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I’m open to having my mind changed about blockchain/bitcoin’s utility, I could also see a new cryptocurrency changing my mind about all of this, I really _want_

I’m open to having my mind changed about blockchain/bitcoin’s utility, I could also see a new cryptocurrency changing my mind about all of this, I really _want_ to like this stuff! But whenever I ask people about the environmental impact of crypto (or really any sub-surface level question about blockchain, smart contracts or NFTs) they either dodge the question, ignore the question, give a shallow non-answer, or call me (a developer who works on integrating AR, VR, IoT and neural style transfer into live theatre) a luddite who doesn’t understand or is afraid of technological change. I’d love to be persuaded about why I should incorporate blockchain into my bag of shiny tricks or how I could use it for good. But I’m getting very frustrated with the community’s refusal to answer a lot of really basic questions about it.

BLKNSLVR 5y ago
Firstly, cool bleeding edge stuff you're into, I was very interested in a little segment during the Olympics about the technologies used to create crowd noise for the empty stadiums - something that must existed as a small background niche until Covid came along. Not sure if that relates to "live theatre" technologies but it reminded me. On the topic of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency utility, I'll point you towards another thread where I badly answered a similar question (and re-reading what I wrote I don't answer it at all), the core of the answer is that it's not simple to explain our to understand if you haven't "played" with it yourself to start the mental ball rolling as to its application and usefulness. Discussion on the El Salvador legal tender go live: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28468982 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28468982 My specific, but vague, commentary is the 18th comment on the above link. Bitcoin was created to be an alternative to the corrupt money system that brought about the Global Financial Crisis. That isn't a thing that can be easily understood in its everyday utility to the average citizen, there has to be an understanding of the overall corruption (and potential for corruption) of the current system and there almost has to be agreement about that before Bitcoin can be considered to be something useful at all - ie. If person X doesn't have a problem with the current financial system then Bitcoin is a big, complex, electricity hungry beast alternative to a system that's running just fine, and therefore totally unnecessary. In the years since Bitcoins inception things like Ethereum have come along to add "smart contract" utility that has allowed for things like Decentralised Finance and NFTs (the current usage of NFTs, I think, is detrimental to its potential for real-world problem solving, such as "proof of ownership" and I can't think of anything other use case right now). Decentralised Finance is so new, however, that we won't know what works well and what works poorly as replacements for existing financial services for a few years - bit I think it's important to go through this process of discovery.

BLKNSLVR 5y ago

Firstly, cool bleeding edge stuff you're into, I was very interested in a little segment during the Olympics about the technologies used to create crowd noise for the empty stadiums - something that must existed as a small background niche until Covid came along. Not sure if that relates to "live theatre" technologies but it reminded me. On the topic of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency utility, I'll point you towards another thread where I badly answered a similar question (and re-reading what I wrote I don't answer it at all), the core of the answer is that it's not simple to explain our to understand if you haven't "played" with it yourself to start the mental ball rolling as to its application and usefulness. Discussion on the El Salvador legal tender go live: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28468982 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28468982 My specific, but vague, commentary is the 18th comment on the above link. Bitcoin was created to be an alternative to the corrupt money system that brought about the Global Financial Crisis. That isn't a thing that can be easily understood in its everyday utility to the average citizen, there has to be an understanding of the overall corruption (and potential for corruption) of the current system and there almost has to be agreement about that before Bitcoin can be considered to be something useful at all - ie. If person X doesn't have a problem with the current financial system then Bitcoin is a big, complex, electricity hungry beast alternative to a system that's running just fine, and therefore totally unnecessary. In the years since Bitcoins inception things like Ethereum have come along to add "smart contract" utility that has allowed for things like Decentralised Finance and NFTs (the current usage of NFTs, I think, is detrimental to its potential for real-world problem solving, such as "proof of ownership" and I can't think of anything other use case right now). Decentralised Finance is so new, however, that we won't know what works well and what works poorly as replacements for existing financial services for a few years - bit I think it's important to go through this process of discovery.