Safety, while comforting, can be a deceptive master. The 1960s mouse paradise experiment illustrates this perfectly. Researchers created an ideal world for mice, providing them with all the essentials: abundant food, shelter, and companionship. At first, it seemed like a utopian success as the colony flourished. However, with time, a darker side emerged. Female mice turned unusually aggressive, while many males lost the drive to court females altogether. The result? The colony perished in just about 700 days. This serves as a stark reminder: adversity, in the right doses, is essential for growth and balance. In other words, too much safety and not enough challenge will cause collapse. As a civilization, we've overcorrected for safety with not enough challenge. Hence, we have the lowering birthrates we have now.

Free issue for the first Monday of the month! Cryonics, modern dating, people vs things, Floresta, ChatBTC, SmartSats, Tether treasury, MSTR stock sale and much, much more! #Bitcoin Tech Talk #356

Bitcoin Tech Talk #356

Interesting Stuff

People that are good at school are generally good at making justifications for anything and everything. That's great for anyone that wants yes-men/slaves, not for truly creative endeavors. School teaches you to pursue approval, not truth. And that's toxic to the soul.

The problem with Democracy isn't democracy per se. It's democracy combined with fiat money. Whenever systems get large a larger portion becomes rent seeking. And when there are a lot of rent seekers, systemic reform becomes extremely hard. Every form of government has weaknesses. But it's fiat money that amplifies those weaknesses into critical flaws.

Laws don't change people's behavior. Incentives do.

Here's the dirty truth about Coinbase: They're not very good at engineering. This is a company that has had scaling problems from the beginning where they went down anytime there was a surge. This is also an org that took a year to migrate to react.js and made it sound like a major feat. The fact that they find lightning challenging is not a surprise. Their competence is not in engineering, it's in getting money transmission licenses. Their headcount is still bloated, their cash cows are going to be regulated away and they're not good enough technically to pivot to Bitcoin only. They're doomed.

People vs. Things ------------------- Over the past half-century, our focus has drastically shifted. Rather than channeling our energy into manipulating objects for human advancement, we've shifted towards manipulating individuals, and this is not necessarily for the better. The manipulation of things has always been a fundamental part of human progress. Think about it. Taming fire, inventing the wheel, harnessing electricity – these are all instances of us manipulating the physical world to our advantage. This type of manipulation offers countless benefits. We can produce way more with our labor, travel more efficiently, and live easier and more enjoyable lives. However, the manipulation of people – that's an entirely different story. Instead of leading to advancements, it paves the way for deceit and exploitation. It often culminates in fraud or theft, eroding trust and creating a more divided and cynical society. The fiat money system is the cause. Infinite money printing means you can manipulate people continuously. Instead of manipulating things to add value and spurring economic growth, we've started to exploit people with freshly printed money. This situation has led us to naval-gazing, deviating us from the noble quest of advancing human civilization through the manipulation of things. Bitcoin is what will change this mentality. When money is scarce, so will its vectors of manipulation.

Train yourself in managing your desires, rather than merely amassing knowledge. The old adage, "knowledge is power," is one that I challenge. While knowledge can certainly offer an advantage, the real source of power lies in controlling desires. The one who masters the desires of others effectively wields power over them. Acquiring knowledge can indeed fuel your aspirations, but it's crucial to keep a firm rein on these desires. Devotees of Bitcoin instinctively understand this, for if you pursue anything other than Bitcoin - whether it's quick riches, fame, or material possessions - you risk losing sight of your true aim. Numerous Bitcoin veterans have faltered because their ambitions lay elsewhere. What they should have yearned for was securing their future. This involves careful planning, prudent saving, and establishing a meaningful legacy. Thus, it's not about collecting a reservoir of knowledge or chasing immediate gratification. Instead, power lies in fostering the right desires and utilizing knowledge as a tool to manage them efficiently. By doing so, we not only ensure our individual success, but we also help create a better place for everyone.

For free subscribers: Political Atheism, Insights from Traders, Little Bitcoin Book in Korean and more! For paid subscribers: Coin Control, Bulletproofs++, CoinJoin channel opens, Duck Curve control and more! Bitcoin Tech Talk #355

Bitcoin Tech Talk #355

Interesting Stuff