Earlier this month, I underwent a cataract surgery. Today, we take it for granted that cataract removal is a simple outpatient procedure. But for nearly two millennia, blunt couching—pushing the cloudy lens to the back of the eye—was the standard. It was not until the Enlightenment era that lens extraction was pioneered. In the 20th century, the invention of intraocular lenses and phacoemulsification defined modern cataract surgery. In the coming years, high-precision, AI-driven procedures will further perfect the field.
Advances in cataract removal serve as a prime example of the principles outlined in the father of quantum computing David Deutsch’s The Beginning of Infinity. As we bid farewell to 2025, I enjoyed finishing this magnum opus (highly recommended by investor Naval Ravikant) about knowledge, progress and reality. All progress stems from our quest for good explanations and knowledge. From this, an entire political, economic and intellectual culture grows, entailing values such as tolerance of dissent, distrust of dogmatism, openness to change, and the aspiration to progress.
Today, the crypto and blockchain community is arguably one of the best embodiments of these values. 2025 marks my 10th year as a hodler (in crypto parlance) of Bitcoin. What began as an obscure digital experiment to remove traditional gatekeepers is now transforming global finance. Crypto is also transforming many other fields beyond finance. For one, I’m grateful to be an early supporter of Decentralized Science (DeSci) platforms including ResearchHub and Bio Protocol (respectively co-founded by Brian Armstrong / Patrick Joyce and Paul Kohlhaas), which are accelerating scientific progress through novel governance and collaboration.
Progress in the Deutschian sense began with the scientific revolution and has since improved every aspect of human welfare, from scientific understanding, technology, political institutions to moral values. As we welcome 2026, what lies ahead is an infinity of possibilities. It is our choice whether that is an infinity of ignorance or knowledge, death or life, stagnation or progress.
Andy Yee 