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… Continue reading The Beginning of Infinity
Tag: Bitcoin
The Great Turnings
As Vladimir Lenin said, there are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen. What makes our times particularly turbulent is that we are simultaneously at the late stages and transitional moments of three big cycles: Carlota Perez's technological revolutions / financial capital cycle (50-60 years) Strauss–Howe generational cycle (80-100 years) Ray… Continue reading The Great Turnings
The Beginning of the End
The other day I was reading Albert Camus' classic The Rebel. His exposition of Nietzsche's philosophy pretty much sums up my state of mind amidst these turbulent times - think in terms of an apocalypse to come, not in order to extol it, but in order to avoid it and transform it into a renaissance. To… Continue reading The Beginning of the End
Is Bitcoin a Technology or Ideology?
To accurately characterise Bitcoin and predict its trajectory in the decade ahead, it helps to revisit the message embedded in its genesis block: “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks”. Bitcoin kicked off the blockchain revolution and became a poster child of fintech. Over time, it is regarded as a monetary… Continue reading Is Bitcoin a Technology or Ideology?
Martin Luther and Satoshi Nakamoto
October 31 is a day celebrated around the world in many different cultures. It originates from the ancient Celtic spiritual tradition of Samhain, and has always been a symbol of death and renewal. It turns out that history is filled with landmark events on this date which propel human civilization forward. On October 31, 1517,… Continue reading Martin Luther and Satoshi Nakamoto
Bitcoin as a Portal of Ideas
As a polymath and Bitcoin maximalist, I see Bitcoin as a portal to ideas of great thinkers of which I'm a student: Gustave Le Bon's crowd psychology, Eric Hoffer's fanatical mass movements, Nassim Nicholas Taleb's antifragility and skin in the game, Friedrich von Hayek's distributed knowledge and monetary competition, Jorge Luis Borges' illusion of reality,… Continue reading Bitcoin as a Portal of Ideas
Borges on Bitcoin Forks
How I imagine Jorge Luis Borges would write about Bitcoin: In Bitcoin we find the idiosyncrasies of each of its forks to a greater or lesser degree. Every fork modifies our conception of the original Bitcoin, as it will modify the future. If the forks had never existed, we would not perceive the qualities in… Continue reading Borges on Bitcoin Forks
Andy Yee 