Over the years, I have had countless Satoshi impersonators try to con me into something or other. Almost always, they are immediately recognizable just because they act like they imagine a demigod would act. The Satoshi everyone has in their heads is a symbol, a character in a story where a superhuman mysteriously appears, does magic, and then mysteriously disappears. This symbol is not reflective of any real person who has ever existed, so impersonators' attempts are usually laughably bad.
Before and after Satoshi uploaded code or posted or sent PMs, he ate, drank, slept, worried, paid bills, etc. I'm sure at some point he got sick and puked his guts out. I'm sure he had fears and regrets. He was the same sort of flesh as you and I. But the Satoshi people know is not this real person, and is instead a "historical figure", which is to say that a small handful of things that the real person did and said have been diluted into the cultural milieu to produce an imaginary character whose existence aligns with what we want or expect of such a character in the context of the broader narrative. If someone condensed a few of your most notable quotes and accomplishments into a few paragraphs in a history book, selected and worded to align with the overall themes of that book, how much of "you" would that represent?
I didn't know Satoshi on any sort of personal level, so I'm not particularly saying that people "have him all wrong": I'm just generally very dismissive of the idea that anyone is superhuman. See my Satoshi's Lesson article, which has the same theme. It's important to recognize that there is no wall separating people like you and "notable" people. If you believe that there is, then you create that wall, and thereby imprison yourself.
I liked dealing with Satoshi when I did (which wasn't all that often), and I respected him a great deal. He had an incredible amount of "arrogance" in the sense that he saw seemingly-impossible challenges and believed (correctly) that he could conquer them, but yet he had zero arrogance in the commonly-understood sense. He was willing to give help to and accept help from people who knew and accomplished far less than him on the whole. He treated even me with respect, even though I was a 19-year-old excessively-individualistic idiot in 2010. I tend to remember Satoshi as a person who figured out what needed to be done, used all of his aptitude to get it done, and rarely got distracted by human failings like pride or fear. (Of course, this perception may well be more of a symbol in my head than an accurate image of a real person.)
Before and after Satoshi uploaded code or posted or sent PMs, he ate, drank, slept, worried, paid bills, etc. I'm sure at some point he got sick and puked his guts out. I'm sure he had fears and regrets. He was the same sort of flesh as you and I. But the Satoshi people know is not this real person, and is instead a "historical figure", which is to say that a small handful of things that the real person did and said have been diluted into the cultural milieu to produce an imaginary character whose existence aligns with what we want or expect of such a character in the context of the broader narrative. If someone condensed a few of your most notable quotes and accomplishments into a few paragraphs in a history book, selected and worded to align with the overall themes of that book, how much of "you" would that represent?
I didn't know Satoshi on any sort of personal level, so I'm not particularly saying that people "have him all wrong": I'm just generally very dismissive of the idea that anyone is superhuman. See my Satoshi's Lesson article, which has the same theme. It's important to recognize that there is no wall separating people like you and "notable" people. If you believe that there is, then you create that wall, and thereby imprison yourself.
I liked dealing with Satoshi when I did (which wasn't all that often), and I respected him a great deal. He had an incredible amount of "arrogance" in the sense that he saw seemingly-impossible challenges and believed (correctly) that he could conquer them, but yet he had zero arrogance in the commonly-understood sense. He was willing to give help to and accept help from people who knew and accomplished far less than him on the whole. He treated even me with respect, even though I was a 19-year-old excessively-individualistic idiot in 2010. I tend to remember Satoshi as a person who figured out what needed to be done, used all of his aptitude to get it done, and rarely got distracted by human failings like pride or fear. (Of course, this perception may well be more of a symbol in my head than an accurate image of a real person.)
I always wanted to hear more about Satoshi but directly from those who have dealt with Satoshi directly and you are one of those. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
"He was the same sort of flesh as you and I" hahaha so that's another proof he was a real person not a team not a group but actually human being made out of flesh, a good flesh because he's been sitting on this big thrown of +1 million BTC (worth ~$73 billion) and he did not try to visit space and he did not try to build a colony on MARS.
Let it be anonymous, let it be a superhero, let it be a perception a symbol for the future.
No, not you Mr. Craig Wright not you .
