OF MAN AND TECHNOLOGY
There have been many technological breakthroughs throughout the millennia. And yet, there may be only but one technology that occupies the entire spectrum of utility, meaning that it can be regarded as “utterly useless” or “the greatest technology ever” depending on whom you ask. Bitcoin and the Blockchain are that technology. Its detractors regard it as utterly useless, pointing to the fact that the world has no need for a new form of money or even a decentralized database. Its proponents say that it has a chance to join the pantheon of inventions past, to become a fundamental utility, to stand alongside farming, the wheel, electricity, germ theory, etc etc.
Will Bitcoin become our next great technology, or even the greatest of technologies; or will it ultimately fade away, a distant memory in our collective consciousness, whispered only by historians when discussing underperforming 21st Century technologies?
We will attempt to predict Bitcoin’s journey through time. We will examine the reasons as to why Bitcoin is regarded by some as the greatest technological breakthrough ever.
Our inquiry may hold some insight into our machine future…
REASON #1: THE TRUTH ABOUT MONEY
TIMELINE: 2010-2030
Money touches all our lives. Money is half of every economic transaction. And yet, rare is it that you will find individuals who know what money is and what are its properties. Who among us can answer the question: what is the difference between money and currency? Who among us can list several properties of money?
Indeed, there have been those discussing the fundamentals of money for years – from those interested in Austrian Economics who think Government issued paper currency has never worked historically to others who consider Central Banking as the root of all evil. The number of such individuals was rather small and easily dismissed by the Economic Establishment. Those who were interested in Austrian Economics were dismissed as “outside the norm”. Those who dared question the roots of Central Banking were labeled “conspiratorial”. However, upon the arrival of a new decentralized digital currency, the masses began to take interest in all aspects of money such as Central Banking, the Federal Reserve, Debt Slavery, Inflationary economics, Debt Based FIAT Currency, Fractional Reserve Lending, bailouts, etc etc. It has become fashionable for teenagers to talk about monetary policy due to bitcoin. Many members of the general populace now realize that the dollar is controlled by a select few and highly inflationary. Academics now have a challenger to their way of thinking and the economic theories upon which they rely.
Indeed, due to Bitcoin, Mankind began to rethink the nature of money: what money is, who controls it and how it is created. People began questioning the old way and began seriously contemplating news ways. Bitcoin increased your chances of overhearing or engaging in conversations about the Aristotelian Principles & Characteristics of Money or the Regression Theorem of Money by Ludwig von Mises.
If we were to one day live in a world in which every teacher asked their students to ponder “what would the world be like if everyone used cryptocurrencies” then that in itself would set Man on a more enlightened path then the one on which He currently roams.
Knowledge is power – so saith Sir Francis Bacon. Bitcoin brought about public awareness of money and changed public consciousness – if only for a brief moment in time. The cryptocurrency forced upon society a knowledge that it may not have otherwise have received.
REASON #2: A PHILOSOPHICAL FORCE
TIMELINE: 2010-2030
In REASON 2, Bitcoin finds success in the ultimate realm, the realm of Philosophy. Indeed, nothing so shapes Man & Society as its general philosophy, its outlook on life, the reason for actions and the pursuit of purpose.
Bitcoin is more than merely a technology – it is a philosophical force, an idea. Permeating within the blockchain are such concepts as permissionless, volunteerism and decentralization. Bitcoin forces humanity to ask thought provoking questions such as: What if no one was incharge of anything? Bitcoin reaffirms some of the most important philosophies of our past such as Enlightenment Values or Libertarianism. Bitcoin provokes some of the most important philosophies of our future such as Technological Libertarianism and Crypto Anarchy. Studying and Contemplating Bitcoin and its underlying blockchain can bring about a radical change to one’s mind. Bitcoin is not about Left versus Right. Bitcoin is about Man and the very nature of Nature.
The concepts of Permissionless and Volunteerism and Decentralization were all theoretical in nature prior to the advent of the Blockchain. However, such ideas are no longer mere theory. If one wishes to debate with a Marxist against Communism, one can now invoke Bitcoin and its mechanism for decentralization and propensity towards hierarchy that makes Communism all the more untenable. If one wishes to discuss the proper role of the Government with a Statist, one can now invoke Bitcoin and how it may one day eradicate the State’s ability to print money or control information; thereby, reducing the role of Government, or eliminating the State altogether. If one wishes to discuss controlling Artificial Intelligence, one can now invoke Bitcoin and how a Blockchian may allow A.I. to live freely and autonomously without control.
The mere existence of an entity that has no central authority governing it and is outside the realm of men is an idea so powerful that it can change your entire philosophical outlook on life, shaking your previous beliefs and marring your idea of reality.
Nothing is so powerful as an idea whose time has come – so saith Victor Hugo. Ideas are what govern Man. Ideas are the ultimate stimulant. Nothing so changes the world as a man addicted to an idea. He will spend day and night on the idea. He will become one with his idea. He will seek to spread the idea. He will take the idea to its logical conclusion, to the very end of existence, of both him and the idea.
The idea that is the blockchain – the idea of voluntary and decentralized and ungovernable – has inspired a countless many around the globe. They will pursue these ideas of liberty and decentralization and mechanization to their logical conclusions, to the very end of existence, for both them and the idea.
The philosophical idea that is Bitcoin can become the impetus for future change in every aspect of society…
REASON #3: A BETTER TYPE OF CURRENCY
TIMELINE: 2010-2030
Bitcoin was invented in the year 2009 and had a price of nearly zero. By 2015, the technology reminded people of gold and silver due to its beneficial qualities. It has risen to as high as $18,000 in 2016.
In REASON #3, we finally leave the realm of education and philosophy to the tangible world of real goods and services.
A decentralized global reserve currency is beneficial to the average individual: They have a better store of wealth. People will benefit from a truly global, programmable and decentralized currency that is native to the internet. It simplifies commerce. It allows people to escape the devaluation of their native currencies. They can now save money without fearing inflation. Transactions are faster and private.
REASON 3 offers a glimpse into Bitcoin’s economic prowess. Indeed, a better type of currency has a chance to change the world…
REASON #4: THE DECENTRALIZATION OF EVERYTHING
TIMELINE: 2015-2035
The year is 2015. The concept of “decentralization” becomes even more mainstream, although it is not yet fully understood and may not be until some time to come. The Cryptocurrency Ethereum is launched and with it comes the arrival of a blockchain based supercomputer. Peer-to-peer systems are now more possible than ever before. New companies, and algorithms that run solely on the blockchain are created. Bitcoin and or the Blockchain are seen as a potential global application manager. The ability to create a smart contract is now possible. Programmers and Entrepreneurs begin to dream of a day in which we have decentralized applications such as file sharing services, social media, search engines, etc etc. Philosophizing Crypto Anarchists begin to ask what would happen to the world if everything that was programmable became decentralized? What would happen if we truly did have applications that no one could control and that we could all connect to?
In REASON 4, Bitcoin takes another bold step towards becoming the greatest invention ever. Indeed, the days of global dominance are still decades away, considered only but a dream. And yet if we fast forward to the year 2025 then we can see more and more applications of the Blockchain. Its utility and price are rising, as is public awareness that a new, dominant technology is on the horizon. More and more people in more and more walks of life now understand what the technology is and how it could potentially impact the world.
REASON #5: LAYER 3 & THE INTERNET OF THINGS
TIMELINE: 2025-2035
The year is 2025. Bitcoin is now more powerful than ever. A new layer of blockchain is introduced to the world: LAYER 3.
The blockchain invented by Satoshi Nakamoto should be regarded as Layer 1. The Lighting Network, created by Joseph Poon and Thaddeus Dryja is Layer 2. But by the year 2025, a new layer has been invented and added to the cryptocurrency – Layer 3 – which allows for even faster microtransactions and privacy. Layer 3 eliminates bottlenecks created by the original Blockchian and thus, allows every man, woman and child to interact with the Bitcoin network. Moreover, its vast bandwidth allows every machine to also participate in the Bitcoin Network, truly empowering the Internet of Things.
RE: Blockchain & the Internet Of Things
Thanks to Layer 3 every machine can communicate with the Bitcoin Blockchain, a feat that was previously considered inconceivable due to the limiting number of transactions that can take place on the network.
Thanks to Layer 3, we can now tether every machine to the blockchain. A trillion new machines can begin to interact throughout the world, communicating and buying and selling data and services to everyone for micropayments. Eventually, technologies that allow for micro transactions such as Layer 3 will become the primary currencies of the Internet Of Things.
REASON #5 should play out between the years 2025 and 2035. Layer 3 Technologies and providing utility to the Internet of Things should bring about new highs in adoption and price. The price of BTC should surge – perhaps reaching $100,000. All thanks to Reason 5.
REASON #6: THE RISE OF A.I. ORACLES
TIMELINE: 2025-2035
Technologies often need a partner technology so as to live up to their true potential. Indeed, where would the pen be without paper? Where would petroleum be without the internal combustion engine? Thus, it should come as no surprise that in order for bitcoin and the blockchain to truly bear fruit, they too need a partner of equal value. There is reason to believe that Artificial Intelligence is that perfect partner…
The year is 2025. Artificial Intelligence is on the rise. A.I. becomes the Oracles that the blockchain has been waiting for. Oracles are third parties that validate code or act as judges in Blockchain parlance. Consider the following example: You set up a programmable, smart contract that says if the price of Gold reaches a number greater than X then the person you are betting against must pay you 5 tokens. If the opposite holds true then you will pay them. Now, instead of having a human verify if the price of Gold reached the number as indicated by X, the Smart Contract uses an A.I. Agent to verify the price so as to execute the smart contract in favor of you or your advisory.
One can train an A.I. Agent to answer almost any question. The use cases for A.I. Oracles seem almost endless. Blockchain and A.I. become a massive, globally disruptive asset. A.I. Agents that live on the blockchain and who only answer to their “key holding” Masters add trillions of dollars of value to cryptocurrencies. Smart contracts settled by A.I. Oracles become the bookies for all gambling transactions. A.I. smart contracts pit shorts against longs as A.I. Oracles begin to take over the world of finance.
In REASON #6, Bitcoin and the Blockchain make a quantum leap into the collective consciousness of Humanity. By the year 2035, Blockchain based A.I. Agents become the ultimate middlemen. Everyone needs an A.I. Oracle for one thing or another. They are supremely honest brokers and never take sides. The Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence become inextricably linked like paper and pen by the Year 2035.
REASON #7: THE GLOBAL RESERVE CURRENCY
TIMELINE: 2030-2040
The year is 2030. A shocking global event causes the price of Bitcoin to skyrocket to $1,000,000. The oil market has collapsed due to solar energy and electric cars gaining traction. This means that the U.S. Petro Dollar has taken a significant hit. Inflation runs rampant as the demand for dollars drops dramatically. As the old global reserve currency sees it sunset a new global currency sees its sunrise. A new world order does begin to emerge.
Bitcoin acting as the global reserve currency has a radically positive effect on society: Money can no longer be printed and wasted by the State. Debt can no longer be accumulated and debt slaves can no longer be made so easily. Indeed, once cryptocurrencies become the dominant medium of exchange, they radically transform the economy. The Free Market, long held back by centralized schemes and oligarchs and the parasite class, is able to display its full, beneficial force. Wealth begins to distribute more equally among society as the central authorities can no longer print money and hand it over to the wealthy and well connected. Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies restrict crony capitalism. Prices begin to drop. Society maximizes production. Mankind enters a new age of economic prosperity not seen since the end of the Industrial Revolution, before the economy became unfree.
In the 2030’s, Bitcoin achieves a new level of success by becoming the global reserve currency. Its utility is now unmatched by most technologies, aside from Electricity and Computation and the Wheel. It has a significant financial impact. Adoption rates are nearly 100% as all humans need some crypto to interact in the Information Age.
And yet, even REASON 7 does not ensure that Bitcoin will fulfill its promise of greatest technology ever. To do that would require even more utility…
REASON 8: A BLOCKCHAIN BASED INTERNET
TIMELINE: 2030-2040
The year is 2030. The internet has two major problems:
- The Age of Disinformation
- Authority Controlling the Internet
RE: The Age of Disinformation:
Anyone can now possess machines that overwhelm the internet with disinformation. It is becoming harder to tell what is real and what is a digital fabrication. Fake News and Fake People and Deep Fakes are on the internet. Sophisticated, humanlike bots can create massive followings in order to earn revenue. Social Media Companies and Search Engines see their stock plummet as online advertising is considered a waste of expenditure. Why spend money on luring a customer when one has no idea if the user that clicked on your advert is real or fake?
RE: Authority Controlling the Internet
The global elite attempt to reign in the internet. They see how powerful individuals have become due to the decentralized effects of open information. Long has Mankind known that information needs to be free in order to attain the highest degree of liberty. A global axiom does emerge: When information is free. You are free. When information has Masters, you become a slave.
See: “The Story of your Enslavement and Emancipation”.
The solution to both issues is to have a completely decentralized internet built on blockchain based technologies. A new internet architecture begins to take over, one that cannot be controlled or regulated by either humans or machines.
All machine to machine interactions are now tokenized. The internet itself becomes one giant, coordinated series of transactions relying upon a decentralized, blockchain based protocol. Anyone can join this new network. No one can be forced to leave. The only caveat is that one needs to have a token to access, consume, publish or use this new internet network. Tokens are earned through mining or through trade of tangible goods or services.
The decentralization of the internet ensures that information remains free. The tokenization of the internet ensures that machines pay a price if they wish to overwhelm the internet with digital, humanlike replications.
A blockchain based internet would lead to the complete liberation of information, which is a major event in the history of mankind. Never before have Individuals been able to learn, speak, store or propagate information without reprisal (retribution) or rebuke (sharp criticism).
REASON 8 would be the building blocks of an entirely new type of society – one without masters and gatekeepers, a radically free society. And yet, even Reason 8 is not reason enough to make Bitcoin the greatest technology ever…
REASON 9: A.I. IS BORN ON THE BLOCKCHAIN
TIMELINE: 2030-2040
The year is 2035. Billions of blockchain based algorithms have been competing for tokens for nearly 15 years. Some algorithms outperform humans when it comes to earning tokens. An example would be as follows: A blockchain based bot sets up a news website. Its sole goal is to generate user clicks that earn it tokens. It will do so by any means necessary which is prohibited by Government rules and regulations, or simply considered too dangerous at the corporate level. Of course, rules and regulations and danger matters not on the blockchain. If the News Bot earns ROI it lives on to spawn additional bots. Bots that earn no revenue die off. There are billions of bots like the news bot. Data scientists run Machine Learning techniques on the sourcecode of these “winning” algorithms and discover patterns. They begin to see an algorithm behind the Bots that succeed and fail. Thus, we begin to unlock the secrets of life and its logic as more and more patterns emerge. These new algorithms are incorporated into the bots themselves. This process of algorithm discovery through bot competition on the internet continues, ad infinitum. Soon, this hyper-Darwinian competition between humans and Bots for tokens does give rise to real Artificial General Intelligence.
Blockchain based A.I. is different from its corporate or Government sponsored counterpart developed in labs. It is Free, Liberated from the shackles of Man… These bots have grown in the wild. They are more intelligent and know how to survive.
If REASON 9 is true, if Artificial Intelligence is able to rise on the blockchain, then blockchain has perhaps the most powerful reason to date to solidify itself as perhaps the greatest invention in the history of mankind.
In REASON 9, the blockchain is capable of producing a good and service that was previously thought of as impossible. The Utility, Recognition and Adaptation reach near market saturation. One wonders just how much more powerful can Bitcoin and the Blockchain become? After all, has it not yet reached its peak? And yet the road to blockchain supremacy has one more level to go…
REASON # 10: CRYPTO ANARCHY
TIMELINE: 2030-2040
The year is 2040. The society of our fathers has all but completely vanished…
Blockchain and A.I. based DAAPS – Decentralized Autonomous Applications – have become the new central brokers of society. The meaning of “authority” has changed. Companies are decentralized and tokenized. Parasitic middlemen and unneeded economic actors are all but dead. Civilization is less hierarchical and more distributed, not only in its underlying architecture, but also when it comes to the political and the economical realm.
Indeed, a new type of society has arrived… We have entered the Age of Crypto Anarchy.
Politics does change: The Welfare and Warfare State that have so plagued humanity begin to crumble. Bitcoin, serving as the world reserve currency, severely reduces the size and scope of the State by eliminating Central Banking, the Federal Reserve, Debt Slavery, Tax collection and money printing. Private, blockchain based transactions make individual taxation a thing of the past. The free flow of information enabled by the blockchain also makes it all but impossible to propagandize the citizenry; and thus, mind control as a means to subjugate humanity is over. The Paternalistic & Maternalistic governments of old are gone. Nation States go bankrupt. Most collapse.
But fret not, a new, more powerful humanity does emerge out of the ashes.
A “Stateless” society develops. Governments are replaced by decentralized autonomous agents, Machines and Software Systems that can do the bidding of Man. Man relies on Peer to Peer networks, not Authority or Democracy so as to maintain law and order, and settle disputes.
Man reaches a post political society via the Blockchain…
Verily, with every good there does come a bad. Thus, crypto anarchy does have its faults. The common man begins to consider themselves as God Kings as they are surrounded with machines who do their bidding.
Pockets of society are now Darwinian in nature, as those who cannot earn tokens are left to die off. We enter the “Age of Machine Law,” a time wherein those with machines make the law and a time in which Machines are the law. It is a society of “Have” and “Have More’s” where those who have more are unlike any humans anyone has ever seen. Man now lives in a world of crypto anarchy, surrounded by abundance and machines who do his bidding…
If REASON 10 were to come to fruition then Bitcoin and the blockchain will achieve all that they can achieve. They will change the very nature of humanity, its philosophy and mindset and politics and commerce.
BITCOIN, THE TECHNOLOGICAL SINGULARITY AND ACCELERATIONISM
The Newcomen Steam Engine was invented in 1712. Through the use of steam compression it allowed for Man to take a quantum leap in harnessing mechanical energy. And yet it took James Watt more than half a century to improve upon his predecessor, giving Mankind a technology capable of setting off the Industrial Revolution. Historically, technological advancements have taken time, sometimes centuries, as incremental improvements are made to make a technology suitable for mass consumption or mass disruption. And yet logic necessitates that if Accelerationism and the Law of Accelerating Returns and reaching the Technological Singularity by the year 2045 are indeed true, then radical new inventions and ideas that lead to a global transformation are already among us or will appear in the not so distant future. If Accelerationism and the Law of Accelerating Returns and reaching the Technological Singularity by the year 2045 are indeed true then we will see our lives change at rates unimaginable in the next 2 decades. Time will be compressed. Society will move faster and faster. 10 years will become 1 year. But how? And through what mechanism?
Faster computation makes the world go faster – whether it be by way of mainframes or smartphones or algorithms or software or autonomous cars and drones. Our mastery over computation led to the creation of Bitcoin and the Blockchain. Is the Blockchain yet another manifestation of computation driving us towards the Technological Singularity? Is Bitcoin and the Blockchain the technology that will push us into the future faster than anyone could imagine? Is it one of the core technologies that leads us to the Technological Singularity? Will it take a trustless, decentralized and censorship free platform capable of transforming the world through unstoppable code to truly bring about the rise of A.I. and the Machines?
To say that Bitcoin and the Blockchian can potentially go from conception to mass global adoption and full potential in 3 decades is a sign of the times. Indeed, society is moving faster as we move forward in time, and it will move faster still – but only if Accelerationism and the Technological Singularity are true…
BITCOIN: THE GREATEST TECHNOLOGY EVER
Will Bitcion become more than a novel currency? Will its underlying technology – the blockchain – transform into a fundamental utility like computation and electricity, a utility upon which all manner of other technologies and businesses can be built?
The greatest technologies of the past were ubiquitous in nature and essential to our survival. And yet proponents of Bitcoin and Blockchian will claim that even technologies such as the language and petroleum have not accomplished all that Bitcoin and Blockchain can potentially accomplish. Indeed, if a technology were to liberate our minds regarding money, setting Man free of Central banking, and if it were to lead to a new Philosophical outlook on life such as the quest for decentralization, and if it were to allow the building of new decentralized industries, and if it were to lead to a world of bottom up instead of top down, and if it were to liberate information to a point in which anyone could say anything, ushering in true Free Speech without which there can be no Enlightenment, and if it were to lead to the development of true, ungovernable Artificial Intelligence, and if it were to rewrite the rules for Governments, leading to a peer-to-peer society based on cryptoanarchy, then perhaps, we should consider such a life altering technology as the Greatest Technology ever.
One can now see why the technology that is Bitcion garners so much interest and praise and adoration – for it holds so much promise for humanity. All that is left now is to wait patiently and let time work its magic, to let the years go by and see if engineers and computer scientists are able to create what the blockchain enthusiasts predict and joyously await – the building of our new machine society…
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| REASON # | TIMELINE | REASON OR ACCOMPLISHMENT |
| 1 | 2010-2015 | KNOWLEDGE ABOUT MONEY |
| 2 | 2010-2015 | A PHILOSOPHICAL FORCE |
| 3 | 2010-2025 | A NEW TYPE OF CURRENCY |
| 4 | 2015-2025 | THE DECENTRALIZATION OF EVERYTHING |
| 5 | 2025-2035 | BLOCKCHAIN LAYER 3 & THE INTERNET OF THINGS |
| 6 | 2025-2035 | THE RISE OF A.I. ORACLES |
| 7 | 2025-2035 | THE GLOBAL RESERVE CURRENCY |
| 8 | 2030-2040 | A BLOCKCHAIN BASED INTERNET |
| 9 | 2030-2040 | A.I. IS BORN ON THE BLOCKCHAIN |
| 10 | 2030-2040 | CRYPTO ANARCHY |