amongst Bitcoiners that represents

26
00:01:22,287 --> 00:01:26,727
a sound attitude towards not only
Bitcoin but all human power structures.

27
00:01:27,432 --> 00:01:30,252
In order to understand Bitcoin,
one must admit that everything

28
00:01:30,252 --> 00:01:31,962
in society is manmade.

29
00:01:32,772 --> 00:01:36,462
Every civilization, every religion,
every constitution, and every law

30
00:01:36,462 --> 00:01:38,292
is a product of human imagination.

31
00:01:39,072 --> 00:01:42,072
It wasn't until as late as the
17th century that the scientific

32
00:01:42,072 --> 00:01:44,712
methods started to become the
dominant practice for describing

33
00:01:44,712 --> 00:01:46,542
how the world actually worked.

34
00:01:47,562 --> 00:01:50,532
Peer-to-peer review and repeated
testing of a hypothesis are still

35
00:01:50,532 --> 00:01:52,212
quite recent human practices.

36
00:01:52,962 --> 00:01:55,122
Before this, we were basically
just guessing and trusting

37
00:01:55,122 --> 00:01:56,472
authorities to a large extent.

38
00:01:57,342 --> 00:02:00,672
We still do this today, and despite
our progress over the last couple of

39
00:02:00,672 --> 00:02:03,312
centuries, we still have a long way to go.

40
00:02:04,092 --> 00:02:06,612
Our brains are hardwired to
follow the leader of the pack.

41
00:02:07,392 --> 00:02:12,342
The human brain is born with a plethora
of cognitive biases pre-installed, and we

42
00:02:12,342 --> 00:02:14,232
have to work very hard to overcome them.

43
00:02:15,012 --> 00:02:19,242
We evolve to survive in relatively small
groups, and our brains are thus not

44
00:02:19,242 --> 00:02:21,402
really made for seeing the bigger picture.

45
00:02:22,722 --> 00:02:26,322
Bitcoin's proof of Work Algorithm is
constructed in such a way that it is easy

46
00:02:26,322 --> 00:02:30,822
to verify that computational power was
sacrificed in order to approve a block

47
00:02:30,822 --> 00:02:32,862
of transactions and claim its reward.

48
00:02:33,732 --> 00:02:38,532
In this way, no trust in any authority
is required, as it is relatively

49
00:02:38,532 --> 00:02:42,642
trivial to test the validity of a
block and the transactions it contains.

50
00:02:43,362 --> 00:02:46,422
This is nothing short of a
complete reimagining of how human

51
00:02:46,422 --> 00:02:48,102
society ought to be governed.

52
00:02:49,032 --> 00:02:51,702
The beauty of mathematics
governs the Bitcoin system.

53
00:02:52,572 --> 00:02:56,772
Everything that ever happens in Bitcoin
is open and verifiable to everyone,

54
00:02:57,552 --> 00:03:00,072
even to those who are not yet using it.

55
00:03:01,812 --> 00:03:02,262
Okay.

56
00:03:03,252 --> 00:03:04,872
Knut, what did you mean by that?

57
00:03:06,172 --> 00:03:09,117
Yeah, that, yeah, that's a big
question for a big paragraph.

58
00:03:09,687 --> 00:03:13,707
Uh, yeah, it's, it's sort of, uh,
saying that we, we have something

59
00:03:13,707 --> 00:03:17,877
now that is, uh, we, we have
rules without rulers, I would say.

60
00:03:17,949 --> 00:03:21,239
that Bitcoin is completely
auditable to everyone.

61
00:03:21,239 --> 00:03:25,409
Even the people not using it can, uh,
uh, there are plenty of websites where

62
00:03:25,409 --> 00:03:27,179
you can see the, the, the blockchain.

63
00:03:27,209 --> 00:03:30,449
Of course, you need to run the
software, uh, for yourself to

64
00:03:30,449 --> 00:03:34,349
actually know that what you're
watching is the, the real thing.

65
00:03:34,889 --> 00:03:37,739
Uh, a third party websites can be corrupt.

66
00:03:37,829 --> 00:03:39,359
Uh, everyone should know that.

67
00:03:39,906 --> 00:03:43,176
and so, so running a node is really
the only option if you really want

68
00:03:43,176 --> 00:03:48,276
to be sure that what you're seeing is
actually Bitcoin and not some clone.

69
00:03:48,846 --> 00:03:49,836
Uh, but yeah.

70
00:03:49,866 --> 00:03:54,986
Uh, the, the, uh, the point about the
scientific method, That is something

71
00:03:54,986 --> 00:04:00,036
where, where I'm, my mind has, uh,
I've changed my mind slightly about

72
00:04:00,036 --> 00:04:01,806
some of the stuff in this chapter.

73
00:04:02,059 --> 00:04:06,473
one of those things is like the,
uh, trust in the scientific method.

74
00:04:07,223 --> 00:04:10,853
Bitcoin has actually made me
trust that method slightly less.

75
00:04:10,943 --> 00:04:16,283
Uh, and see the beauty of, uh, the
Austrian method, which is, uh, just

76
00:04:16,283 --> 00:04:22,652
deductive reasoning and, uh, uh, coming to
conclusions, about the world using a fixed

77
00:04:22,652 --> 00:04:26,072
set of, uh, axiom, uh, irrefutable axioms.

78
00:04:26,522 --> 00:04:31,112
So, which it cannot be called the, uh,
scientific method because the scientific

79
00:04:31,112 --> 00:04:33,512
method re refers to empiricism.

80
00:04:33,872 --> 00:04:37,442
And, uh, the Austrian method is
different like that because it's

81
00:04:37,442 --> 00:04:41,102
not really empiricism, it's an a
prioritized science where, where you

82
00:04:41,162 --> 00:04:43,802
know things without having to test them.

83
00:04:43,892 --> 00:04:46,262
And any testing cannot.

84
00:04:46,630 --> 00:04:50,080
Deny nor confirm, uh, the hypothesis.

85
00:04:50,170 --> 00:04:54,370
So that's, uh, how Bitcoin
differs from, from other things.

86
00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:59,800
But we'll, uh, this is sort
of setting the stage here.

87
00:04:59,830 --> 00:05:03,280
We're getting into the juicy God
stuff later, later in the chapter

88
00:05:03,890 --> 00:05:07,730
Yeah, I was, I was going to say
that this sort of has ended up

89
00:05:07,730 --> 00:05:12,997
being, it's just foreshadowing
the, the main bulk of this thing.

90
00:05:13,087 --> 00:05:13,387
Right.

91
00:05:13,417 --> 00:05:18,127
So, uh, you're, you're laying the
groundwork for, for quite a lot of, quite

92
00:05:18,127 --> 00:05:24,697
a lot of stuff here, I would say, but it's
not quite into the controversial part yet.

93
00:05:24,887 --> 00:05:25,277
now.

94
00:05:25,362 --> 00:05:30,797
And, and, uh, Giamo pointed out to us,
uh, the day before yesterday when we did

95
00:05:30,797 --> 00:05:35,087
a, a Twitter space as Giamo Soko from the
Plan B Network that he would've called

96
00:05:35,087 --> 00:05:38,027
this App Chapter Financial Skepticism.

97
00:05:38,057 --> 00:05:41,927
And, uh, in hindsight, that might
have been a, uh, better title.

98
00:05:42,467 --> 00:05:47,297
Even though, uh, financial atheism
is a bit more on the nose and a bit

99
00:05:47,297 --> 00:05:52,367
more aggressive, but I'll, I'll,
uh, lay out what I actually mean by

100
00:05:52,367 --> 00:05:54,677
atheism later in the, um, chapter.

101
00:05:55,410 --> 00:05:55,920
Perfect.

102
00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:56,345
Sounds good.

103
00:05:57,090 --> 00:05:58,050
Onto the next one.

104
00:05:59,798 --> 00:06:04,628
After the tragic events of nine 11
in 2001, Sam Harris started writing

105
00:06:04,628 --> 00:06:08,408
his book, the End of Faith, which
happened to be released around

106
00:06:08,408 --> 00:06:10,028
the same time as Richard Dawkins.

107
00:06:10,118 --> 00:06:14,438
The God Delusion, Daniel Dennet,
breaking the Spell, and Christopher

108
00:06:14,438 --> 00:06:16,268
Hitchens, God is Not Great.

109
00:06:16,418 --> 00:06:18,248
Our religion poisons everything.

110
00:06:19,028 --> 00:06:22,568
These books kickstarted what in
hindsight has often been referred

111
00:06:22,568 --> 00:06:24,338
to as the new atheist movement.

112
00:06:24,938 --> 00:06:28,778
Even though there has arguably never
been anything new about atheism.

113
00:06:29,798 --> 00:06:33,998
Atheism must almost certainly have
preceded religion since religious ideas

114
00:06:33,998 --> 00:06:37,898
require the person holding the idea to
believe a certain doctrine or a story.

115
00:06:39,128 --> 00:06:42,938
Atheism is nothing but the rejection
of ways to describe the world that

116
00:06:42,938 --> 00:06:45,278
are not verifiable by experimentation.

117
00:06:46,298 --> 00:06:50,648
A fly on the wall is probably an
atheist by this definition of the word.

118
00:06:51,518 --> 00:06:55,508
Atheism is often accused of being just
another set of beliefs, but the word

119
00:06:55,508 --> 00:07:00,578
itself describes what it is much better,
a lack of belief in theistic ideas.

120
00:07:01,538 --> 00:07:04,838
It is not a code of conduct or a
set of rules to live your life by.

121
00:07:05,618 --> 00:07:09,758
It is simply the rejection of that
which cannot be scientifically verified.

122
00:07:10,748 --> 00:07:13,868
Many people, religious
people in particular, have

123
00:07:13,868 --> 00:07:15,248
a hard time grasping this.

124
00:07:16,358 --> 00:07:19,838
If you believe that a supernatural
entity created everything in everyone's

125
00:07:19,838 --> 00:07:23,978
life, you might not be too comfortable
with a word that describes a complete

126
00:07:23,978 --> 00:07:27,698
rejection of what you believe created
everything, including the very

127
00:07:27,698 --> 00:07:29,408
atheist that the word describes.

128
00:07:30,908 --> 00:07:34,418
of different religious worldviews that
exist is probably equal to the sum of

129
00:07:34,418 --> 00:07:36,188
all religious people on the planet.

130
00:07:37,073 --> 00:07:41,063
All worldviews that reject these
superstitious beliefs require, but one

131
00:07:41,063 --> 00:07:46,283
word atheism is not the opposite of
religion, but it is simply the lack of it.

132
00:07:48,293 --> 00:07:49,013
Okay.

133
00:07:49,283 --> 00:07:52,583
Not only is, uh, that a big juicy
paragraph, it's definitely one

134
00:07:52,583 --> 00:07:53,873
we disagree about quite a lot.

135
00:07:53,873 --> 00:07:56,153
And, uh, well, let's get into it.

136
00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:57,006
alright.

137
00:07:57,301 --> 00:08:00,961
what I would say is, in, in hindsight,
it's, uh, if I had written this

138
00:08:00,961 --> 00:08:04,471
today, I probably wouldn't have
mentioned that that fucker Sam Harris,

139
00:08:04,471 --> 00:08:05,971
because I really don't like him.

140
00:08:06,211 --> 00:08:11,581
And I think he sort of ex exemplifies
what, what the risk of, uh,

141
00:08:11,641 --> 00:08:14,191
rejecting religious ideas might be.

142
00:08:14,191 --> 00:08:20,581
Because, uh, he, in my view is, is
someone who replaced the idea, the,

143
00:08:20,581 --> 00:08:27,485
the, uh, belief in, Dogmatic, uh,
religious stuff with, uh, uh, just

144
00:08:27,485 --> 00:08:32,315
an over belief in, in the scientific
method and in, uh, uh, statism.

145
00:08:32,375 --> 00:08:38,675
So during the lockdowns, for instance,
he was, uh, firmly on the, um, on the

146
00:08:38,675 --> 00:08:43,504
wrong side of every debate, uh, and
just, uh, thought that the government

147
00:08:43,504 --> 00:08:45,274
should decide everything for everyone.

148
00:08:45,604 --> 00:08:49,804
And this is, this is why,
where my thinking is different

149
00:08:49,804 --> 00:08:51,124
on this subject today.

150
00:08:51,514 --> 00:08:57,274
I think it's, I, I, nowadays I
view the state as, uh, maybe I

151
00:08:57,274 --> 00:09:01,114
did back then too, but, uh, I view
the state as yet another religion.

152
00:09:01,234 --> 00:09:01,474
Uh.

153
00:09:02,884 --> 00:09:07,114
Back when I wrote this, I don't think
I viewed it as the, the worst one,

154
00:09:07,114 --> 00:09:09,064
but I'm very close to doing that now.

155
00:09:09,064 --> 00:09:12,604
So, I mean, some religions
are really wacky, but, but

156
00:09:12,604 --> 00:09:14,434
statism is a very dangerous one.

157
00:09:14,434 --> 00:09:19,954
Putting your belief in that there will be
some savior here on earth, uh, regardless

158
00:09:19,954 --> 00:09:26,794
of it's a religious savior or a political
one is super, super duper uh, dangerous.

159
00:09:26,854 --> 00:09:30,964
So, so my stance has always been
think for yourself, do your own thing.

160
00:09:30,964 --> 00:09:34,024
Like the, that scene from Life of
Brian where we're all different,

161
00:09:34,054 --> 00:09:39,108
uh, that like, that's what I want,
people to, to get away from this.

162
00:09:39,108 --> 00:09:40,938
Like, there is a way to live your life.

163
00:09:41,478 --> 00:09:42,678
setting your own rules.

164
00:09:43,008 --> 00:09:47,388
Also, I would say that there are a
priori arguments against God, but

165
00:09:47,388 --> 00:09:51,768
that's, uh, another thing I, I think
for instance, since all action is a

166
00:09:51,768 --> 00:09:57,738
product of, uh, or all human action is
a product of a human feeling slightly

167
00:09:57,738 --> 00:10:02,208
uneasy and seeing something in the
future that might make that future,

168
00:10:02,838 --> 00:10:07,338
uh, better for that human, where the
EAs, uh, uneasiness is, uh, relieved,

169
00:10:08,298 --> 00:10:10,338
uh, that that's what triggers action.

170
00:10:10,608 --> 00:10:15,078
And any omnipotent being that governs
everything and knows everything,

171
00:10:15,378 --> 00:10:19,758
would never feel uneasy about a
anything and thus never do anything.

172
00:10:19,788 --> 00:10:27,558
So if there is a, a, uh, um, deity,
that deity is, uh, completely, uh, ha

173
00:10:27,588 --> 00:10:29,478
never has an incentive to do anything.

174
00:10:29,598 --> 00:10:32,028
So, yeah, that's, that's
another thought there.

175
00:10:32,568 --> 00:10:35,448
Uh, curious to, to hear what
you think about this look.

176
00:10:36,028 --> 00:10:36,318
Yeah.

177
00:10:36,323 --> 00:10:36,613
Thanks.

178
00:10:36,613 --> 00:10:37,153
Thanks Knu.

179
00:10:37,153 --> 00:10:40,123
And well, no, no, and, and actually,
uh, first I'll just say like, uh,

180
00:10:40,123 --> 00:10:44,743
I, we don't disagree about a lot in,
especially in the perspective of that.

181
00:10:45,013 --> 00:10:45,373
Yeah.

182
00:10:46,063 --> 00:10:46,753
Religion.

183
00:10:47,053 --> 00:10:50,053
Modern religions have many
of their own problems.

184
00:10:50,053 --> 00:10:53,773
And, and knowing what this
all ties into, I think is, is

185
00:10:53,773 --> 00:10:55,063
kind of the, the point here.

186
00:10:55,063 --> 00:10:57,973
This sort of financial atheism thing.

187
00:10:58,123 --> 00:11:00,763
Uh, I don't want us to get
bogged down in the atheism of

188
00:11:00,763 --> 00:11:02,533
the financial atheism topic.

189
00:11:02,533 --> 00:11:06,313
I wanna talk about the financial atheism,
but, but there are a couple of things that

190
00:11:06,313 --> 00:11:09,013
specifically I'll, I'll, um, address here.

191
00:11:09,823 --> 00:11:13,393
O one is, I, I think you, you can't
avoid mentioning Sam Harris because he

192
00:11:13,393 --> 00:11:16,783
is one of the so-called four horsemen
of the, whatever they called it.

193
00:11:17,053 --> 00:11:19,273
Like, it's, it's a specific
group you mentioned.

194
00:11:19,273 --> 00:11:22,933
That's why you mentioned Daniel Dennet,
who I think you've, you've mentioned

195
00:11:22,963 --> 00:11:27,253
this is he's underappreciated, but
he is the least, uh, uh, prolific

196
00:11:27,253 --> 00:11:31,633
or the, the lowest profile of the,
the four, uh, notwithstanding that

197
00:11:31,633 --> 00:11:35,143
Christopher Hitchens died, but he
was very high profile while he lived.

198
00:11:35,578 --> 00:11:35,818
Yeah.

199
00:11:35,818 --> 00:11:39,748
And Christopher Hitchens, by the
way, is the, the guy among this

200
00:11:39,748 --> 00:11:43,798
group that I'm most influenced by,
uh, closely followed by Richard

201
00:11:43,798 --> 00:11:48,328
Dawkins, who I think is very un uh,
underappreciated too in the Bitcoin space.

202
00:11:48,328 --> 00:11:51,898
I mean, the man coined the word
meme for, uh, for Christ's sake.

203
00:11:52,588 --> 00:11:53,878
Uh, so yeah.

204
00:11:54,463 --> 00:11:54,703
Yeah.

205
00:11:54,703 --> 00:11:58,753
And what, what, what's funny is that I
think he, he had a point where he could

206
00:11:58,753 --> 00:12:03,193
have embraced meme, different meanings
of the word meme, but ba basically

207
00:12:03,193 --> 00:12:09,673
he's, he stayed pretty in his thinking,
although I think he, he has gone on.

208
00:12:10,603 --> 00:12:12,883
Is it, is it even a couple
of Bitcoin podcasts?

209
00:12:12,913 --> 00:12:14,383
Was he on what Bitcoin did?

210
00:12:14,383 --> 00:12:14,893
Um,

211
00:12:15,488 --> 00:12:19,393
No, he was, he was on, yeah, he
was on the What is Money show?

212
00:12:19,603 --> 00:12:20,173
Yeah, yeah,

213
00:12:20,233 --> 00:12:23,503
even though they, they, they
didn't like nowadays, like,

214
00:12:23,533 --> 00:12:25,033
like Dawkins is old, right?

215
00:12:25,033 --> 00:12:29,053
And he refuses to touch certain
subjects, economics being one of them,

216
00:12:29,113 --> 00:12:31,663
uh, and which is both good and bad.

217
00:12:31,663 --> 00:12:35,023
I, I would love to hear his ideas
about it since he's been a, a bit

218
00:12:35,023 --> 00:12:39,313
of a status too, uh, and how that
aligns with the atheism thought.

219
00:12:39,733 --> 00:12:40,393
Uh, but.

220
00:12:40,903 --> 00:12:44,953
I, I can understand that he doesn't
wanna be, uh, you know, pigeonholed.

221
00:12:45,068 --> 00:12:48,793
I, I, I think he wants to stick to
talking about biology and that he has

222
00:12:48,793 --> 00:12:55,153
dropped most of the, uh, religion versus
non-religion stuff, uh, because he, uh,

223
00:12:55,483 --> 00:12:57,643
simply, simply doesn't want to go there.

224
00:12:57,643 --> 00:12:59,533
He wants to spend his time
talking about biology.

225
00:12:59,968 --> 00:13:00,358
Right.

226
00:13:00,478 --> 00:13:00,868
Right.

227
00:13:01,318 --> 00:13:04,828
No, and, and that, that's understandable
for him, but I think he's, he's, all

228
00:13:04,828 --> 00:13:09,928
four of these guys are, are influential
and, and I understand why these guys

229
00:13:09,928 --> 00:13:14,968
and their ideas kind of, they really
set the tone for a certain decade,

230
00:13:15,298 --> 00:13:19,258
uh, or, or even couple of decades of,
of thought, and especially thought

231
00:13:19,258 --> 00:13:25,798
that was in opposition to primarily
the evangelical Christian right.

232
00:13:25,798 --> 00:13:26,878
In the United States,

233
00:13:27,283 --> 00:13:27,673
Yeah.

234
00:13:28,408 --> 00:13:30,478
And, and I, I really think,
I really think the thing here

235
00:13:30,553 --> 00:13:35,413
I, no, I wouldn't say primarily I
would say, uh, primarily against Islam.

236
00:13:35,473 --> 00:13:42,193
I, I'd say like, uh, but maybe packaged
in a way that made, uh, the, uh, uh,

237
00:13:42,223 --> 00:13:47,923
evangelical right in the us uh, take
offense, but, but, uh, I think like the,

238
00:13:48,073 --> 00:13:52,603
what triggered these books to be written
was mostly, uh, nine 11 and Islam.

239
00:13:53,162 --> 00:13:53,972
that's interesting.

240
00:13:54,097 --> 00:13:58,952
I, I, I mean, uh, I, if I'm remembering
part of the cultural milieu at the time

241
00:13:59,072 --> 00:14:04,385
though, what happened after nine 11 was
that the Evangelical right was ascendant

242
00:14:04,385 --> 00:14:06,125
in the United States for a while also.

243
00:14:06,125 --> 00:14:09,035
And those were the people that they
were primarily bashing heads with.

244
00:14:09,455 --> 00:14:14,465
You didn't get a lot of, um, Dawkins
or, or Hitchens or Sam Harris debating

245
00:14:15,035 --> 00:14:17,195
Islamic Scholars, for example.

246
00:14:17,750 --> 00:14:25,340
No, but, uh, they si uh, they, they sort
of promoted people like Ayan, Harshi

247
00:14:25,340 --> 00:14:32,510
Ali, uh, and, uh, other, uh, people who
had escaped, uh, Islam and, and pointed

248
00:14:32,510 --> 00:14:37,732
out that the, the underlying problem
of, of, uh, is Islamist terrorists

249
00:14:37,762 --> 00:14:43,102
is Islam itself, and how, how the
text, the, the texts are written in

250
00:14:43,102 --> 00:14:47,242
a certain way and which can't really
be interpreted one way or another.

251
00:14:47,242 --> 00:14:51,472
And like pointing out that some
ideas are really, and some cultures

252
00:14:51,472 --> 00:14:52,912
are really worse than others.

253
00:14:52,912 --> 00:14:56,572
And there's, there's no, there
should be no shaming in saying that.

254
00:14:56,572 --> 00:14:59,242
And, uh, yeah, I, I agree
with that very much.

255
00:14:59,452 --> 00:15:00,472
is a spicy one.

256
00:15:00,472 --> 00:15:01,012
Definitely.

257
00:15:01,012 --> 00:15:05,272
But I, I think, I think the only part
that I actually disagree with here,

258
00:15:05,272 --> 00:15:08,002
because it's not a disagreement,
it's just more like they, they found

259
00:15:08,002 --> 00:15:10,162
themselves bombarded on all sides really.

260
00:15:10,162 --> 00:15:15,742
The, the, uh, the neo atheists, uh,
they, they got it from evangelical

261
00:15:15,742 --> 00:15:17,242
Christians, they got it from Islam.

262
00:15:17,332 --> 00:15:20,362
Maybe they were primarily targeting
Islam, but they, they definitely got

263
00:15:20,362 --> 00:15:24,502
into their, they got into lots of
arguments with, with, uh, or debates.

264
00:15:24,502 --> 00:15:28,462
Some of them were actually sort of
debates with, with evangelical Christians.

265
00:15:28,462 --> 00:15:31,942
And, and actually this is, this is the
one thing here too, is that I think you

266
00:15:31,942 --> 00:15:38,422
use atheism as sort of the, the absence
of the, uh, Judeo-Christian Islamic, God,

267
00:15:39,127 --> 00:15:42,517
Uh, no, uh, the, the,
the absence of any deity.

268
00:15:42,757 --> 00:15:46,087
Uh, so, so including like
Zeus and Thor and all of that.

269
00:15:46,147 --> 00:15:49,987
Uh, so I'm using the same
definition as Richard Dawkins uses

270
00:15:49,987 --> 00:15:52,717
in his, uh, uh, the God dilution.

271
00:15:52,747 --> 00:15:54,877
That's, that's where
I got the, the it from

272
00:15:54,952 --> 00:15:58,042
But I'm saying your example you
used is you're, you're basically

273
00:15:58,072 --> 00:16:01,972
counteracting specifically the, the
Christian and the Islamic God, the

274
00:16:02,062 --> 00:16:03,742
this omnipotent, omnipresent thing.

275
00:16:03,742 --> 00:16:05,392
Many of the others don't do that.

276
00:16:05,797 --> 00:16:10,987
Oh, well, that, that was not in my,
uh, definition of the word atheism.

277
00:16:11,047 --> 00:16:16,837
That was in my, uh, like why I,
why I personally don't think that

278
00:16:16,837 --> 00:16:18,427
there's an omni potent being.

279
00:16:18,472 --> 00:16:19,222
Sure, sure, sure,

280
00:16:19,567 --> 00:16:21,187
So, so that's the definition of that.

281
00:16:21,192 --> 00:16:25,417
And, uh, but the word itself,
it's, to me is atheism.

282
00:16:25,417 --> 00:16:28,027
It's, it's safe self, uh, explanatory.

283
00:16:28,027 --> 00:16:31,297
It's a rejection of, uh, theistic beliefs.

284
00:16:31,357 --> 00:16:36,907
And here I agree with Christopher Hitchens
that, uh, uh, extraordinary claims,

285
00:16:36,997 --> 00:16:39,217
uh, require extraordinary evidence.

286
00:16:39,277 --> 00:16:44,227
And I haven't seen any such extraordinary
evidence of the existence of any deity.

287
00:16:44,437 --> 00:16:52,117
So, so, so until I do, I remain
a skeptic and not a theist.

288
00:16:52,882 --> 00:16:53,212
There we go.

289
00:16:53,212 --> 00:16:55,822
And, and actually I think when
you said the term rejection here,

290
00:16:55,822 --> 00:16:59,512
this I think is important because
I think many are uncomfortable,

291
00:16:59,512 --> 00:17:05,212
myself included with I identifying
or self using the, the term atheist.

292
00:17:05,212 --> 00:17:07,882
And I think it is a,
actually a proactive term.

293
00:17:08,272 --> 00:17:11,992
You, you say you're an atheist
because you have intentionally

294
00:17:11,992 --> 00:17:13,522
rejected all of the other things.

295
00:17:13,702 --> 00:17:16,852
There's something else that is
sort of the, I don't care, which

296
00:17:16,852 --> 00:17:18,562
is more, more where I'm at.

297
00:17:18,772 --> 00:17:22,582
Like I don't care, I don't, I don't
actively reject the other things, but

298
00:17:22,582 --> 00:17:26,182
I, I, I don't really believe in anything
specific, but I don't particularly

299
00:17:26,182 --> 00:17:30,652
care either enough to consider myself
or identify with the term atheist.

300
00:17:30,967 --> 00:17:35,017
and, and, uh, uh, the word has been
somewhat tainted, but to me it's, it's

301
00:17:35,017 --> 00:17:40,992
a word that is, uh, similar to the
word liberalism or, or, or any other

302
00:17:41,137 --> 00:17:45,967
word that has been sort of hijacked
by political forces or religious

303
00:17:45,967 --> 00:17:50,227
forces in the, in the, in the, uh,
uh, talking about the word atheism.

304
00:17:50,227 --> 00:17:55,617
I, I think that, one can shun these
words or use them as they were once

305
00:17:55,617 --> 00:17:59,771
intended, but, What I'm trying to do
here in this chapter is just, just

306
00:17:59,771 --> 00:18:04,721
explain a opposition, like, and, and
it's, it's not really a chapter about the

307
00:18:04,721 --> 00:18:09,161
debate of the existence or non-existent
of God or anything, or your de or

308
00:18:09,161 --> 00:18:10,871
Christian values or anything like that.

309
00:18:11,141 --> 00:18:13,301
It's about Bitcoin, and
we're getting to that

310
00:18:13,331 --> 00:18:13,811
There we go.

311
00:18:13,811 --> 00:18:17,711
Which, which is, which is why I'm
not going to, uh, prolong this for

312
00:18:17,891 --> 00:18:22,631
much longer, but I, I, I will also
assert one more specific disagreement.

313
00:18:22,781 --> 00:18:27,281
Uh, or at least a, at least
a, a light, um, shall we say,

314
00:18:27,281 --> 00:18:28,661
maybe semantic difference.

315
00:18:28,901 --> 00:18:32,861
Uh, I think it's not actually
necessarily true that atheism

316
00:18:32,861 --> 00:18:34,361
must have preceded religion.

317
00:18:34,901 --> 00:18:41,533
Uh, or at least, the, the, the idea
that that humans never had ways of

318
00:18:41,533 --> 00:18:43,993
explaining that which was unknown.

319
00:18:44,503 --> 00:18:48,013
There might've been this kind
of inkling of a time before

320
00:18:48,133 --> 00:18:54,073
consciousness kicked in, like, we
don't really have an idea of that.

321
00:18:54,073 --> 00:18:58,333
We have biological homo sapiens,
and did we have consciousness in

322
00:18:58,333 --> 00:18:59,983
the same way that entire time?

323
00:19:00,643 --> 00:19:03,493
But it's extremely likely that
as long as we had what we call

324
00:19:03,493 --> 00:19:08,923
consciousness humans were using
stories of some kind to describe, for

325
00:19:08,923 --> 00:19:10,663
lack of a better term, the unknown.

326
00:19:11,263 --> 00:19:15,643
And those weren't necessarily
religions originally, especially

327
00:19:15,643 --> 00:19:19,393
not when humans just lived in little
tribes of 20 people and stuff.

328
00:19:19,393 --> 00:19:23,113
But they did have what you
might call a mythology.

329
00:19:23,293 --> 00:19:25,153
They had ways of explaining the world.

330
00:19:25,153 --> 00:19:25,723
They, they.

331
00:19:26,833 --> 00:19:31,963
Passed down the lessons of society to each
other in ways that could be considered

332
00:19:31,963 --> 00:19:33,973
the beginnings of religion or story.

333
00:19:34,453 --> 00:19:37,393
In other words, that's mostly to
say I don't think atheism was ever

334
00:19:37,393 --> 00:19:42,643
like a conscious thing until we
intentionally rejected it through thes

335
00:19:42,853 --> 00:19:45,013
the discovery of the scientific method,

336
00:19:45,326 --> 00:19:49,526
Yeah, I mean, I mean the, the word
atheism cannot exist without there

337
00:19:49,526 --> 00:19:51,236
being such a thing as theism.

338
00:19:51,236 --> 00:19:54,416
So, so I would say in the
beginning there was nothing.

339
00:19:54,416 --> 00:19:56,666
Then there was religion
and then there was atheism.

340
00:19:56,666 --> 00:20:00,776
The rejection of it, like, because a
rejection of something, something regret.

341
00:20:00,896 --> 00:20:03,836
Is that something to, to exist first?

342
00:20:04,121 --> 00:20:09,101
although there likely was a state where,
where humans existed without having some

343
00:20:09,101 --> 00:20:15,521
concept of God or, or even some concept
of even things that you might call Gods.

344
00:20:15,821 --> 00:20:21,611
Uh, but, but now we're getting
into like way where, where we're

345
00:20:21,611 --> 00:20:23,201
way, way too far off the path

346
00:20:23,756 --> 00:20:24,266
Yeah, yeah.

347
00:20:24,266 --> 00:20:26,666
We're going off on a tangent
here, but I kind of like this one.

348
00:20:26,906 --> 00:20:31,706
I mean, the, the, we have observed
chimpanzees, uh, performing, uh,

349
00:20:31,706 --> 00:20:37,346
and Bonobos, uh, performing re what
looks like religious, uh, rituals.

350
00:20:37,736 --> 00:20:40,766
And I, the way I see it, you
can interpret that two ways.

351
00:20:41,036 --> 00:20:46,886
Either chimpanzees and bonobos also know
that God exists, or this idea of this

352
00:20:46,886 --> 00:20:52,946
proto protos scientific method that is
religion exists in other primates as

353
00:20:52,946 --> 00:20:58,196
well, because what I think it is, is
like trying to explain the world, uh, to

354
00:20:58,196 --> 00:21:01,376
oneself by, by trying out different ideas.

355
00:21:01,676 --> 00:21:05,546
And it might, it might take a
long time before you, uh, are wise

356
00:21:05,546 --> 00:21:07,616
enough to reject the specific ideas.

357
00:21:07,646 --> 00:21:12,536
And some of these ideas may
have, uh, a very long lifespan.

358
00:21:13,211 --> 00:21:17,171
Well, and, and I, I think I would assert
that you don't necessarily need to reject

359
00:21:17,171 --> 00:21:18,761
them, you just need to make them useful.

360
00:21:18,791 --> 00:21:24,041
And also, uh, I don't like it
when religious people try to push

361
00:21:24,041 --> 00:21:25,421
their religious beliefs on others.

362
00:21:25,421 --> 00:21:28,451
And those religions that have
made that a central part of their

363
00:21:28,451 --> 00:21:34,271
religion, uh, sometimes they can
be a bit of, they can be jerks,

364
00:21:34,511 --> 00:21:36,581
uh, when, when, when applying that.

365
00:21:36,761 --> 00:21:38,621
So real, real, real goofballs.

366
00:21:39,071 --> 00:21:42,101
And this applies to all religious
people, including governments

367
00:21:42,101 --> 00:21:45,491
that, uh, kidnap kids and put
them into schools for 12 years.

368
00:21:46,211 --> 00:21:46,391
Yeah.

369
00:21:46,451 --> 00:21:47,801
Live and live and let live.

370
00:21:47,801 --> 00:21:48,401
Definitely.

371
00:21:48,406 --> 00:21:52,091
And, and I, I know and
respect many Christians.

372
00:21:52,481 --> 00:21:55,421
Uh, I Christians specifically.

373
00:21:55,421 --> 00:22:01,451
I don't actually, I don't really know
many non non-Christians, religious, non.

374
00:22:01,661 --> 00:22:03,341
you know a handful of Jews, don't you

375
00:22:03,566 --> 00:22:04,046
Don't die.

376
00:22:04,076 --> 00:22:04,346
Yeah, yeah.

377
00:22:04,571 --> 00:22:04,781
yeah.

378
00:22:04,781 --> 00:22:04,871
Yeah.

379
00:22:04,871 --> 00:22:09,311
We have, uh, many you Jewish friends and
I think we have some Muslim friends too.

380
00:22:09,416 --> 00:22:09,956
I think so.

381
00:22:10,016 --> 00:22:10,706
I think so.

382
00:22:10,886 --> 00:22:12,266
And, and live and let live.

383
00:22:12,266 --> 00:22:16,706
As long as, as long as they're not
saying, you know, convert or die or

384
00:22:16,706 --> 00:22:19,136
convert or go to hell, uh, we're good.

385
00:22:19,736 --> 00:22:23,876
And, uh, the government basically
says that with, uh, uh, convert

386
00:22:23,996 --> 00:22:29,366
as in, you know, take the jab or,
uh, be ostracized from society.

387
00:22:29,366 --> 00:22:30,326
So it's all the same thing.

388
00:22:30,326 --> 00:22:30,596
Right.

389
00:22:31,076 --> 00:22:31,436
Yeah.

390
00:22:31,763 --> 00:22:32,483
Alright, good.

391
00:22:32,583 --> 00:22:33,033
Here we go.

392
00:22:33,123 --> 00:22:33,573
Next one.

393
00:22:35,709 --> 00:22:40,809
In 2008, another subculture movement
of unbelief was born, let's call

394
00:22:40,809 --> 00:22:45,609
it financial atheism, the rejection
of unverifiable value claims.

395
00:22:46,434 --> 00:22:50,754
With the invention of Bitcoin, a way
of rejecting fraudulent expressions

396
00:22:50,754 --> 00:22:52,734
of a token's value was born.

397
00:22:53,814 --> 00:22:56,934
Those of us fortunate enough to have
been born in secular countries all

398
00:22:56,934 --> 00:23:00,564
enjoy not having the ideas of religious
demagogues dictating our lives.

399
00:23:00,564 --> 00:23:05,934
On a daily basis, we can choose which
ideas to believe in and which to reject.

400
00:23:06,894 --> 00:23:10,404
What we still have very limited means
of choosing, however, are the ways in

401
00:23:10,404 --> 00:23:12,144
which we express value to each other.

402
00:23:13,104 --> 00:23:16,584
We're told to use a system in which we
all have a certain number of value tokens

403
00:23:16,584 --> 00:23:20,994
assigned to our name, either as a number
on a screen or as digits on paper notes.

404
00:23:21,654 --> 00:23:24,834
We all live in the collective
hallucination that these numbers

405
00:23:24,834 --> 00:23:28,734
are somehow legit and that their
authenticity is not to be questioned.

406
00:23:29,453 --> 00:23:32,478
A Bitcoin balance assigned to a certain
Bitcoin address might seem just as

407
00:23:32,478 --> 00:23:36,558
questionable to a layman, but if you
have a basic understanding of the hashing

408
00:23:36,558 --> 00:23:41,718
algorithms and the game theory behind
it, it's not at the time of writing.

409
00:23:41,778 --> 00:23:43,998
The hash of the latest block
on the Bitcoin blockchain

410
00:23:43,998 --> 00:23:45,978
begins with 18 zeros in a row.

411
00:23:46,668 --> 00:23:49,938
These zeros represent the proof
of work that ensures that this

412
00:23:49,938 --> 00:23:53,268
block is valid and that every
transaction in it actually happened.

413
00:23:53,988 --> 00:23:57,198
If you can grasp the concept of a
hashing algorithm and if you have

414
00:23:57,198 --> 00:24:01,308
an intuition about mathematics,
you realize the gargantuan amount

415
00:24:01,308 --> 00:24:04,338
of calculating effort that went
into finding this particular hash.

416
00:24:04,788 --> 00:24:06,168
It's simply mind blowing.

417
00:24:07,008 --> 00:24:10,548
To forge a false version of a
hash beginning with 18 zeros just

418
00:24:10,548 --> 00:24:12,168
wouldn't be economically viable.

419
00:24:12,888 --> 00:24:17,028
Of course, you can never actually know
that a 51% attack or some other attempt at

420
00:24:17,028 --> 00:24:20,838
corrupting the blockchain hasn't occurred,
but you can know that such an attack would

421
00:24:20,838 --> 00:24:24,558
require more than half of the network
acting against our own economic interest.

422
00:24:25,533 --> 00:24:27,333
Bitcoin is not something to believe in.

423
00:24:27,633 --> 00:24:31,413
You don't need to trust any authority
because you can validate the plausibility

424
00:24:31,413 --> 00:24:32,943
of its authenticity yourself.

425
00:24:33,933 --> 00:24:37,023
It's the financial equivalent
of atheism or unbelief.

426
00:24:37,743 --> 00:24:39,093
Satoshi wasn't Jesus.

427
00:24:39,513 --> 00:24:43,743
Satoshi was Brian of Nazareth telling
his fathers to think for themselves.

428
00:24:44,793 --> 00:24:46,563
I wonder how many people
know that reference.

429
00:24:47,058 --> 00:24:52,098
Yeah, if, if, uh, if you don't know
the last reference there, I highly

430
00:24:52,098 --> 00:24:54,288
recommend Monty Python's life of Brian.

431
00:24:54,288 --> 00:24:57,048
It's one of the best comedies
ever made, in my opinion.

432
00:24:57,614 --> 00:24:59,954
anyway, this is, uh, this is the view.

433
00:24:59,954 --> 00:25:03,194
I, I somewhat still hold,
or, or not somewhat.

434
00:25:03,194 --> 00:25:04,514
I, I still hold this view.

435
00:25:04,814 --> 00:25:10,214
Uh, Bitcoin is a way to, uh, verify
everything like the, the only way you

436
00:25:10,214 --> 00:25:13,874
can know that no one is counter-fit.

437
00:25:14,324 --> 00:25:14,594
Uh.

438
00:25:15,629 --> 00:25:21,179
The more units of the money you
are using is to know every single

439
00:25:21,179 --> 00:25:27,179
transaction that happens and that
ever happened in, uh, in that system.

440
00:25:27,569 --> 00:25:29,999
And the only way to do that
is to run a Bitcoin node and

441
00:25:29,999 --> 00:25:31,499
actually verify it for yourself.

442
00:25:32,159 --> 00:25:37,859
So, so, so this, in this sense,
Bitcoin is the, the first

443
00:25:38,309 --> 00:25:42,959
skeptics money or atheist money or
whatever you, uh, word you prefer.

444
00:25:43,579 --> 00:25:48,019
the, the only one that doesn't
require belief in the central

445
00:25:48,019 --> 00:25:52,459
bank and the politicians behind
the money printer to be ethical.

446
00:25:53,044 --> 00:25:56,614
Uh, and this, this is what intrigued
me about Bitcoin in the beginning.

447
00:25:56,619 --> 00:26:00,424
There's, there's a, a reason that
this is a quite early chapter in, in

448
00:26:00,424 --> 00:26:04,804
my book series here, because this is
one of the most mind, uh, was one of

449
00:26:04,804 --> 00:26:06,154
the most mind blowing things to me.

450
00:26:06,424 --> 00:26:09,844
And I know many other people, this
is what's so funny about the whole,

451
00:26:10,564 --> 00:26:15,304
um, atheist versus religious people
thing in Bitcoin because I know just

452
00:26:15,304 --> 00:26:19,444
as many people that came to Bitcoin
from a, uh, a religious worldview

453
00:26:19,444 --> 00:26:21,214
and that view it sort of as a cult.

454
00:26:21,244 --> 00:26:25,744
I view Bitcoiners as the, the ones leaving
the cult, not the ones in the cult.

455
00:26:25,954 --> 00:26:30,304
So, but it's fascinating to me how
you can end up with, uh, loving

456
00:26:30,514 --> 00:26:32,974
Bitcoin for so many different reasons.

457
00:26:32,974 --> 00:26:37,891
And there are so many different paths
to the same, um, group of insights.

458
00:26:37,891 --> 00:26:43,441
So this, um, and this is my path and uh,
what I've tried to explain in words here.

459
00:26:45,166 --> 00:26:47,866
On this section, we are
in complete lockstep.

460
00:26:48,146 --> 00:26:50,621
I, I, uh, I completely
agree with you here.

461
00:26:50,801 --> 00:26:52,571
It's, it's definitely a spicy take.

462
00:26:52,601 --> 00:26:53,861
I, I, yeah.

463
00:26:54,191 --> 00:26:56,051
It's a spicy take, but I agree with it.

464
00:26:57,069 --> 00:27:02,889
all the other money requires some kind
of trust or belief and yeah, I, I just,

465
00:27:02,889 --> 00:27:05,950
I just, it's one of those things that
once you get it, you get it, right?

466
00:27:05,950 --> 00:27:09,940
Like, we've talked about this before
in terms of that, that there are just

467
00:27:09,940 --> 00:27:15,395
parts of the Bitcoin thing that once
you understand the implications, it,

468
00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:18,820
it, it's definitely not a good thing
that all of the rest of the money in

469
00:27:18,820 --> 00:27:21,010
the world requires verification, right?

470
00:27:21,010 --> 00:27:22,750
Like, I'm not gonna,
I'm not gonna sit here.

471
00:27:22,810 --> 00:27:26,530
I, I might be able to go and make the
argument that there's some purpose for

472
00:27:27,070 --> 00:27:32,740
religious systems and, and people can
find meaning in that, but no one finds

473
00:27:32,740 --> 00:27:34,870
meaning in the fiat monetary system.

474
00:27:35,650 --> 00:27:35,980
No.

475
00:27:35,980 --> 00:27:40,570
And, uh, regardless of if you find meaning
or not, like to actually know whether

476
00:27:40,570 --> 00:27:44,830
something is true or not, you do, you
need the don't trust, verify mentality?

477
00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:48,894
Uh, so, so sure you can
derive value from a story.

478
00:27:48,894 --> 00:27:53,274
I, I, I buy that, but that doesn't
necessarily make it like true in the

479
00:27:53,274 --> 00:27:55,554
sense of this is objectively true.

480
00:27:55,854 --> 00:28:01,974
So, so in my view, Bitcoin is built
like, uh, skepticism is at the

481
00:28:01,974 --> 00:28:04,224
very foundation of what Bitcoin is.

482
00:28:04,554 --> 00:28:06,954
Don't trust, verify is skepticism.

483
00:28:07,501 --> 00:28:07,771
Yeah.

484
00:28:07,771 --> 00:28:11,731
And well, uh, I think, uh, I think
another interesting thing here that

485
00:28:11,731 --> 00:28:16,711
you, that you include in the book at,
at the time of writing, that the, the

486
00:28:16,711 --> 00:28:21,481
amount of work that goes into verifying
each Bitcoin block, it was 18 zeros.

487
00:28:21,481 --> 00:28:23,221
This was back in 2019 though, right?

488
00:28:23,221 --> 00:28:24,961
It's, it's way more than that now.

489
00:28:25,201 --> 00:28:28,531
So it just keeps getting, it
just keeps intensifying right.

490
00:28:29,521 --> 00:28:29,941
Yeah.

491
00:28:30,031 --> 00:28:35,131
And, uh, uh, and uh, I think that like
the, the very core concepts of, of,

492
00:28:35,131 --> 00:28:42,211
uh, Bitcoin are here in, in this text,
uh, that it's, it's expensive to try

493
00:28:42,211 --> 00:28:46,021
to cheat the system that's, that's
at, it's more expensive to try to

494
00:28:46,021 --> 00:28:50,101
cheat it than to just follow the rules
and that that's what makes it great.

495
00:28:51,346 --> 00:28:52,036
Shall we continue?

496
00:28:52,501 --> 00:28:53,161
Absolutely.

497
00:28:53,705 --> 00:28:54,275
Alright.

498
00:28:55,715 --> 00:29:00,215
The first law of thermodynamics, also
known as the Law of Conservation of Energy

499
00:29:00,335 --> 00:29:04,055
states that energy cannot be created
or destroyed in an isolated system.

500
00:29:04,775 --> 00:29:09,035
The second law states that the entropy
of any isolated system always increases.

501
00:29:09,335 --> 00:29:13,355
And the third law states that the entropy
of a system approaches a constant value as

502
00:29:13,355 --> 00:29:15,455
the temperature approaches absolute zero.

503
00:29:16,355 --> 00:29:20,195
In the Bitcoin network, participants
known as miners compete for new Bitcoin

504
00:29:20,195 --> 00:29:22,535
in a lottery with very fixed rules.

505
00:29:23,465 --> 00:29:27,665
The more hashing power, computing power
a miner contributes to the network,

506
00:29:27,755 --> 00:29:31,385
the higher his chances of winning the
block reward a a specific amount of

507
00:29:31,385 --> 00:29:33,425
Bitcoin that is halved every four years.

508
00:29:34,295 --> 00:29:38,255
The difficulty of this lottery, in other
words, the minor's chance of winning it

509
00:29:38,675 --> 00:29:44,015
is recalibrated every 2016 block so that
the average time it takes to find the

510
00:29:44,015 --> 00:29:46,055
next block is always roughly 10 minutes.

511
00:29:47,075 --> 00:29:49,715
What the system produces
is absolute scarcity.

512
00:29:50,075 --> 00:29:54,365
The amount of Bitcoin in existence at
any moment in time is always predictable.

513
00:29:55,355 --> 00:29:59,225
The more time that passes, the slower
the rate of coin issuance and the

514
00:29:59,225 --> 00:30:01,385
block rewards slowly approaches zero.

515
00:30:02,165 --> 00:30:06,845
By the time it does around the year
2140, the individual miner's incentive

516
00:30:06,845 --> 00:30:10,805
to mine for award will at least
theoretically have been replaced by an

517
00:30:10,805 --> 00:30:14,375
incentive to collect transaction fees
from the participants of the network.

518
00:30:15,335 --> 00:30:19,775
Even now, the sum of all fees make up a
non-trivial part of the miner's revenue.

519
00:30:20,510 --> 00:30:25,280
Yet from a user's point of view, the fees
are still very low, and as the network

520
00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:29,720
scales up using layer two solutions such
as the Lightning Network, they're expected

521
00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:32,420
to remain low for quite a long time ahead.

522
00:30:34,010 --> 00:30:36,920
So another connection of
Bitcoin to physics, right?

523
00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:36,980
I.

524
00:30:38,082 --> 00:30:38,372
Yeah.

525
00:30:38,552 --> 00:30:38,772
Um.

526
00:30:39,547 --> 00:30:43,597
Not, not directly tying it to
physics here, uh, which is good.

527
00:30:43,687 --> 00:30:48,607
Uh, but yeah, uh, there, there's,
there's a wonderful meme going around,

528
00:30:48,697 --> 00:30:50,977
uh, about, uh, it's a Venn diagram.

529
00:30:51,037 --> 00:30:55,164
Uh, and in one circle there's
people who, who, who are against

530
00:30:55,374 --> 00:30:58,884
Bitcoin or Bitcoin's opponents.

531
00:30:59,184 --> 00:31:03,414
And on the, in the other circle are
people who can, uh, accurately explain

532
00:31:03,414 --> 00:31:05,874
the difficulty, uh, adjustment algorithm.

533
00:31:06,234 --> 00:31:11,004
And in the middle, in the cross
section are people who don't exist.

534
00:31:11,364 --> 00:31:16,614
Uh, be because you cannot, you cannot be
against Bitcoin if, if it clicks for you

535
00:31:16,614 --> 00:31:22,014
the difficulty adjustment algorithm and
how, how amazing, uh, a discovery that is.

536
00:31:23,074 --> 00:31:26,964
Uh, it maybe, it would be fair to
say that the group of people in

537
00:31:26,964 --> 00:31:29,634
the middle are liars and con men.

538
00:31:30,431 --> 00:31:30,611
Yeah.

539
00:31:30,611 --> 00:31:33,851
But that means that they're either.

540
00:31:34,316 --> 00:31:37,976
They either are Bitcoin proponents
that they just pretend to not be,

541
00:31:38,371 --> 00:31:42,896
or, or they simply don't understand
the difficulty adjustment algorithm.

542
00:31:43,631 --> 00:31:44,856
Or they're fans of Ethereum?

543
00:31:45,236 --> 00:31:45,866
Yeah.

544
00:31:45,926 --> 00:31:46,346
Yeah.

545
00:31:46,766 --> 00:31:48,086
Uh, so, so yeah.

546
00:31:48,746 --> 00:31:51,656
So they are fans of Bitcoin
then because the only purpose of

547
00:31:51,656 --> 00:31:55,496
Ethereum is to make the founders
of Ethereum earn more Bitcoin,

548
00:31:56,201 --> 00:31:57,221
yes, there we go.

549
00:31:57,401 --> 00:31:58,961
That's, that's a, that's, yes.

550
00:31:58,961 --> 00:32:00,011
Very good point here.

551
00:32:00,281 --> 00:32:02,531
No, and, um, and I like
the explanation here.

552
00:32:02,531 --> 00:32:07,271
This is just intensifying, like these
first two chapters of this book.

553
00:32:07,271 --> 00:32:12,011
Just, just speaking, um, from the,
the level of reading these both

554
00:32:12,011 --> 00:32:15,941
together, like someone reads this
as the introduction to Bitcoin.

555
00:32:16,181 --> 00:32:19,421
I don't know exactly who's doing
that, but you know, if you were,

556
00:32:19,661 --> 00:32:23,531
you're getting hit with, I. Big
ideas right at, right off the bat.

557
00:32:23,921 --> 00:32:27,281
This, this isn't for the faint of
heart, but, but they're big important

558
00:32:27,281 --> 00:32:31,991
ideas that, that really underpin what
Bitcoin is and what Bitcoin is about.

559
00:32:31,991 --> 00:32:35,921
And I, I never thought of sovereignty
through mathematics as a, as a beginner

560
00:32:35,921 --> 00:32:40,931
book, but in a lot of ways it, it does
explain a lot of the, the concepts that

561
00:32:40,931 --> 00:32:42,611
are important to know about Bitcoin.

562
00:32:42,611 --> 00:32:45,371
Just, just not in, in one of
these structured ways that, that

563
00:32:45,731 --> 00:32:47,111
sort of handholds, you know?

564
00:32:47,861 --> 00:32:48,151
Yeah.

565
00:32:48,156 --> 00:32:54,206
No, I, I, I view it as a beginner's
book, um, uh, as very, maybe a

566
00:32:54,206 --> 00:32:55,916
very specific type of beginner.

567
00:32:55,916 --> 00:32:58,976
Uh, is there a, like you
said, faint of heart there.

568
00:32:59,066 --> 00:33:00,926
Is there such a thing as faint of brain?

569
00:33:01,712 --> 00:33:02,372
Oh yeah.

570
00:33:02,432 --> 00:33:04,352
Uh, I know some people like that.

571
00:33:05,412 --> 00:33:06,707
Okay, good to know.

572
00:33:07,637 --> 00:33:08,747
Let's get on with it, shall we?

573
00:33:08,822 --> 00:33:09,092
Okay.

574
00:33:12,422 --> 00:33:16,502
Absolute scarcity is a concept that
mankind has never encountered before.

575
00:33:17,312 --> 00:33:20,942
Arguably this makes it the first
manmade concept to ever be directly

576
00:33:20,942 --> 00:33:22,532
linked to the laws of physics.

577
00:33:23,552 --> 00:33:26,702
Everything anyone does requires
a certain amount of energy.

578
00:33:27,302 --> 00:33:31,262
The very word doing implies that
some kind of movement, some type of

579
00:33:31,262 --> 00:33:33,512
energy expenditure needs to occur.

580
00:33:34,442 --> 00:33:37,772
As mentioned earlier, how we value
things is entirely subjective.

581
00:33:38,432 --> 00:33:40,922
Different actions are of different
value to different people.

582
00:33:41,972 --> 00:33:44,612
How we value different things
is also inevitably linked to

583
00:33:44,612 --> 00:33:46,022
the supply of those things.

584
00:33:47,072 --> 00:33:50,912
Had the trapped under ice winter diver
mentioned in chapter one, being equipped

585
00:33:50,912 --> 00:33:54,362
with a scuba tank, he probably wouldn't
have thought of his next breath.

586
00:33:54,362 --> 00:33:58,652
As such a precious thing, the price,
a person is willing to pay for a good.

587
00:33:59,072 --> 00:34:02,852
In other words, the sum of one
or more person's actions can be

588
00:34:02,852 --> 00:34:04,802
derived from two basic variables.

589
00:34:05,252 --> 00:34:09,632
The highly objective demand for the
good and the always constrained by time

590
00:34:09,632 --> 00:34:11,882
and space supply of that same good.

591
00:34:12,872 --> 00:34:16,352
Note that if supply is sufficiently
limited, there only needs to be

592
00:34:16,352 --> 00:34:20,222
a minimal amount of demand for a
good for its price to increase.

593
00:34:21,842 --> 00:34:25,652
One could argue that no one needs
Bitcoin and that therefore Bitcoin

594
00:34:25,652 --> 00:34:27,272
would have no intrinsic value.

595
00:34:27,992 --> 00:34:31,052
One could also argue that there's
no such thing as intrinsic value.

596
00:34:31,052 --> 00:34:32,702
Since demand is always subjective.

597
00:34:33,512 --> 00:34:38,942
In any case, there will always be a cost
to mine Bitcoin, and the more mining power

598
00:34:38,942 --> 00:34:41,042
in the network, the higher that cost.

599
00:34:41,972 --> 00:34:46,952
This cost insured by the Bitcoin network's
proof of work algorithm is probably

600
00:34:46,952 --> 00:34:51,542
as close to a pure energy cost as the
price of a human activity will ever get.

601
00:34:52,832 --> 00:34:56,372
Once the mining rig is in place, a
simple conversion process follows

602
00:34:57,182 --> 00:34:59,372
energy in scarce token out.

603
00:35:00,152 --> 00:35:03,872
Should the cost of production exceed the
current price of the token, the miner can

604
00:35:03,872 --> 00:35:07,982
just choose not to sell, thereby limiting
the supply of Bitcoin and circulation

605
00:35:07,982 --> 00:35:11,282
even more, and eventually selling them
for other goods whenever he sees fit.

606
00:35:12,377 --> 00:35:17,297
In this sense, Bitcoin is a battery,
perhaps the best battery ever invented.

607
00:35:18,497 --> 00:35:21,527
Now I know you have some things
to say about this section.

608
00:35:21,984 --> 00:35:22,284
Yes.

609
00:35:22,284 --> 00:35:25,914
This is about how every
action requires energy.

610
00:35:25,914 --> 00:35:30,594
So, so it's, it's sort of about
how physics and, uh, uh, the, the.

611
00:35:31,119 --> 00:35:34,929
Objectiveness of physics
and the subjectiveness of

612
00:35:34,929 --> 00:35:36,369
ology are linked together.

613
00:35:36,639 --> 00:35:38,859
Like we, we, we link the two realms.

614
00:35:39,099 --> 00:35:43,749
Uh, I mean, I believe that the
dichotomy of subjective, uh, objective

615
00:35:43,749 --> 00:35:47,199
is somewhat false, but we're,
we're not going there just yet.

616
00:35:47,199 --> 00:35:50,109
That comes in clown world way next year.

617
00:35:50,349 --> 00:35:54,699
So, but, but the thing that links
the two worlds, so that bridges

618
00:35:54,699 --> 00:35:56,469
the two worlds is human action.

619
00:35:57,159 --> 00:36:01,239
And, uh, in Bitcoin, this
is, this is very clear.

620
00:36:01,299 --> 00:36:03,249
What, what, what, what's going on?

621
00:36:03,249 --> 00:36:07,749
You're, you're sacrificing a very
specific amount of actual energy.

622
00:36:07,869 --> 00:36:15,219
Duals even, uh, for a, a
slice of the world's, uh, only

623
00:36:15,219 --> 00:36:17,589
digital pie, like the only.

624
00:36:18,204 --> 00:36:21,564
I, I, I use the word
absolute scarcity here.

625
00:36:21,624 --> 00:36:22,344
Uh, a lot.

626
00:36:22,794 --> 00:36:26,484
If I'd written this book today, I would
say that Bitcoin are not absolutely

627
00:36:26,484 --> 00:36:28,494
scarce, but absolutely finite.

628
00:36:28,944 --> 00:36:32,544
Uh, scarcity is always, uh, contextual.

629
00:36:32,544 --> 00:36:39,744
So like, uh, it's, it's not, uh, as it's
not describing Bitcoin as well, I think,

630
00:36:39,744 --> 00:36:41,604
so they're, they're not absolutely scarce.

631
00:36:41,664 --> 00:36:42,744
Well, they are too.

632
00:36:42,774 --> 00:36:46,464
But first and foremost, there's
absolutely finite, which is what

633
00:36:46,464 --> 00:36:49,884
creates the absolute scarcity
afterwards or the scarcity of them.

634
00:36:50,424 --> 00:36:52,404
Uh, scarcity is not absolute.

635
00:36:52,404 --> 00:36:54,624
It's always, it always fluctuates.

636
00:36:54,684 --> 00:36:58,524
Uh, and it's always in the eye of the
beholder, which finiteness is not, I would

637
00:36:58,524 --> 00:37:04,314
say scarcity is, is scarcity, is, uh,
subjective, somewhat subjective, while,

638
00:37:04,314 --> 00:37:07,734
uh, being finite is something objective.

639
00:37:08,664 --> 00:37:13,434
So, so it's still, uh, this hearkens
back a lot to the, the, the last chapter

640
00:37:13,644 --> 00:37:15,654
because this is all, all about the.

641
00:37:16,929 --> 00:37:21,219
Uh, demand being subjective
and, uh, supply being objective.

642
00:37:21,249 --> 00:37:25,059
How, how this, uh, how it links
the objective and the subjective.

643
00:37:25,679 --> 00:37:30,119
and I think that's very, a crucial thing
to understand when trying to understand

644
00:37:30,149 --> 00:37:31,344
Bitcoin and the problem it solves.

645
00:37:31,824 --> 00:37:31,944
I.

646
00:37:32,333 --> 00:37:35,663
Absolutely agree and well, you
know, I think, I think I'm still

647
00:37:35,663 --> 00:37:40,433
more of a proponent of the battery
analogy than, than you are here now.

648
00:37:41,453 --> 00:37:43,793
Uh, but I, but I still
think it's, it's useful.

649
00:37:43,823 --> 00:37:48,211
It's, it's a really useful, analogy
here because, because the, the idea

650
00:37:48,211 --> 00:37:53,549
that a miner, a bitcoin miner can
expend energy and get Bitcoin back

651
00:37:53,819 --> 00:37:58,503
anywhere in the world, thereby,
being able to capture stranded.

652
00:37:58,878 --> 00:38:04,398
Energy sources or, uh, more difficult
to, to access, but, but maybe not as

653
00:38:04,398 --> 00:38:06,348
expensive to access something like that.

654
00:38:06,773 --> 00:38:10,998
It, it is a way of, of taking energy
from somewhere and converting it

655
00:38:10,998 --> 00:38:14,838
into something that can be then
sold for other goods and services.

656
00:38:14,838 --> 00:38:17,388
So the battery analogy, it's
not, it's not a literal battery,

657
00:38:17,388 --> 00:38:20,388
it's not a literal battery in the
sense of an electrical battery.

658
00:38:20,688 --> 00:38:27,078
It's not a way of taking that energy
and storing that energy for further

659
00:38:27,078 --> 00:38:32,118
use in the literal energy sense,
the physical movement of something.

660
00:38:32,448 --> 00:38:38,381
But it is it is, it is a battery for
battery for well in the sense that, that

661
00:38:38,381 --> 00:38:40,151
you, you can hold some of that value.

662
00:38:40,271 --> 00:38:46,181
You can capture that value and move
it over the internet and use it later.

663
00:38:46,481 --> 00:38:49,121
So in that sense, I think the
battery analogy still works.

664
00:38:50,511 --> 00:38:51,086
It's it.

665
00:38:52,421 --> 00:38:57,071
If you will, subjective energy, uh,
which is a very weird term, and it's

666
00:38:57,071 --> 00:39:01,451
like, so, so the physics nerd in me
prevents me from, from using the term,

667
00:39:01,511 --> 00:39:03,551
uh, like using the analogy anymore.

668
00:39:03,551 --> 00:39:07,571
I, I, I'm not a super fan of it, but
not only because it doesn't link to

669
00:39:07,571 --> 00:39:12,341
physics, but because it's sort of
under appreciates Bitcoin because more

670
00:39:12,341 --> 00:39:14,111
than it's, it's more than a battery.

671
00:39:14,111 --> 00:39:19,211
It's an amplifier too, because as long as
the total economic pie grows over time,

672
00:39:19,661 --> 00:39:25,661
the, the, the energy store stored or
the value stored, it's not only staying

673
00:39:25,661 --> 00:39:28,451
the same, but, but growing over time.

674
00:39:28,511 --> 00:39:31,211
So it buys you more the,
the longer you wait.

675
00:39:31,641 --> 00:39:35,249
and uh, another part of
not using the, uh, um.

676
00:39:35,834 --> 00:39:41,084
Digi the Bitcoin is a battery analogy
anymore, is that I don't like the

677
00:39:41,084 --> 00:39:46,244
term digital energy because I, I
think digital to begin with, uh,

678
00:39:46,244 --> 00:39:48,944
is not anything crucial to Bitcoin.

679
00:39:48,974 --> 00:39:51,914
It, whether it's digital or
not, doesn't really matter.

680
00:39:52,421 --> 00:39:59,651
and the energy metaphor omits that
a Bitcoin miner is not the asic that

681
00:39:59,651 --> 00:40:03,131
some, uh, that is plugged into the
wall or the hangar full of them.

682
00:40:03,401 --> 00:40:04,961
It, uh, the computers involved.

683
00:40:04,961 --> 00:40:09,431
It is the, the, the actual miner is
the guy who owns the asics and decides

684
00:40:09,431 --> 00:40:14,291
to run the, the code, uh, which we
explain further in, in clown world too.

685
00:40:14,921 --> 00:40:21,371
Uh, so, so I think all, almost all
metaphors and analogies in Bitcoin are

686
00:40:21,401 --> 00:40:26,981
somewhat, uh, insufficient to describe
what Bitcoin is because Bitcoin is so

687
00:40:26,981 --> 00:40:31,661
much more than the sum of its parts
and it's very hard to isolate one or.

688
00:40:32,396 --> 00:40:37,586
One thing or another that it is when it's,
when it's so much bigger, uh, than that.

689
00:40:37,586 --> 00:40:43,466
So, so, so every, every single metaphor is
underwhelming or insufficient in some way.

690
00:40:44,746 --> 00:40:45,341
I can agree with.

691
00:40:45,551 --> 00:40:50,291
That on the one hand, while on the other
saying that each of these metaphors is

692
00:40:50,291 --> 00:40:53,321
a way to maybe get into someone's brain

693
00:40:53,981 --> 00:40:54,201
Yep.

694
00:40:54,491 --> 00:40:57,521
and, and it only takes one, right?

695
00:40:57,581 --> 00:41:01,031
I think that's, that's one of the points
of Bitcoin is that once, once one thing

696
00:41:01,031 --> 00:41:05,801
clicks for you, you suddenly discover all
the things and then everything clicks.

697
00:41:05,861 --> 00:41:10,211
You take the orange pill and suddenly
you are a toxic Bitcoin maxi.

698
00:41:10,661 --> 00:41:11,381
Something like that.

699
00:41:12,011 --> 00:41:19,181
Uh, so, so the battery analogy is useful,
uh, uh, in, in that sense as, as being a,

700
00:41:19,181 --> 00:41:23,531
a way of propagating an idea that might
take hold with some people, especially

701
00:41:23,531 --> 00:41:29,951
those that value, or, or actually,
especially with those who think that

702
00:41:30,101 --> 00:41:33,971
Bitcoin mining is this evil thing and
don't understand what it's actually doing.

703
00:41:34,331 --> 00:41:38,201
And the, the real world effects that I
really, really doubt that Satoshi could

704
00:41:38,201 --> 00:41:40,511
have ever envisioned for, for bitcoin.

705
00:41:41,211 --> 00:41:45,381
the effects that, that bitcoin mining,
chasing down all of the, the cheapest

706
00:41:45,381 --> 00:41:47,691
energy in the world actually have.

707
00:41:48,459 --> 00:41:49,959
No, he probably didn't predict that.

708
00:41:50,169 --> 00:41:54,609
Like, uh, one thing I thought of now
when you're talking about that it

709
00:41:54,609 --> 00:41:56,829
might have a usefulness, is that.

710
00:41:57,219 --> 00:41:59,199
That's akin to the
religious stories, right?

711
00:41:59,409 --> 00:42:03,999
So, so this is, uh, Bitcoin as a
battery is, might not be literally

712
00:42:03,999 --> 00:42:07,509
true, but it might have some,
some, uh, storytelling value.

713
00:42:07,509 --> 00:42:11,499
Just as you know, the meek shall
inherit the earth or, or some religious

714
00:42:11,799 --> 00:42:15,849
thing, uh, that you can interpret
in a way that has value to you.

715
00:42:16,149 --> 00:42:20,439
And that's how I view, uh,
metaphors for what Bitcoin is

716
00:42:20,439 --> 00:42:22,599
in as one aspect or another.

717
00:42:23,829 --> 00:42:24,339
I love it.

718
00:42:24,399 --> 00:42:24,909
I love it.

719
00:42:25,059 --> 00:42:30,879
I think we will touch more on
mining plenty, uh, over the series.

720
00:42:30,879 --> 00:42:36,249
There's gonna be way more on that, but,
uh, it, it's an important area and, and.

721
00:42:36,954 --> 00:42:40,284
A lot of the opposition to Bitcoin
that is, that is really hung up on

722
00:42:40,284 --> 00:42:44,064
that, that bitcoin mining uses more
energy than Norway or something.

723
00:42:44,184 --> 00:42:50,514
Uh, those, those arguments are unfortunate
and, and probably are holding back some

724
00:42:50,514 --> 00:42:52,644
people from taking a close look at it.

725
00:42:52,644 --> 00:42:59,064
And so I it, in, in one sense, I really do
think it's important for us to f bust to,

726
00:42:59,064 --> 00:43:01,974
to really directly take out those ideas.

727
00:43:01,974 --> 00:43:07,644
And so, um, discussions of mining
and, and, uh, even things like talking

728
00:43:07,644 --> 00:43:10,764
about it like a, like a battery, I, I
think are important for those reasons.

729
00:43:11,439 --> 00:43:11,729
Yeah.

730
00:43:11,734 --> 00:43:17,424
And, uh, there, there is at least one
chapter about environmentalism in,

731
00:43:17,484 --> 00:43:19,734
in each and every one of these books.

732
00:43:19,794 --> 00:43:22,824
A about, uh, FD busting the energy.

733
00:43:23,304 --> 00:43:24,054
Uh, stuff.

734
00:43:24,234 --> 00:43:28,601
So, yeah, and like I can just
throw out the little thought

735
00:43:28,601 --> 00:43:32,771
nugget here that is also going
to, uh, come back in this series.

736
00:43:32,771 --> 00:43:35,531
And that is that miners
do not create bitcoins.

737
00:43:35,861 --> 00:43:41,196
They get paid in Bitcoins by the users
of the network that actually create the

738
00:43:41,351 --> 00:43:47,621
Bitcoins Miners, uh, create blocks and
they create block space by finding blocks.

739
00:43:48,161 --> 00:43:54,431
And they, we allow them to, uh, make
a Coinbase transaction to themselves,

740
00:43:54,431 --> 00:43:56,171
thereby getting newly into Bitcoin.

741
00:43:56,531 --> 00:44:00,491
But it's not them that, uh, they
are the slaves of the users or

742
00:44:00,736 --> 00:44:04,721
the, the no runners and the, the
economic incentives of the network.

743
00:44:04,721 --> 00:44:07,001
They are not the ones
creating the Bitcoins.

744
00:44:07,566 --> 00:44:09,011
Now this stuff is important.

745
00:44:09,101 --> 00:44:12,371
This stuff is definitely important, and
two things can be true at the same time.

746
00:44:12,371 --> 00:44:15,881
Here again, uh, one, it can be
true that these metaphors are

747
00:44:15,881 --> 00:44:18,131
useful for people to understand it.

748
00:44:18,136 --> 00:44:22,211
But the other thing too, I think,
and I, and I think, I think every.

749
00:44:22,211 --> 00:44:23,171
Thing that we dig into.

750
00:44:23,171 --> 00:44:26,861
And that the reason for going all
the way down to, uh, the root and

751
00:44:26,861 --> 00:44:30,461
really finding what's true about
things is that it's also important

752
00:44:30,461 --> 00:44:32,471
to know what is actually the case.

753
00:44:33,011 --> 00:44:36,761
And, uh, and, and I, I think it's,
it's always, it's always good to,

754
00:44:36,851 --> 00:44:40,691
to be precise and to understand
what's actually going on here.

755
00:44:41,201 --> 00:44:46,661
Use these metaphors as ways of explaining
to your normie friends what happens

756
00:44:46,661 --> 00:44:50,171
with Bitcoin, but, but understand
what's really happening at the core.

757
00:44:50,501 --> 00:44:51,251
That's important.

758
00:44:51,251 --> 00:44:56,231
And yeah, I, I think we, we strive for
both those things in some kind of balance.

759
00:44:56,231 --> 00:44:56,291
I.

760
00:44:57,026 --> 00:44:57,596
Absolutely.

761
00:44:57,686 --> 00:45:02,366
I mean the, the books about Bitcoin I've
written were easier to write in the sense

762
00:45:02,366 --> 00:45:06,426
that I could throw words around more
than I could when I wrote the ology book,

763
00:45:06,456 --> 00:45:10,896
because in ology when writing about that
subject, you need to be super precise.

764
00:45:11,196 --> 00:45:15,726
Every word needs to be 100%
defined and used only in the

765
00:45:15,726 --> 00:45:20,196
context that it was like in the way
that it was supposed to be used.

766
00:45:20,586 --> 00:45:25,566
Uh, here I can say things like Bitcoin
is a battery and stuff more easily.

767
00:45:25,566 --> 00:45:30,049
So the the, it makes these books
maybe not as precise, but it

768
00:45:30,049 --> 00:45:32,209
makes them more colorful, I think.

769
00:45:32,209 --> 00:45:36,889
And, uh, maybe that's, uh, can orange
pill a person or two if it just, if

770
00:45:36,889 --> 00:45:41,629
my books only orange pill one person
I'm, I, I still view them as a success.

771
00:45:42,388 --> 00:45:42,878
Perfect.

772
00:45:42,908 --> 00:45:46,303
I'm, I'm sure they have orange
peel more than one person, but

773
00:45:46,313 --> 00:45:49,123
let's, let's keep going, shall we?

774
00:45:51,907 --> 00:45:54,547
Storing and moving electrical
energy around has always

775
00:45:54,547 --> 00:45:55,987
been costly and wasteful.

776
00:45:56,677 --> 00:46:00,847
Bitcoin offers a way of converting energy
into a small part of a specific number,

777
00:46:01,357 --> 00:46:03,397
a mathematical battery, if you will.

778
00:46:04,290 --> 00:46:06,900
It is important to remember
that it does not convert energy

779
00:46:06,900 --> 00:46:11,130
into value directly, but rather
electricity into digital scarcity.

780
00:46:11,550 --> 00:46:14,490
Digital scarcity that can
be used to express value.

781
00:46:15,130 --> 00:46:19,120
Energy cannot be created or destroyed
in an isolated system as the first

782
00:46:19,120 --> 00:46:21,130
law of thermodynamics clearly states.

783
00:46:22,120 --> 00:46:25,240
Bitcoin can express how much
energy was sacrificed in order to

784
00:46:25,240 --> 00:46:27,190
acquire a share of the total sum.

785
00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:30,970
You can also acquire Bitcoin by
buying it rather than mining it.

786
00:46:31,210 --> 00:46:33,340
But in doing so, you also spend energy.

787
00:46:34,120 --> 00:46:38,578
You somehow acquired the money with which
you bought the Bitcoin, You or someone

788
00:46:38,578 --> 00:46:41,338
else sacrificed time and energy somewhere.

789
00:46:42,088 --> 00:46:45,928
Bitcoin lets you express that you see
that there's a connection between value

790
00:46:45,928 --> 00:46:50,548
and scarcity by letting you sacrifice
effort to claim a part of the total sum.

791
00:46:51,709 --> 00:46:55,399
I thought when I started reading this
paragraph that, that maybe we had already

792
00:46:55,909 --> 00:46:59,959
kind of covered the, the point of it, but,
but no, I, I think the, the actual point

793
00:46:59,959 --> 00:47:04,969
of this section that, that you always
expend energy somehow to get the Bitcoin.

794
00:47:05,599 --> 00:47:09,079
That's, that's, that's a different
nuance than what we were talking

795
00:47:09,079 --> 00:47:10,669
about and an important one.

796
00:47:12,364 --> 00:47:12,424
Yeah.

797
00:47:12,424 --> 00:47:13,894
Uh, and it's absolutely true.

798
00:47:13,924 --> 00:47:17,884
Like you have to expend some kind
of energy to get something back.

799
00:47:17,884 --> 00:47:20,764
Like this is a, this is a
completely voluntary system.

800
00:47:20,764 --> 00:47:23,734
You can't just threaten someone
and say, give me all your money.

801
00:47:23,734 --> 00:47:24,934
Like, uh, that.

802
00:47:25,429 --> 00:47:29,479
You need to provide something of
value to the other person, whether

803
00:47:29,479 --> 00:47:33,709
that is mining or providing a good
service, that's another discussion.

804
00:47:33,949 --> 00:47:35,509
But this is the point of the system.

805
00:47:35,509 --> 00:47:41,359
It's like an isolated system where,
uh, people have to provide something

806
00:47:41,359 --> 00:47:47,809
that the other person values in order
to get a part of, of this finite pie,

807
00:47:48,379 --> 00:47:49,729
and that's what makes it so beautiful.

808
00:47:50,729 --> 00:47:50,909
Yeah.

809
00:47:50,909 --> 00:47:54,809
And, and this was one thing that
just didn't click for me earlier

810
00:47:54,809 --> 00:47:59,249
on in my crypto journey, so to say,
like, I, I didn't really understand

811
00:47:59,249 --> 00:48:02,999
what was the purpose of, of proof
of work mining kind of generally.

812
00:48:03,446 --> 00:48:06,566
uh, and the, the proof of stake
stuff, those, those, those folks were

813
00:48:06,566 --> 00:48:09,836
making like really serious arguments,
especially back when Ethereum was

814
00:48:09,836 --> 00:48:11,336
thinking of dropping the proof of work.

815
00:48:11,816 --> 00:48:12,086
Um.

816
00:48:14,401 --> 00:48:18,181
Understanding things like this, that,
that no matter what you do, you, you

817
00:48:18,181 --> 00:48:20,221
always are expending energy somehow.

818
00:48:20,551 --> 00:48:24,001
Uh, I think somehow that what
that did was, was get it so that

819
00:48:24,241 --> 00:48:27,421
the mining isn't actually doing
anything different than anyone else.

820
00:48:27,481 --> 00:48:30,331
They're, they're performing the function
for the network, like we talked about

821
00:48:30,331 --> 00:48:32,371
earlier, the, the, the block creation.

822
00:48:32,371 --> 00:48:36,841
But no matter what, someone is
performing energy somewhere, uh, or

823
00:48:36,991 --> 00:48:42,871
maybe a even better way of describing
it is someone is doing something of

824
00:48:42,871 --> 00:48:47,971
value to someone else to get a nice
token in exchange for that value.

825
00:48:48,361 --> 00:48:50,431
It just, it all comes, it all comes back.

826
00:48:50,851 --> 00:48:54,511
Uh, everyone is doing something
in order to get these value

827
00:48:54,511 --> 00:48:56,191
tokens that we call money.

828
00:48:56,371 --> 00:48:57,631
And Bitcoin is no different.

829
00:48:57,631 --> 00:49:01,291
It's just, uh, it is
just perfectly finite.

830
00:49:01,831 --> 00:49:06,931
So I, I don't know, uh, the, the
overall point is the un understanding.

831
00:49:06,931 --> 00:49:10,111
This one, I, I think this one
was really quite important to

832
00:49:10,891 --> 00:49:13,261
grok what Bitcoin actually is.

833
00:49:14,541 --> 00:49:19,186
And, uh, uh, it also highlights
why proof of stake, like we're

834
00:49:19,186 --> 00:49:20,356
living in proof of stake.

835
00:49:20,356 --> 00:49:23,953
Now, the Federal Reserve
is a proof of stake system.

836
00:49:24,472 --> 00:49:28,822
the, the, the ones with the biggest
piles of cash, uh, can afford the

837
00:49:28,822 --> 00:49:32,752
biggest guns and therefore set the
rules for everyone else in the system.

838
00:49:32,752 --> 00:49:36,412
And, and if they have a money
printer, they, they win that race.

839
00:49:36,502 --> 00:49:39,802
And, uh, especially if the,
the world's reserve currency.

840
00:49:40,012 --> 00:49:41,332
So, uh.

841
00:49:42,037 --> 00:49:47,377
Proof of proof of work is so different
and Bitcoin in particular because you

842
00:49:47,377 --> 00:49:50,917
can't just copy proof of work, then
that sort of takes away the point

843
00:49:50,917 --> 00:49:56,197
of proof of work, uh, in that, uh,
this is the, the costliness thing.

844
00:49:56,197 --> 00:49:58,357
So it's, it's sort of you.

845
00:49:58,822 --> 00:49:59,332
Computer.

846
00:49:59,362 --> 00:50:03,532
Up until 2009, computers had
been used for copying stuff.

847
00:50:03,802 --> 00:50:06,652
Everything on a computer is
a copy of a copy of a copy.

848
00:50:06,652 --> 00:50:10,702
Like when you send an email, you, you
don't actually send it, you copy the

849
00:50:10,702 --> 00:50:12,712
data and put it on the other computer.

850
00:50:12,952 --> 00:50:18,352
Like, so, so everything, uh, is a
copy and we can flip that on its head.

851
00:50:18,352 --> 00:50:23,902
Like, how can we use computers to, to, to
create something that cannot be copied?

852
00:50:24,082 --> 00:50:28,462
And it's by flipping the script
completely and expanding as much

853
00:50:28,462 --> 00:50:32,662
computing power as possible rather than
as little computing power as possible,

854
00:50:32,662 --> 00:50:38,482
which is true for all, like, which
is what programmers strive to do, uh,

855
00:50:38,482 --> 00:50:40,702
in every other aspect of computing.

856
00:50:40,912 --> 00:50:44,572
But this is just like, you just
flip that on its head and you get

857
00:50:44,572 --> 00:50:46,012
something that you cannot copy.

858
00:50:46,372 --> 00:50:48,052
And uh, yeah, I just love that I.

859
00:50:48,912 --> 00:50:50,607
Uh, love it too.

860
00:50:51,027 --> 00:50:55,527
All of this stuff, uh, all of this
intricacies of mining and why it works.

861
00:50:55,527 --> 00:50:57,777
Stuff super fascinating.

862
00:50:57,867 --> 00:51:00,927
Uh, not a tangent exactly.

863
00:51:00,927 --> 00:51:03,657
'cause I don't think we'll spend much
time on it, but I, I really enjoyed,

864
00:51:03,657 --> 00:51:07,107
uh, uh, when we visited Slovenia,
the, the Nice hash conference and got

865
00:51:07,107 --> 00:51:11,577
to have lots of good conversations
about the, the mining stuff and deepen

866
00:51:11,607 --> 00:51:16,407
our, uh, understanding of, of that
side of things always interesting.

867
00:51:17,222 --> 00:51:18,217
Yeah, super interesting.

868
00:51:19,317 --> 00:51:20,217
Okay, let's continue.

869
00:51:21,770 --> 00:51:26,510
The excitement we so-called Bitcoin
Maximalist feel about Bitcoin does not

870
00:51:26,510 --> 00:51:30,770
come primarily from the enormous gains
that those who hopped early onto the

871
00:51:30,770 --> 00:51:32,630
freight train have been blessed with.

872
00:51:33,410 --> 00:51:36,650
Nor is it because we're in
it for the technology as can

873
00:51:36,650 --> 00:51:38,150
often be heard from opponents.

874
00:51:39,050 --> 00:51:42,950
Those of us who preach the near divinity
of this invention do so above all,

875
00:51:42,950 --> 00:51:46,940
because we see the philosophical impacts
of absolute scarcity in a commodity,

876
00:51:47,930 --> 00:51:51,260
the idea of a functioning solution
to the double spending problem in

877
00:51:51,260 --> 00:51:55,940
computerized money is an achievement
that simply can't be ignored by

878
00:51:55,940 --> 00:51:57,620
solving the double spending problem.

879
00:51:57,650 --> 00:52:02,180
Satoshi also made counterfeiting
impossible, which in turn makes

880
00:52:02,180 --> 00:52:03,800
artificial inflation impossible.

881
00:52:04,610 --> 00:52:07,190
The world changing potential
of this invention cannot be

882
00:52:07,190 --> 00:52:09,350
understated, not in the long run.

883
00:52:10,790 --> 00:52:14,240
The more you think about it, the more the
thought won't give you any peace of mind.

884
00:52:14,990 --> 00:52:19,730
If this experiment works, if it's real, it
will take civilization to the next level.

885
00:52:20,840 --> 00:52:22,790
What we don't know is
how long this will take.

886
00:52:23,360 --> 00:52:27,350
Right now, debates in the Bitcoin
space are about Bitcoin's functionality

887
00:52:27,350 --> 00:52:31,280
as a medium of exchange and its
potential as a good store of value.

888
00:52:32,150 --> 00:52:36,710
We might be missing the point we cannot
possibly know if a type of monetary

889
00:52:36,710 --> 00:52:40,970
token for which you're completely
responsible with no third party protection

890
00:52:41,240 --> 00:52:44,900
will ever become a preferred medium
of exchange for most transactions.

891
00:52:45,710 --> 00:52:49,310
Nor can we know if the price of Bitcoin
will follow the hype cycle path that

892
00:52:49,310 --> 00:52:52,370
we all want it to follow, so that it
can become the store of value that

893
00:52:52,370 --> 00:52:55,130
most maximalist claim It already is.

894
00:52:56,600 --> 00:52:59,150
we've been focused on the
wrong things all along.

895
00:53:00,080 --> 00:53:04,700
Maybe Bitcoin's greatest strength is in
its functionality as a unit of account.

896
00:53:05,450 --> 00:53:08,180
After all, this is all that Bitcoin does.

897
00:53:08,900 --> 00:53:13,010
If you own 21 Bitcoin, you own
1000000th of the world's first

898
00:53:13,190 --> 00:53:14,960
absolutely scarce commodity.

899
00:53:16,070 --> 00:53:19,520
This might not make you rich overnight,
but it just might have something to

900
00:53:19,520 --> 00:53:24,050
do with the opportunities available
to your great-great-grandchildren.

901
00:53:28,250 --> 00:53:33,410
Yeah, this, uh, I used the word divinity
here in the beginning and it makes

902
00:53:33,410 --> 00:53:38,810
me think of like how, how all these
wonderful paradoxes, gigge made a talk

903
00:53:38,810 --> 00:53:44,990
about this once, uh, like how Bitcoin is,
uh, fuck you money and love at the same

904
00:53:44,990 --> 00:53:50,480
time, and how Bitcoin is, uh, financial
atheism and a religion at the same time.

905
00:53:50,720 --> 00:53:56,810
And I, I. This is one thing, one thing
I've thought about in, in terms of like

906
00:53:56,810 --> 00:54:01,760
religious stuff and, and Bitcoin is,
uh, Pascal's wager, which says that

907
00:54:01,760 --> 00:54:05,720
you might as well the, the, the TLDR
on Pascal's wager is that you might

908
00:54:05,720 --> 00:54:10,460
as well believe in God because, uh, if
you do, you may go to heaven and if,

909
00:54:10,490 --> 00:54:12,830
if you don't, you, you can go to hell.

910
00:54:13,250 --> 00:54:17,120
Uh, the, the problem that I have
with Pascal's wager as a concept is

911
00:54:17,120 --> 00:54:21,620
that it, it, it simply doesn't take
any of the other 5,000 religions out

912
00:54:21,620 --> 00:54:23,960
there into, uh, into account at all.

913
00:54:24,710 --> 00:54:28,940
But with Bitcoin, Pascal's wager, AC
actually works because if you believe in

914
00:54:28,940 --> 00:54:35,090
Bitcoin and if you devote your life to the
God that is Bitcoin, you actually make.

915
00:54:35,610 --> 00:54:40,050
Uh, the likelihood of this coming
true and this, this utopia here

916
00:54:40,050 --> 00:54:42,060
on earth be, uh, is closer.

917
00:54:42,120 --> 00:54:46,470
The more, the more in in time,
the more you believe in, in the

918
00:54:46,470 --> 00:54:49,560
concepts, uh, and the more, the
more you devote your life to it.

919
00:54:49,770 --> 00:54:54,360
So Pascal's wager works, but only if
by God you actually mean Bitcoin coin.

920
00:54:55,286 --> 00:54:55,916
It's so funny.

921
00:54:55,916 --> 00:55:01,616
It's, it's, it's such a, uh, it's so funny
that the wager actually works like that.

922
00:55:01,766 --> 00:55:06,536
And I mean, it isn't something
that people are necessarily going

923
00:55:06,536 --> 00:55:09,266
to take up, uh, automatically.

924
00:55:09,266 --> 00:55:12,476
And, and actually maybe this
pascal's wager framing is

925
00:55:12,476 --> 00:55:18,386
actually going to make some people
viscerally oppose that somehow, uh.

926
00:55:18,941 --> 00:55:23,831
But, but I think it's a, it's a good,
uh, a good analogy that, that, uh,

927
00:55:23,951 --> 00:55:28,541
if this is going to work, it's either
gonna go to an infinity or to zero,

928
00:55:28,541 --> 00:55:32,711
basically, uh, being on the side
of getting some piece of that pie.

929
00:55:32,711 --> 00:55:39,341
And again, this comes back to the, the
absolute finite pie of what Bitcoin is.

930
00:55:39,671 --> 00:55:43,541
There's, there's so many layers to
this, but, but really that's the

931
00:55:43,541 --> 00:55:46,331
core of what did it for me once I
understood well, I mean, okay, what

932
00:55:47,171 --> 00:55:51,641
really did it for me was, I, I got that
there's no inflation to Bitcoin now.

933
00:55:51,821 --> 00:55:52,151
Okay.

934
00:55:53,051 --> 00:55:58,331
Ignoring that it's still technically
inflating until 2140, but it, it's,

935
00:55:58,361 --> 00:56:03,131
it's not though, like I, I, I got
immediately that it's 21 million of

936
00:56:03,131 --> 00:56:07,811
these things and you get a certain
amount of that, that's, you've got

937
00:56:07,811 --> 00:56:11,261
that piece of that pie forever, right?

938
00:56:11,291 --> 00:56:15,491
As long as you can maintain control
of your keys, which isn't trivial,

939
00:56:15,491 --> 00:56:17,501
but, okay, let's pretend it's trivial.

940
00:56:18,131 --> 00:56:22,241
But that one thing means there's
a, there's now a fixed denominator.

941
00:56:22,241 --> 00:56:24,401
You can put a fixed
denominator on the economy.

942
00:56:24,401 --> 00:56:26,651
That's the unit of
account part, basically.

943
00:56:27,101 --> 00:56:32,831
And if you do that, GDP growth
is literally, should mean that

944
00:56:32,831 --> 00:56:34,901
prices are, are deflating.

945
00:56:34,931 --> 00:56:37,481
It's just that the, the
denominator keeps increasing.

946
00:56:37,721 --> 00:56:42,521
At the same time also, this constant,
this constant chasing of GDP growth

947
00:56:42,791 --> 00:56:48,761
is actually saying that, that, uh,
there is more in the pie as a whole.

948
00:56:48,911 --> 00:56:50,441
And so prices should be deflating.

949
00:56:50,441 --> 00:56:52,031
It's the Jeff Booth hypothesis.

950
00:56:52,391 --> 00:56:56,111
Uh, which, which we have talked
about how you also have similar,

951
00:56:56,561 --> 00:57:00,131
um, takes on, on this, I think
later coming up in this book.

952
00:57:00,131 --> 00:57:00,341
Right.

953
00:57:00,341 --> 00:57:01,571
We'll, we'll touch on this more.

954
00:57:01,916 --> 00:57:02,366
Yeah.

955
00:57:02,366 --> 00:57:05,606
And, uh, uh, especially in the
next book, independence Reimagined.

956
00:57:05,606 --> 00:57:07,256
That's is, that's is all about that.

957
00:57:07,706 --> 00:57:10,886
So, so I have a couple of other things
to say about these two paragraphs

958
00:57:10,886 --> 00:57:12,356
and, and this book in general.

959
00:57:12,356 --> 00:57:17,846
I, all of my books, like the primary
reason or what I want the reader

960
00:57:17,846 --> 00:57:21,716
to take away from them is just,
I want, I want them to trigger a

961
00:57:21,716 --> 00:57:23,156
thought in the brain of the reader.

962
00:57:23,486 --> 00:57:27,446
So, so they're not like,
I'm not advocating for one

963
00:57:27,446 --> 00:57:29,096
thing or another, really.

964
00:57:29,306 --> 00:57:31,736
Uh, these are meant to be thought nuggets.

965
00:57:31,736 --> 00:57:34,826
That's the, the Pascal's
wager thing is a brain fart.

966
00:57:34,976 --> 00:57:41,606
Everything else in here is sort of brain
farts that are, and if, if, if you,

967
00:57:41,666 --> 00:57:45,956
uh, happen to sniff on a particular
part of your, uh, of your liking,

968
00:57:46,196 --> 00:57:48,266
then uh, I have succeeded like that.

969
00:57:48,326 --> 00:57:48,926
You, you.

970
00:57:49,841 --> 00:57:52,901
That is, that is what the
books are, are all about.

971
00:57:53,321 --> 00:57:57,581
Uh, another thing to mention about these,
these two paragraphs in particular is the

972
00:57:57,581 --> 00:57:59,921
word bitcoin Maximalist, which is a dero.

973
00:58:01,721 --> 00:58:05,416
It was intended as a derogatory
term and invented by Vitalic

974
00:58:05,421 --> 00:58:07,451
Butrin, the creator of Ethereum.

975
00:58:07,991 --> 00:58:11,261
To, to sort of, yeah, to
promote his shit coin basically.

976
00:58:11,261 --> 00:58:15,611
And, and tell every Bitcoin believer
who didn't also want a Ethereum, that

977
00:58:15,611 --> 00:58:18,281
they were not open-minded enough.

978
00:58:18,971 --> 00:58:22,631
But as Terry PR said, the problem
with an open mind is that people

979
00:58:22,631 --> 00:58:26,081
would come along and try to put
stuff in it, stuff like Ethereum.

980
00:58:26,351 --> 00:58:31,271
So, uh, uh, well, the Bitcoin, the
Bitcoiners took the term to heart

981
00:58:31,361 --> 00:58:34,661
and, uh, uh, wore it as, uh, as armor.

982
00:58:34,661 --> 00:58:35,111
Instead.

983
00:58:35,111 --> 00:58:39,101
We are proud Bitcoin maximalist,
the whole point of Bitcoin is

984
00:58:39,101 --> 00:58:41,051
that there can be only one.

985
00:58:41,051 --> 00:58:42,461
It's uh, Highlander money.

986
00:58:43,281 --> 00:58:44,126
No, absolutely.

987
00:58:44,126 --> 00:58:51,206
And, uh, yeah, as funny as the
term is the, the origins of the

988
00:58:51,206 --> 00:58:53,936
term Bitcoin maximalist, it,
it's not just a badge of honor.

989
00:58:53,936 --> 00:58:57,296
It's, it's an actual
correct term, I think.

990
00:58:57,296 --> 00:59:01,316
And, and it's, it's important to
say that, yeah, you, you, I don't

991
00:59:01,316 --> 00:59:03,926
think you can really be a Bitcoin
or if you advocate that other

992
00:59:04,556 --> 00:59:06,296
cryptocurrencies, shit coins are.

993
00:59:07,376 --> 00:59:08,096
Any good at all?

994
00:59:08,666 --> 00:59:13,796
Um, because you, once again, it's just the
whole case of once you see the thing, once

995
00:59:13,796 --> 00:59:19,946
you get Bitcoin, that's it, and you're not
really there if you still think the other

996
00:59:19,946 --> 00:59:24,566
cryptos or the, or fiat currencies for
that matter, still have value of any kind.

997
00:59:24,926 --> 00:59:29,306
I think we still carve out a little bit
of, a little bit of, um, uh, space for

998
00:59:29,306 --> 00:59:34,466
stable coins as a, as a good intermediate
measure, uh, a good way of bridging the

999
00:59:34,466 --> 00:59:36,836
gap between the fiat system and Bitcoin.

1000
00:59:36,896 --> 00:59:42,536
But it's, um, that's not the same thing
as, as a, as a token that exists solely

1001
00:59:42,536 --> 00:59:45,446
to separate, uh, a fool from his money.

1002
00:59:46,221 --> 00:59:52,086
No, I mean, stable coins are a tool,
uh, to use in the fiat system that you

1003
00:59:52,176 --> 00:59:55,206
are still forced to use to some extent.

1004
00:59:55,746 --> 00:59:57,576
Uh, it's important to
remember though, that.

1005
00:59:57,606 --> 01:00:02,646
All fiat systems are pyramid schemes,
uh, uh, as any other shitcoin

1006
01:00:02,676 --> 01:00:06,306
like there, there's, uh, I think
I go into this in a later chapter.

1007
01:00:06,306 --> 01:00:10,776
I, I was, uh, I view them as
cryptocurrencies, which are the

1008
01:00:10,836 --> 01:00:15,636
cryptos and K cryptocurrencies,
which are the, the fiat tokens.

1009
01:00:16,026 --> 01:00:19,416
They're all designed
to enrich their issuer.

1010
01:00:20,076 --> 01:00:22,116
Bitcoin doesn't have an issuer.

1011
01:00:22,266 --> 01:00:24,246
This is crucial to understand.

1012
01:00:24,636 --> 01:00:29,526
Uh, and, uh, I don't remember
where I was going with that.

1013
01:00:29,981 --> 01:00:30,551
That's okay.

1014
01:00:30,791 --> 01:00:32,081
I think we'll cover it more later.

1015
01:00:32,081 --> 01:00:35,831
And I think now, now let's, uh, let's
sum up, I think, we'll, we'll take the,

1016
01:00:35,831 --> 01:00:37,181
the last couple of paragraphs here.

1017
01:00:39,401 --> 01:00:39,461
Okay.

1018
01:00:41,426 --> 01:00:42,566
Throughout history.

1019
01:00:42,836 --> 01:00:46,826
Whenever a prehistoric human tribe
invented ceremonial burial, that

1020
01:00:46,826 --> 01:00:48,866
tribe began to expand rapidly.

1021
01:00:49,646 --> 01:00:50,126
Why?

1022
01:00:51,116 --> 01:00:54,806
Because as soon as you invent belief
in an afterlife, you also introduce the

1023
01:00:54,806 --> 01:00:57,416
idea of self-sacrifice on a larger scale.

1024
01:00:58,406 --> 01:01:02,246
People who held these beliefs were much
easier for a desperate to manipulate and

1025
01:01:02,246 --> 01:01:04,256
send into battle with neighboring tribes.

1026
01:01:04,976 --> 01:01:08,066
Religious leaders can use people's
fears and superstitions to have them

1027
01:01:08,066 --> 01:01:12,596
commit all sorts of atrocities to their
fellow man, and they still do so today.

1028
01:01:13,616 --> 01:01:16,376
Belief in a greater good can be
the most destructive idea that

1029
01:01:16,376 --> 01:01:17,906
can pop up in a human mind.

1030
01:01:18,716 --> 01:01:22,286
The Nazis of World War II Germany
believed that exterminating Jews was

1031
01:01:22,286 --> 01:01:24,206
for the greater good of their nation's.

1032
01:01:24,206 --> 01:01:29,036
Gene pool belief in noble causes often
comes with unintended side effects,

1033
01:01:29,186 --> 01:01:31,106
which can have disastrous consequences.

1034
01:01:32,636 --> 01:01:36,296
Religious leaders, political leaders,
and other power hungry sociopaths are

1035
01:01:36,296 --> 01:01:39,296
responsible for the greatest crimes
against humanity ever committed.

1036
01:01:39,731 --> 01:01:41,201
Namely Wars.

1037
01:01:41,951 --> 01:01:45,011
Europeans often question the Second
Amendment to the United States

1038
01:01:45,011 --> 01:01:48,431
Constitution, which protects the
right to bear arms whenever a

1039
01:01:48,431 --> 01:01:51,341
tragic school shooting occurs on
the other side of the Atlantic.

1040
01:01:52,541 --> 01:01:56,051
everyone seems to forget is that less than
a hundred years ago, Europe was at war

1041
01:01:56,051 --> 01:02:00,011
with itself because its citizens had given
too much power to their so-called leaders.

1042
01:02:00,881 --> 01:02:03,011
The Nazis came to power in a democracy.

1043
01:02:03,431 --> 01:02:08,231
Never forget that our individual rights
weren't given to us by our leaders.

1044
01:02:08,381 --> 01:02:09,431
We were born with them.

1045
01:02:10,181 --> 01:02:11,921
Our leaders can't give us anything.

1046
01:02:12,311 --> 01:02:14,711
They can only force us to
behave in certain ways.

1047
01:02:15,851 --> 01:02:19,901
If we truly want to be in charge of our
lives, we need to find the tools necessary

1048
01:02:19,901 --> 01:02:21,911
to circumvent the bullshit ourselves.

1049
01:02:24,731 --> 01:02:25,301
Chapter.

1050
01:02:27,011 --> 01:02:32,431
Yeah, this is, um, the, the Road to Hell
is paved with good intention comes to mind

1051
01:02:32,431 --> 01:02:38,041
that, that saying that this is basically
what this, uh, this says, uh, and.

1052
01:02:39,656 --> 01:02:43,976
Comparing the Nazis of World
War II to religious sacrifices.

1053
01:02:43,976 --> 01:02:44,756
That's another thing.

1054
01:02:44,756 --> 01:02:51,086
I mean, the, the, the point
here is that no man has the, uh,

1055
01:02:51,086 --> 01:02:53,696
inherent right to rule another man.

1056
01:02:54,041 --> 01:03:01,046
Uh, uh, it's basically the non-aggression
principle I'm alluding to here, and, uh,

1057
01:03:01,466 --> 01:03:04,196
basic libertarian philosophy that, uh,

1058
01:03:04,568 --> 01:03:10,461
the le the leaders of the world, whether
they're religious or political, They,

1059
01:03:10,491 --> 01:03:15,051
they have no inherent right to call
themselves that and to, and to take

1060
01:03:15,051 --> 01:03:16,941
your stuff and to tell you what to do.

1061
01:03:17,511 --> 01:03:22,251
Uh, and the sooner you realize this,
the, the, the more fulfilling your

1062
01:03:22,251 --> 01:03:28,371
life can be because you can reclaim
the driver's seat and start, um, start

1063
01:03:28,371 --> 01:03:33,321
taking your life to where you want to
take it and, and not wear some power.

1064
01:03:33,321 --> 01:03:38,212
Hungry sociopath, which is the word
I use here, uh, tells you to take it.

1065
01:03:39,861 --> 01:03:43,821
Yeah, the, this conclusion somewhat
is a little disconnected from the

1066
01:03:43,821 --> 01:03:45,231
rest of the point of the chapter.

1067
01:03:45,231 --> 01:03:49,551
And, and I, I, I mean, I, I, I think
we'll come across that as this, this was

1068
01:03:49,551 --> 01:03:51,291
more your, your writing style early on.

1069
01:03:51,291 --> 01:03:52,521
Nothing, nothing wrong with that.

1070
01:03:52,521 --> 01:03:57,231
It was just that the, the, um, many,
many of these conclusions were ultimately

1071
01:03:57,231 --> 01:04:01,971
tangents to a certain extent, um, in the,
in, but in, in this case, it's not, it's

1072
01:04:01,971 --> 01:04:03,351
not that it's totally unrelated at all.

1073
01:04:03,351 --> 01:04:07,251
The, the, the self-sacrifice part goes
back to the financial atheism generally.

1074
01:04:07,251 --> 01:04:10,641
And, and this is, this is again,
where it's sort of, I, I think,

1075
01:04:10,671 --> 01:04:13,371
I think that's one aspect of
the, the self-sacrifice thing.

1076
01:04:13,371 --> 01:04:15,201
But, but we touched on
this in the, in the.

1077
01:04:15,576 --> 01:04:17,286
The first episode here, the first chapter.

1078
01:04:17,286 --> 01:04:20,286
That, that the, the self-sacrifice
thing is also what enables

1079
01:04:20,286 --> 01:04:21,846
society to grow generally.

1080
01:04:21,846 --> 01:04:22,146
Right?

1081
01:04:22,176 --> 01:04:25,716
It, it is double-edged
sword or two-sided coins.

1082
01:04:25,716 --> 01:04:31,056
In all cases, advancements always
lead to increased productivity

1083
01:04:31,056 --> 01:04:33,426
or prosperity somehow, or else
they wouldn't be advancements.

1084
01:04:33,426 --> 01:04:34,776
But there's, there's downsides.

1085
01:04:35,166 --> 01:04:38,856
AI is one of these things that we
might be dealing with quite a lot

1086
01:04:38,856 --> 01:04:43,296
here, but automation, ai, all, all
this like, uh, greatly increased

1087
01:04:43,296 --> 01:04:48,426
cognitive, um, advancements, but maybe,
maybe there, there's an over alliance

1088
01:04:48,426 --> 01:04:52,386
on technology and, and, uh, less
jobs to go around for people, right?

1089
01:04:52,386 --> 01:04:54,486
And this, this self-sacrifice
thing is another one.

1090
01:04:54,486 --> 01:05:01,926
The, the, uh, very concept of these
sort of proto religions are, are

1091
01:05:02,136 --> 01:05:04,446
also coincided with adoption of.

1092
01:05:05,091 --> 01:05:09,381
Organized hunting, organized agriculture,
the beginnings of civilization.

1093
01:05:09,381 --> 01:05:12,621
But, but of course the, the downside
to that is that civilizations can

1094
01:05:12,621 --> 01:05:14,931
be, can be weaponized somehow.

1095
01:05:14,931 --> 01:05:18,801
And, and I don't think we've ever
gotten around that, that charismatic

1096
01:05:18,801 --> 01:05:24,381
people who, who want power can persuade
others and, uh, uh, having those

1097
01:05:25,461 --> 01:05:31,161
people being also in charge of the
money printer is probably also a very

1098
01:05:31,161 --> 01:05:32,989
bad thing, not probably, definitely.

1099
01:05:35,376 --> 01:05:38,706
There's nothing wrong with humans
organizing themselves in groups.

1100
01:05:38,706 --> 01:05:43,086
We need that for survival, and we
need intersubjective belief systems

1101
01:05:43,266 --> 01:05:46,446
like language to, to, to get anywhere.

1102
01:05:47,046 --> 01:05:52,506
Uh, it's just that, uh, when, when
these belief systems come at the

1103
01:05:52,506 --> 01:05:56,646
expense of the individual, uh,
their, their object objectively bad,

1104
01:05:56,646 --> 01:05:58,596
or I at least I view them as bad.

1105
01:05:58,626 --> 01:06:03,036
So sacrifice is a, a, an interesting word.

1106
01:06:03,276 --> 01:06:07,746
Uh, what what you really want is not
sacrifice, but delayed gratification.

1107
01:06:07,896 --> 01:06:11,916
So you want, you want something, you,
you want to give something up in the

1108
01:06:11,916 --> 01:06:14,436
now, uh, to, to get something later.

1109
01:06:14,946 --> 01:06:19,956
Uh, the, the afterlife belief
in an afterlife, uh, analogy is

1110
01:06:19,956 --> 01:06:23,976
because, uh, yeah, you, you can
clearly see this, that when, when

1111
01:06:24,066 --> 01:06:26,166
ceremonial burial is invented, then.

1112
01:06:26,841 --> 01:06:27,861
Civilizations grow.

1113
01:06:28,161 --> 01:06:32,091
But that's not necessarily because
ceremonial burial was a good thing.

1114
01:06:32,601 --> 01:06:37,551
Uh, if aliens saw that, they would
probably, uh, view us as idiots.

1115
01:06:37,551 --> 01:06:41,031
Like, why are you digging dead
bodies into the ground and

1116
01:06:41,031 --> 01:06:42,351
putting stones next to them?

1117
01:06:42,591 --> 01:06:47,721
Because, uh, more so than good for
the individual who is already dead,

1118
01:06:47,961 --> 01:06:52,731
the, the ceremonial burial is good
for the leader who can tell you that

1119
01:06:52,761 --> 01:06:57,021
if you do this and that in this life,
you'll get a better life, uh, next

1120
01:06:57,021 --> 01:07:00,801
time you're reincarnated or whatever,
or in heaven or something like that.

1121
01:07:01,071 --> 01:07:06,891
So there, there's a potential that
these things, uh, can be used by,

1122
01:07:06,951 --> 01:07:11,781
by people who you don't want to use
these tools to, to make the 18 year

1123
01:07:11,781 --> 01:07:15,471
olds go and kill the other tribe
on the other side of the river.

1124
01:07:15,531 --> 01:07:21,622
Uh, in, in my opinion, I. Civilization
happens when we trade with one

1125
01:07:21,622 --> 01:07:23,422
another, not when we kill one another.

1126
01:07:23,482 --> 01:07:27,592
So it's basically a war cry for
individualism versus collectivism

1127
01:07:27,592 --> 01:07:28,942
like everything else in these books.

1128
01:07:29,632 --> 01:07:32,467
Well, what's funny here about this,
and, and I, I certainly agree with that.

1129
01:07:32,857 --> 01:07:36,997
But, but I, I think maybe you,
you overemphasize like possibly

1130
01:07:36,997 --> 01:07:40,987
I underemphasize the, the or,
or overemphasize the opposite.

1131
01:07:40,987 --> 01:07:46,237
The, uh, I, I think you, you overemphasize
the top downness of religion.

1132
01:07:46,747 --> 01:07:51,547
Uh, uh, I, I think there's ample
evidence that that's not really how

1133
01:07:51,547 --> 01:07:53,797
religion works most of the time.

1134
01:07:53,797 --> 01:07:53,977
It's

1135
01:07:54,107 --> 01:07:57,712
No, no, I'm, I'm not saying that
it's, uh, mandated, top down.

1136
01:07:57,712 --> 01:08:02,812
I'm saying that the psychopaths use
the, the fact that other people have

1137
01:08:02,812 --> 01:08:05,902
this set of beliefs for their own gain.

1138
01:08:06,322 --> 01:08:08,152
So, so it, yeah.

1139
01:08:08,392 --> 01:08:13,432
And that's very important to set, uh,
to, to clarify, I don't think that some

1140
01:08:13,432 --> 01:08:18,052
psychopath came up with the idea of God,
that's, that's not what I'm saying at all.

1141
01:08:18,052 --> 01:08:20,482
Or the concept of heaven and
hell or anything like that.

1142
01:08:20,662 --> 01:08:25,192
I, I'd say that, uh, there's a risk
involved that these people will

1143
01:08:25,192 --> 01:08:27,862
use these ideas against people.

1144
01:08:28,312 --> 01:08:28,882
Uh, uh.

1145
01:08:28,942 --> 01:08:30,232
People's best interests.

1146
01:08:30,842 --> 01:08:31,372
There we go.

1147
01:08:31,372 --> 01:08:33,052
And I, I full, I fully agree with that.

1148
01:08:33,052 --> 01:08:38,572
And, and, and you know, I, I think the
meta thing that if, if I can sum up my

1149
01:08:38,572 --> 01:08:43,732
thoughts about this, this whole thing,
that, that Bitcoin becomes a tool for the

1150
01:08:43,732 --> 01:08:49,253
individual to safeguard against others,
being able to use money against them.

1151
01:08:50,097 --> 01:08:57,022
But that's also sort of all that it is,
the, the entire rest of the, the coin

1152
01:08:57,022 --> 01:09:01,192
here is that responsibility still lies
with the individual to do with it, what

1153
01:09:01,192 --> 01:09:03,922
they will and, and the risk of the.

1154
01:09:04,567 --> 01:09:08,467
World going to shit irrespective
of what any of us do.

1155
01:09:08,467 --> 01:09:10,447
That's, that's always going to be present.

1156
01:09:10,507 --> 01:09:16,027
But we can now do things, we can do
one specific thing to take back some

1157
01:09:16,027 --> 01:09:22,297
of that control and live life, how
we want to associate with the people

1158
01:09:22,597 --> 01:09:27,217
we, we want to, the community that is
cropping up around Bitcoiners is a, is

1159
01:09:27,217 --> 01:09:30,817
a pretty awesome one and it's, uh, it's
a lot of fun to be involved in that.

1160
01:09:31,417 --> 01:09:34,717
Um, so yeah, bi Bitcoin
is financial atheism.

1161
01:09:35,527 --> 01:09:38,437
We might have a couple of
disagreements on, on semantics of,

1162
01:09:38,437 --> 01:09:43,027
of the word atheism or, or of the
term sacrifice or whatever it is.

1163
01:09:43,027 --> 01:09:48,787
But, but broadly, broadly, uh, I think
it's, it's a very astute observation

1164
01:09:48,787 --> 01:09:53,995
and, and it's not atheism in a way that
means to antagonize religious people.

1165
01:09:53,995 --> 01:09:59,095
It's, it's really the, the concept of
money that that does not need to be

1166
01:09:59,095 --> 01:10:01,615
believed in, which is extremely important.

1167
01:10:02,555 --> 01:10:07,270
Yeah, no, you can, don't trust, verify
is the, uh, the TLDR of this chapter?

1168
01:10:07,846 --> 01:10:08,446
Perfect.

1169
01:10:09,286 --> 01:10:12,286
Is that, is that, uh, where
we'll leave this chapter?

1170
01:10:13,246 --> 01:10:13,846
I think so.

1171
01:10:13,846 --> 01:10:17,296
I have many other thoughts, but,
uh, we have plenty of time to

1172
01:10:17,296 --> 01:10:18,826
discuss them in later chapters.

1173
01:10:18,826 --> 01:10:23,866
So, so don't trust, verify
people, uh, like, subscribe, run

1174
01:10:23,866 --> 01:10:25,786
a node and brush your damn teeth.

1175
01:10:26,401 --> 01:10:26,881
Yeah.

1176
01:10:26,941 --> 01:10:29,791
Uh, I'll echo that exactly.

1177
01:10:29,796 --> 01:10:33,601
And, and, uh, uh, now that
we're at the end of the chapter,

1178
01:10:33,601 --> 01:10:34,681
let us know what you think.

1179
01:10:34,861 --> 01:10:39,361
Uh, leave a comment in YouTube or
Rumble if you're watching there.

1180
01:10:39,631 --> 01:10:43,981
Uh, if you're listening on, for
example, fountain, uh, send us,

1181
01:10:44,281 --> 01:10:48,301
send us a note on, on Noster or,
or Twitter or something like that.

1182
01:10:48,391 --> 01:10:50,131
Uh, let us know what you think.

1183
01:10:50,281 --> 01:10:51,451
Share the episode.

1184
01:10:51,451 --> 01:10:54,391
Definitely don't forget to like
and subscribe wherever you are.

1185
01:10:54,661 --> 01:10:57,001
Every little bit helps
us reach more people.

1186
01:10:57,411 --> 01:11:01,461
And the other thing you can do, by
the way, is uh, go to our Geyser

1187
01:11:01,461 --> 01:11:04,431
page and you can see all the
details of what we're running here

1188
01:11:04,431 --> 01:11:05,991
at the Bitcoin Infinity Academy.

1189
01:11:06,111 --> 01:11:09,831
You can join our telegram group where
we have all of our, all of our news,

1190
01:11:09,831 --> 01:11:13,011
everything we're up to, and you can chat
with us about everything that's going on.

1191
01:11:13,521 --> 01:11:17,601
And we also have the Bitcoin, uh,
sorry, the, and we also have the Miral

1192
01:11:17,601 --> 01:11:22,791
Adamantium tier where you get the chance
to watch the, uh, the recordings of these

1193
01:11:22,791 --> 01:11:25,161
episodes live and, uh, get them early.

1194
01:11:25,161 --> 01:11:29,241
If we're doing them any degree of early
today, we happen to be releasing same day.

1195
01:11:29,241 --> 01:11:31,311
So that's, that's pretty
fun for me, the editor.

1196
01:11:31,881 --> 01:11:36,831
But, uh, uh, uh, now we're having
lots of fun and, uh, come join us.

1197
01:11:36,831 --> 01:11:38,181
Come join the conversation.

1198
01:11:38,751 --> 01:11:40,251
Anything more to say about that Knut.

1199
01:11:40,801 --> 01:11:42,091
Yeah, just one thing I thought of.

1200
01:11:42,181 --> 01:11:44,581
Uh, we are posting these on highlighter.

1201
01:11:44,731 --> 01:11:49,291
The every chapter is posted on highlighter
for free every week, so you can go to

1202
01:11:49,291 --> 01:11:55,081
highlighter, uh, and highlight stuff and,
uh, uh, share it on, uh, over noster and,

1203
01:11:55,141 --> 01:11:57,511
and use all the perks of highlighter.

1204
01:11:57,511 --> 01:12:00,061
So I hope that, that,
that becomes a thing too.

1205
01:12:00,061 --> 01:12:02,011
So highlight your favorite quote.

1206
01:12:02,806 --> 01:12:03,106
Yes.

1207
01:12:03,166 --> 01:12:07,606
And, and if you have comments or
questions after the fact here, we'll

1208
01:12:07,606 --> 01:12:09,826
address them in the, the next episodes.

1209
01:12:09,826 --> 01:12:13,216
Uh, definitely we, we will see them
if you're in the Miro Atium group and

1210
01:12:13,216 --> 01:12:16,216
you ping us there, but we'll, we'll
try to stay on top of any comments

1211
01:12:16,216 --> 01:12:19,426
on Noster or Twitter or, or wherever.

1212
01:12:19,606 --> 01:12:19,966
So.

1213
01:12:21,076 --> 01:12:25,396
I think, uh, I think the, the last thing
is just to, to mention that, uh, uh,

1214
01:12:25,396 --> 01:12:30,886
thank you again to Plan B Network for
really enabling this, this series enabling

1215
01:12:30,886 --> 01:12:35,836
us to release these, uh, the chapters
and the episodes for free for everyone.

1216
01:12:36,226 --> 01:12:38,866
And, uh, it's, it's great
to be partnering with them.

1217
01:12:38,866 --> 01:12:43,276
They're, they're really trailblazing in
terms of Bitcoin education and, and this

1218
01:12:43,276 --> 01:12:45,646
initiative is just a, a perfect fit.

1219
01:12:45,946 --> 01:12:50,116
We were on a spaces with, with Zuko
just, uh, just the other day here.

1220
01:12:50,116 --> 01:12:54,436
And, uh, uh, I think I, I, I just, I
just see nothing but, but positives

1221
01:12:54,436 --> 01:12:57,676
from, from this collaboration and,
and they're doing great things.

1222
01:12:57,676 --> 01:13:00,976
So go to Plan B Network, uh, and
you can check out some other great

1223
01:13:00,976 --> 01:13:04,426
Bitcoin education resources and,
and on their YouTube channel.

1224
01:13:04,426 --> 01:13:09,346
There's also gonna be condensed versions
of these episodes, so when we go on these

1225
01:13:09,676 --> 01:13:13,006
really long tangents, we'll, we'll maybe
cut those out a little bit so it's a

1226
01:13:13,006 --> 01:13:17,206
little more direct and accessible for, for
people who just want the, the information.

1227
01:13:17,206 --> 01:13:19,186
So really excited about this partnership.

1228
01:13:19,630 --> 01:13:22,600
totally echo, echo what Luke said
about plan B. It's a, it's a great,

1229
01:13:23,290 --> 01:13:27,790
uh, uh, a great initiative and there
will be plenty more to come there,

1230
01:13:27,820 --> 01:13:29,665
uh, uh, going into the future.

1231
01:13:29,665 --> 01:13:31,360
Looking forward to all of it.

1232
01:13:31,555 --> 01:13:32,335
Absolutely.

1233
01:13:32,395 --> 01:13:36,265
And, and finally, we, we also,
uh, are, are happy to be, uh,

1234
01:13:36,265 --> 01:13:37,735
also supported by Bit Box.

1235
01:13:37,735 --> 01:13:39,025
Big, big shout out to them.

1236
01:13:39,025 --> 01:13:42,625
And, and thank you for, for continuing
to support these initiatives here.

1237
01:13:42,745 --> 01:13:45,085
They're, they're also a
sponsor of our, our main show.

1238
01:13:45,085 --> 01:13:46,915
They've, they've really
been a great partner.

1239
01:13:47,065 --> 01:13:48,355
They're our favorite hardware wallet.

1240
01:13:48,355 --> 01:13:51,955
It's easy to use and they're
right on top of the, the latest

1241
01:13:51,955 --> 01:13:53,605
in, in bitcoin security here.

1242
01:13:53,605 --> 01:13:59,485
So go to Bit box.swiss/infiniti, check out
the Bit Box zero two Bitcoin only edition.

1243
01:13:59,515 --> 01:14:03,745
And yeah, if you need a new hardware
wallet for yourself or, or you know,

1244
01:14:03,745 --> 01:14:08,755
a, a new Coiner who, who needs a
hardware wallet, go to Bit Box and,

1245
01:14:08,755 --> 01:14:09,895
uh, they'll have what you need.

1246
01:14:10,315 --> 01:14:12,535
So, uh, thanks again to Bit Box.

1247
01:14:13,297 --> 01:14:15,787
Alright, Knut, this has
been an awesome episode.

1248
01:14:15,792 --> 01:14:17,467
Uh, I really enjoyed this one.

1249
01:14:17,527 --> 01:14:18,817
Financial atheism.

1250
01:14:19,237 --> 01:14:23,617
Looking forward to the release and we'll
be tackling another episode in a week.

1251
01:14:23,992 --> 01:14:24,282
This

1252
01:14:24,817 --> 01:14:28,387
Yes, next week's episode is the
About the Gullible Collective.

1253
01:14:28,537 --> 01:14:29,407
See you all then.

1254
01:14:29,652 --> 01:14:30,102
Take care.

1255
01:14:30,937 --> 01:14:32,857
has been the Bitcoin Infinity Academy.

1256
01:14:33,157 --> 01:14:34,027
Thank you for listening.