This is an op-ed by Dan Weintraub, an author and high school teacher who first became interested in bitcoin while teaching economics.
I recently watched with confused indifference Donald Trump City Hall skit on CNNand another in an endless list of apocalyptic political and social zombie dances.
The truth is, I care less about partisan politics, about the upcoming presidential election cycle, about supposedly honest and earnest liberal and conservative political expressions within the American political system, and about the tension surrounding the fragile future of Americans. democracy, etc. what am I Do The concern, however, is how easy it is to manipulate humans and believe lies.
we everyone Sheep – blind followers with little sense of discernment – we are all completely programmable and completely impressionable. History may not repeat itself, but as an endless record of humans following leaders and humans from the proverbial cliffs (and for no other reason than a leader – humans were/really skilled at lying), it certainly feels like déjà vu from new.
Don’t worry! This is not an article about Trump or about ideological discontent. Trump is just one man in a human melodrama that spans millennia. This article focuses on the role Bitcoin can play in restoring belief and ending human inactivity; It is about how power is stripped from scammers. And it’s a warning, because those in power will do everything they can to maintain their hypnotic grip on humanity.
Why do governments fear bitcoin?
So, the first question we have to examine is: why do governments seem so afraid of bitcoin? Interestingly, it’s not simply because bitcoin has the potential to end governments’ monopoly on money (which is a big deal in itself). No, the underlying reason actually points to something more fundamental: governments fear bitcoins as creation because governments can only rule through deception and dishonesty.
You see, the most powerful and successful governments throughout history were (and still are) the most adept at lying. The government of the United States, that supposed bastion of democratic goodness, is in fact a convincing example of this principle. From Vietnam to Iraq, from Joseph McCarthy to Lyndon Johnson to Jerome Powell and beyond, the history of the United States is full of examples of the power of lies, the vulnerability of the minds of well-meaning citizens, innocent patriots and lost hope.
Bitcoin comes out with lies
Back to Trump for a moment. Who is this BBC:
Mr. Trump questioned the legality of the electoral process in a series of tweets, the last of which he said on Monday: “Of course there is massive fraud happening on and before Election Day… Why do Republican leaders deny what is going on? So naive!’ ”
The above quote is no It’s the fall of 2020. This is from 2016, when then-candidate Trump was facing then-candidate Hillary Clinton in the general election. Lest we forget, Trump has been making allegations of a rigged election for years. A masterful and highly sophisticated practitioner in the art of exploiting human neurological weakness, Trump has deftly taken advantage of (and continuous to take advantage of) his skills as a purveyor of disinformation. In fact, tens of millions of Americans Keep believing Trump’s allegations of rigging the 2020 elections are true, and that the presidency was stolen from him and his followers.
I find this totally awesome and scary at the same time.
The point is not whether Trump’s claims are accurate. And if I’m being honest, I have to admit there is no way of knowing whether or not Trump’s claims are true. (The truth is, if I reject his claims, I may simply choose to believe the narrative presented by the other side. Both sides are firmly committed to their statements. Both sides inhabit echo chambers that reinforce their narratives. Both sides suffer from the anti-intellectual effects of the weakening of human neuroplasticity. Both sides are composed of millions A follower of the humans, unaware of the power that the leader-humans wield through their manipulation, through their theater, through their deception.)
The point here is that without the ability to verify Trump’s claims, we are all potential prey; Without the ability to know beyond a reasonable doubt what actually happened in the last election cycle, there is no way to trust the outcome of an election—in fact, there is no way to trust our political process at all.
Bitcoin and neuroplasticity
Neuroscience 101: Hear enough of something and you’ll believe it’s true. Get on your knees and pray to God every day for an hour, and in a matter of months, maybe weeks, even dyed-in-the-wool atheists will believe in God. Just read the articles on Breitbart and The Gateway Pundit, just listen to podcasts by Tucker Carlson and Glenn Beck, and you’ll think, without any doubt in your mind, that the election has been stolen. Just read articles in Mother Jones, HuffPost, and Slate Magazine, and you will believe beyond a reasonable doubt in your mind that the election was right. Just listen to the YouTube channels broadcasting the opinions of Michael Saylor, Balaji Srinivasan, Marc Moss and Jeff Booth, and you would think that Bitcoin hitting $1 million is inevitable, that hyperinflation is coming and that banks are all going to collapse. Just listen to the YouTube channels promoting the opinions of Warren Buffet and Peter Schiff and you will think that Bitcoin is a Ponzi scheme and a scam.
Humans are sheep because we are destined to be sheep. We think we are critical thinkers and great discerners of truth, but we all internalize and internalize the narratives we hear over and over again.
Without verification, we are all potential victims of lies told by those in power.
Again, enter Bitcoin.
As I mentioned in my previous article, we need some imagination. We need to prepare to see that, in time, the Bitcoin network can serve as the underlying layer for all digital interactions. And over time, there is every possibility that such a network could have the ability to verify beyond a reasonable doubt every transaction, every interaction, every news story, every government claim, every tweet, etc.
But here’s the thing: We’re already doing it no Needs a lot of imagination at all to realize that elections and blockchain technology are tense rather than future considerations.
Imagine a system where each ballot is printed with a private key/digital signature. All voting records live on an immutable ledger. While this will not weaken the power of those who use lies and disinformation as a way to manipulate neurotically sensitive people, it will lead us in a direction in which allegations of voter fraud, such as those promoted by Trump, will not have teeth. And perhaps over time, as Bitcoin and the Bitcoin network become popular, more of these forms of verification have the potential to undermine the great power of liars.
I realize that in this For a moment, Bitcoin is feared more for its ability to circumvent monetary control than for its inherently honest nature. US leaders fear the potential for the dollar to lose its status as the world’s reserve currency, and as such, they will do pretty much anything to question and undermine the legitimacy and accessibility of anything that promotes such a possibility. (For example, we now hear more about the evils of China and the dominance of the RNB than we do about Bitcoin.)
but Can you see, in a possible future in which lying becomes increasingly difficult, why our leaders might fear bitcoin so much? And can you see why our leaders would do anything to stop the rise of truth and verification? I have no doubt that as the Bitcoin network becomes increasingly capable of examining any and all forms of data, verifying any and all forms and claims of truth, leaders around the world will do everything – Everything! — in its power to destroy this web — for without the power to lie and manipulate us sheep, all governments, all centralized power brokers, must, by their very nature, fail.
Over time, Bitcoin could become more than just a cash network. It can become much more than a store of monetary value. It can become more than just property. Over time, the Bitcoin protocol and the Bitcoin network could become what those in power fear most: the truth.
Where there is truth, the sheep wake up.
The winners in the world must be held accountable
As I said at the beginning of this article, this is not a political scheme. Politicians lie regardless of their ideology. Leaders on the left are just as apt, and just as adept, at using disinformation and deception as those on the right. The point is that without the ability to objectively verify the truth, human beings will continue to throw their mindless selves into battle, intrinsically believing the lies offered by those who profit from such duplicity.
I know many of you reading this will see my views on the evolution of the Bitcoin network as the stuff of fantasy. But I ask you: throughout human history, hasn’t every progress been seen at once as brilliant? Bitcoin is just getting started. Once our leaders realize that in the not-too-distant future, the Bitcoin network and protocol could turn into an inviolable global lie detector, they will do everything they can to kill it. Because they are only as powerful as the lies they tell.
This is a guest post by Dan Weintraub. The opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.