It's Monday, and I once again encounter one of those rare combinations of having too much caffeine and too little sleep the night before, and an unexpected freedom to meander and type during the morning. This all combines into me offering my thoughts on the last few pages of decentralized vs. centralized discussion, and the spirit and "fun" of Monero in an unusually lucid manner. Cherish it, for these moments of lurid clarity are precious.
Any new nerd toy is fun because it's pushing the boundaries of what can be done. There was a time when the internet did that, as did DOS and e-mail. I remember back in high school (the 90's) when the internet was 'fun'. We spliced phone lines and stole AOL passwords just to access the massive "wider world". We figured out ways to socially engineer our way into all the cheerleaders e-mail passwords (which was morally wrong in retrospect, sorry, (as was fabricating drama between them for our own amusement, nested-double-sorry)). We discovered ways to disable the school "obscenity" filter and experiment with network security.
It was all 'fun' seeing the limits of what could be done. As well, most of the "hackers" I remember from the 90's weren't criminals: they were just bright minds who were curious what was possible. Unfortunately, some of them tested the limits of what was possible a little *too* far and got in legal trouble.
Cryptocurrency is like that now: the new nerd frontier. This is the limit of what's possible with modern technology, a will, and a way. The fun is not bound to cryptocurrency itself - it lies in exploring the unknown. On a larger level I believe that being very intelligent leads to a higher level of curiosity and pure-consciousness, and the primary goal of a pure human consciousness is to explore and innovate. The nerds of the 1990's would have been fascinated with analytical engines and whether a heavier-than-air machine could ever fly had they been born a hundred years prior. As it was, they invested their time in cryptography and computers. It's the *conquest* that's the fun part, not necessarily the individual technology.
Should we succeed and Monero grow even to a modest level (say Bitcoin's current size) then some centralization and grey-suitedness is inevitable. That's what success feels like -
leading the rest by the nose. I have some rude news for some of you: if the world ever moves to this idealized crypto-anarchy some are fascinated with, it won't be in the next few decades. The rules for such a system would need to be so air tight that it's simply not possible they will exist anytime soon. As well, never forget that most people are not like you! Most people don't care about innovation and pushing the bounds of what's possible; they are very happy with the accepted and normal. They wish to build up status and comfort in the guidelines of a system who's rules are socially accepted and known. You won't change them.
As well, regardless of how you feel about current geo-politics, access to deadly technologies will only increase as our tech-tree grows - it won't decrease. The average citizen now can gain access to enough weaponry to take out quite a few of his fellow citizens with him if he decides to self-destruct. We can't allow that number to increase, and in any crypto-anarchy situation the best I've heard is that: "people competing for access will prevent the worst of us from accessing the deadliest technologies". I don't buy it. I believe there will always need to be some sort of government, because humans have yet to replicate the *best* machine that nature has forged over the eons: the human body. And the human body is not fully decentralized: it is partially decentralized. The human body also has an immune system, which guards against cancers and dangerous outside invaders. Sometimes too much centralization can do damage (for example when a human consciousness decides to self-harm) and sometimes the immune system can be too over-zealous and damage the greater whole. But that doesn't mean that these systems aren't necessary. I firmly believe just as we can see the phi constant repeated throughout nature (because that is the ideal mathematical constant for several rules of physics) we will also in time
discover that the human body and other mammals represents other, possibly yet-undiscovered mathematical constants related to game theory and optimization of systems. I believe these form other ideal ratios that will shed insight into concepts so difficult that the human mind can barely process them (being comprised of these same principals). Ask yourself: if this were not true, why have we so rapidly become masters of our domain, as a series of networked neurons slowly building an even larger network: imho, it's because we approximate these special recursive constants better than any other organism.
This is why I believe full decentralization will never be achieved, nor is it desired. But that does not mean that we should not insist on partial decentralization, because just as blood flows and the heart beats without the conscious and sentient mind being able to control it (lest it do irreparable harm), so too should money and information flow through our super-organism without the "sentient part" being able to control it, the awful ramifications of which we have already seen.
The government is already here, like it or not. They had their cryptography division doing hardcore research into this stuff back in 1996 (
http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/classes/6.805/articles/money/nsamint/nsamint.htm). You don't think they were all-the-fuck-over this since the dawn of the original bitcoin? Don't be daft;
of course they were. And not just the US Government; I'm certain
every major government has interest in it (as they should if they don't want to be stuck in a North Korean style dark age in the coming decades). Like the internet, cryptocurrency was always going to be invented. You can't fight an idea whose time has come. The only alternative is to get there first and try to understand and shape it the best you are able.
Despite my patriotic name, I don't represent them; don't get the wrong idea you conspiracy nuts. I have a small time government job, but I'm not part of any three-letter agencies at the moment. It's likely my well documented inability to do basic arithmetic and historic penchant for sexy Russian women would prevent me from obtaining any necessary clearances anyway.
But don't be daft and think that cryptocurrency (like the internet) is going to be some permanently underground anarchist movement that is going to propel us all into some Keanu Reeves futuristic paradise. It will do what all technologies do: let us be humans more effectively. Some will get rich off understanding and adopting it. Some will build new inventions and ecosystems on top of it. The average soccer mom or beach brah will use it because everyone else does and they can buy cool, shiny stuff with it to entertain them or make them feel important. Governments will have a sustained interest in monitoring and controlling it. And those nerds who crave the "final frontier" will eventually have to cede control of cryptocurrency to the major institutions of humanity (who the nerds will certainly see as beneath them) and move on the next great frontier of the universe - whatever that may be.
But that doesn't mean it all isn't real and valid.
What we are doing here and now is the equivalent to the creation of the internet, democracy, or language itself. It is literally the most important thing going on in the world right now. You (
yes you) are a participant in one of the greatest moments of humanity! Think how important this is: we are basically inventing the dawn of an entirely new financial age! This is the creation of the lifeblood upon which all future trade and commerce for our entire species will run, and for some reason (whether through happenstance, skill, or the guiding hand of destiny) find yourself here on that final frontier.
You wanted a life of significance? Well you're living it.
This is what it's like to be the shepherd to an entire species. And just as the sheep don't understand why they move they way they do, and they never properly thank the hand that herds them, it is unlikely anyone will ever thank you properly. But that doesn't mean you don't matter.
You want fame? Go become the next shallow celebrity or figure out if there are any single Kardashians left. You want to matter? Then build with us in this very cryptocurrency space. Because ultimately, which cell in your body is the most famous? Does it even matter?
Think back for a moment and remember the greatest, happiest moment in your life. I know I can recall a few. Which neuron or cell was responsible for that moment?
It doesn't matter because the entire body benefited from the contributions of the whole. And even if one of them did tried to take credit, it wouldn't have been possible without the "sheep" cells of the hand or kidneys also doing their part.
Stop fretting because our baby will one day have to grow up. Instead be proud that you get to be part of that tiny subset of cells that get to be responsible for conscious thought, and guide the whole towards something greater. It's not easy, and the rest of the cells might never properly appreciate your efforts. But you aren't you. Human civilization is larger than that now.
We're us. That cat's out of the bag, and just as the human fetus' mind begins to light up and come online at a certain point in its development, so is our species finally "lighting up" with connections and systems that will serve us on our journey forward. And the pinnacle of that journey? To be born, and to at last come to exist in the larger reality.
See you on the other side, nerd.
).
