bitcoin fixes this

indeed

middlemen have their place (from Tibor Fischer's My Bags are Big; a good read)

I've spent much of my public life being a little cagey about God, the Catholic Church, and philosophy of religion (no way to live, for the record). This interview on all that stuff with @2Philosophical_ was a first for me, and fun. Thank you, JP! www.youtube.com/watch?v=14O1...

The Wire said it best, “is you takin’ notes on a criminal fuckin’ conspiracy??” The answer, for some reason, is always “yes.”

Friendly reminder

If the reviewers are right, maybe this book isn't so great. But you gotta hand it to Millgram for the title. "Why Didn’t Nietzsche Get His Act Together?" is an amazing book title.

guy who says we should say "doctor" for honorary doctorates, but not for earned PhDs. Dr. Taylor Swift, Dr. Donald J. Trump, Dr. Justin Timberlake, Dr. Barbra Streisand, etc. (guy is me)

I can't remember the last time the news cycle synced so well with my teaching. In 35 minutes, I'll be lecturing on discretionary monetary policy, central bank independence, and the monetary rule of law bitcoin offers as an alternative.

One of the cool things about reading The Silver Chair aloud to your child is that you can have her recite the signs every time, and to succeed where Jill Pole faltered. Full immersion. Locked in.

A remarkable interview with a remarkable person And by one too. Nathan Ballantyne spends months on these things, getting the questions right and teasing things out of his subjects that no one else has ever managed to do. Read this one, and then read them all. www.the-workbench.ca/interviews/p...

“An unbelieved truth can hurt a man much more than a lie. It takes great courage to back truth unacceptable to our times. There's a punishment for it, and it's usually crucifixion.” From: East of Eden by John Steinbeck

is philosophy a scam?

"fewer yachts, more hemorrhoid cream" A curious phrase in an otherwise practical and well-argued post about how deal with the hedonic treadmill and empty pursuit of positional goods. Link below.

Oh look. Everything experts and activists warned about is happening exactly as predicted.

What is philosophy? And why would one do it? If you do not do philosophy yourself, someone will do it for you. I recommend the path of a free person — thinking about the big questions yourself. www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFpM...

It is never a bad day to call crypto bros arseholes and corrupt.

Famous Professor X once went out of his way to introduce me, then a student, to Famous Professor Y. I had no idea that Professor X even knew my name, much less my interests and such. Almost twenty years later, I still remember Professor X fondly. He can do no wrong. Note to self: act accordingly.

I don't always get quoted in my local paper of record. But when I do, I am unable to refrain from saying what I really think about crypto token pumpers

SometimesI think about a phrase from this old spoken word piece: 'aggressively inarticulate'. Talking this way is a choice. And it is disrespectful to one's audience to take up their time with ums and uhs and likes and rights. www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8Po...

I wrote about automation and the meaning of life, as a guest post on Scott Aaronson's Shtetl-Optimized. (1/5) scottaaronson.blog?p=9030

We should probably discuss this, as it’s one of Bluesky’s biggest hurdles.

Gerrymandering illustrates how automation in policy can be better than discretion. If you give a legislature the power to chop things up as they will, they will do so in ways that benefit the dominant local party.

politician ::lies:: world ::sighs:: me ::sighs not so::

Ordinary conscientious objectors, in principle opposed to killing, may opt out of war when their religion requires them to. I dream of a world where other conscientious objectors, in principle opposed to buying USFG debt, may opt out when their religion requires them to.

Resistance Money - Andrew Bailey, Bradley Rettler, Craig Warmke If you're looking for a philosophy textbook about Bitcoin this is a philosophy textbook about Bitcoin. I thought it was quite interesting and am glad I read it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlZT...

some people out there don't know who Barbara, Celarent, Darii, and Ferio are, and it shows

In the most bsky-ish interaction I've ever had, some anon complained that our bitcoin book (which they've not read) is full of motivated reasoning. I reply that we document and discuss pro-bitcoin motivated reasoning in the book and take issue with it. The response? Blocked!

Sometimes I get to know someone well and think: 'Oh my. He is so himself.' It is a high compliment.

Every idol makes two promises: you will be invulnerable (a citadel) and you will be powerful (coin-carrying masters in a world of serfs). Hypothesis: if bitcoin is bad religion, the antidote is good prophecy

"The growth of [A.I.] will slow drastically... most [LLMs] have nothing to say... By[2032] it will become clear that [A.I.'s] impact on the economy has been no greater than the fax machine’s"

habibi have I got a school for you

Guy who loves LLMs and uses them for everything: From the inside, guy feels great. Powers are extended and levered; productivity is up. From the outside, it feels like losing a friend.

I've found this framework useful in understanding the ideologies at work around me. What examples would you give for these four categories?

Solid advice.

not bubbles, but waves

It's been a year since the release of Resistance Money, the first comprehensive peer-reviewed academic book on bitcoin. We've sold about 5,000 copies so far. Thank you! And three sequels are under way — one, a debate volume — is already under contract with a publisher.

In-depth discussion of 'What Satoshi Did', published in the recent _Satoshi Papers_ edited collection.

hmm

Too few commencement speeches are about death and loss. Here's my attempt to rectify that situation, on the occasion of Yale-NUS College's last graduation ceremony.

"the fringes tell you something about the middle" Strong agree. I've always felt this way, and it's always given me an edge, in understanding the future. This is one reason censorship bugs me; it makes it harder to monitor the fringes for what's going to come next!

One of the greatest gifts a (likely solitary) human ever gave to other humans. Cc: @resistance.money

Noah was a conspiracy theorist. And then it rained.

my worldview, in one clip

Were I a GOP loyalist in the White House, I'd make it a priority to not give Senator Warren any easy wins — strictly for vindictive reasons, of course. Alas, this is an easy win for Senator Warren.

One of the best effects of the current American administration is to remind people that some laws are bad, and that some crime is good. I fear they will forget the lesson very quickly, upon taking back power. But it is a good lesson!

In today's episode of 'why not just send a bank wire?'

Today is a good day to rise with the sun (this follows from a more general principle)

This little slice of FUD was a big hit on r/buttcoin, billed there as a 'Brutal Takedown of Bitcoin'. But it's basically just the metaphysics defended in 'Resistance Money'!