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This has to now far exceed China’s ghost cities and Dubai’s doomed megaprojects as the greatest waste of resources in recent history, though it still has a way
by api 6y ago
This has to now far exceed China’s ghost cities and Dubai’s doomed megaprojects as the greatest waste of resources in recent history, though it still has a way to go to match the US/USSR arms race. That one would be tough to beat, though you could argue that it’s waste is offset a bit by the technological spinoff it generated.
Meanwhile space exploration and life extension struggle to attract funding.
Humans are merely clever, not intelligent. If we were actually intelligent we would understand the systems in which we embed ourselves instead of being at the mercy of them.
- Closi 6y agoIt shows that it’s bad when we are even trying to compare it to the Cold War, and the conclusion is that at least the Cold War had some positives!
- api 6y agoTo be fair cryptocurrency has subsidized a fair bit of interesting cryptography research, but holy crap could that have been done so much more cheaply by just paying some universities to staff up with cryptographers and giving them some challenges. You could probably have founded and fully endowed dozens of top tier universities for what we have wasted on this. Another good thing to look at for perspective: how many startups could we have seeded and venture funded for the money literally burned by cryptocurrency? Cancer. Pure cancer.
- DonHopkins 6y agoAll that coal burnt to mine Bitcoin literally causes cancer, birth defects, neurological issues, pollution, and global warming, not to mention widespread cult-like stupidity, fraudulent shilling, shady business practices, irresponsible gambling, and other personally and environmentally self-destructive behavior.