5 ms·

Short term thinking can often appear to be attractive in the short term. It's the long term implications that get you, and by then it's too late.

danaris 5y ago
Allowing/supporting crypto mining is short-term thinking. It's a bunch of wealthy people burning absurd amounts of fossil fuels solely for the purpose of making themselves wealthier. There is no benefit to society from allowing this.
- icejjfish 5y ago
  They’re not merely making themselves wealthier - they’re providing a service. How is this different from an airline or any other user of fossil fuel?
  - bart_spoon 5y ago
    Because the service as it stands is of dubious (or negative) worth. So far its main uses are enabling illegal activity and MLM-style get rich quick schemes. For all of the hubbub about the crypto-revolution, we are over a decade in and 99% of its use falls into those two categories.
    - Consultant32452 5y ago
      I was sympathetic to that view right up until the Canadian government froze the bank accounts of the truckers. Now I'm openly supportive of the activities the regimes don't like in crypto.
  - antifa 5y ago
    > they’re providing a service Doubling the price of GPUs is a pretty bad service.
- matheusmoreira 5y ago
  > There is no benefit to society from allowing this. Sure there is. We get a financial system that's independent of banks and governments. I don't care how much energy it consumes, that's a worthy goal. Also, it's not even 1% of global energy consumption and even that calculation is based on rather questionable assumptions like "energy usage is proportional to bitcoin price". If you want to stop the burning of fossil fuels, what you need to do is advocate against trade with not only China but also all western countries whose luxurious lifestyles are literally dependent on such wasteful use of resources. Gotta level heavy economic sanctions against all the highly polluting developed nations until they put a stop to it.
  - danaris 5y ago
    > We get a financial system that's independent of banks and governments. I don't care how much energy it consumes, that's a worthy goal. I see it as exactly the opposite. We live in a society, and as a society, we have agreed upon certain rules about how money is handled. If you want to opt out of those rules, then get out of our society.
    - matheusmoreira 5y ago
      I'm not opting out of anything, nor am I leaving. Those "rules" form the backbone of the financial arm of total global surveillance. I oppose them on principle, as should everyone on this site. I want to see them either repealed or completely neutralized with subversive technology such as cryptocurrency. The only problem here is the fact that so much energy is being wasted on the failure that is bitcoin. I wouldn't mind even higher amounts being poured into Monero. "Agreed upon" rules? This stuff is imposed on us.
      - danaris 5y ago
        Only in the same sense that laws are "imposed on" criminals. You may not have personally agreed to it, but it's part of the legal framework our society rests on.
        5y ago
bart_spoon 5y ago
At what point does short term become long term? Crypto mining has been an issue for people looking to obtain GPUs going back to at least 2016, which is when I built my first PC, and its only gotten worse and worse as time has gone on.
- rhn_mk1 5y ago
  When it spills over and becomes a common practice beyond the scope of the original problem?

danaris 5y ago

Allowing/supporting crypto mining is short-term thinking. It's a bunch of wealthy people burning absurd amounts of fossil fuels solely for the purpose of making themselves wealthier. There is no benefit to society from allowing this.

icejjfish 5y ago
They’re not merely making themselves wealthier - they’re providing a service. How is this different from an airline or any other user of fossil fuel?
- bart_spoon 5y ago
  Because the service as it stands is of dubious (or negative) worth. So far its main uses are enabling illegal activity and MLM-style get rich quick schemes. For all of the hubbub about the crypto-revolution, we are over a decade in and 99% of its use falls into those two categories.
  - Consultant32452 5y ago
    I was sympathetic to that view right up until the Canadian government froze the bank accounts of the truckers. Now I'm openly supportive of the activities the regimes don't like in crypto.
- antifa 5y ago
  > they’re providing a service Doubling the price of GPUs is a pretty bad service.
matheusmoreira 5y ago
> There is no benefit to society from allowing this. Sure there is. We get a financial system that's independent of banks and governments. I don't care how much energy it consumes, that's a worthy goal. Also, it's not even 1% of global energy consumption and even that calculation is based on rather questionable assumptions like "energy usage is proportional to bitcoin price". If you want to stop the burning of fossil fuels, what you need to do is advocate against trade with not only China but also all western countries whose luxurious lifestyles are literally dependent on such wasteful use of resources. Gotta level heavy economic sanctions against all the highly polluting developed nations until they put a stop to it.
- danaris 5y ago
  > We get a financial system that's independent of banks and governments. I don't care how much energy it consumes, that's a worthy goal. I see it as exactly the opposite. We live in a society, and as a society, we have agreed upon certain rules about how money is handled. If you want to opt out of those rules, then get out of our society.
  - matheusmoreira 5y ago
    I'm not opting out of anything, nor am I leaving. Those "rules" form the backbone of the financial arm of total global surveillance. I oppose them on principle, as should everyone on this site. I want to see them either repealed or completely neutralized with subversive technology such as cryptocurrency. The only problem here is the fact that so much energy is being wasted on the failure that is bitcoin. I wouldn't mind even higher amounts being poured into Monero. "Agreed upon" rules? This stuff is imposed on us.
    - danaris 5y ago
      Only in the same sense that laws are "imposed on" criminals. You may not have personally agreed to it, but it's part of the legal framework our society rests on.
      - 5y ago

bart_spoon 5y ago

At what point does short term become long term? Crypto mining has been an issue for people looking to obtain GPUs going back to at least 2016, which is when I built my first PC, and its only gotten worse and worse as time has gone on.

rhn_mk1 5y ago
When it spills over and becomes a common practice beyond the scope of the original problem?