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I think it is the combination of 2 points: 1: It is hard to grasp. And the majority of tech people have a hard time coping with the fact that there is somethi

by TekMol 4y ago

I think it is the combination of 2 points: 1: It is hard to grasp. And the majority of tech people have a hard time coping with the fact that there is something they can't grasp while some others do. We tech people think of us as smart. So accepting that others are smarter in some areas is hard for us. Especially when it is in the tech area. There are investors who see value in crypto and put hundreds of billions of dollars where their mouth is? It's easier to say "Bah! Idiots!" then to accept that there is something that is beyond ones mental reach. 2: Some people got very rich by grasping it early on. This creates envy and the fear of loss. You can see a similar disdain for technology in programmers and how they think about programming languages they are not used to. They don't know the benefits of the other language and they are invested in an alternative. That creates a strong "with us or against us" drive.

drekipus 4y ago
> And the majority of tech people have a hard time coping with the fact that there is something they can't grasp while some others do. can you please tell us what's hard to grasp? A block chain is an immutable data-structure due to the fact that there's more computing power out there that proves the data is integral. you get "coin" for doing the work. People then trade coin like they trade anything else. What is there not to get? if bitcoin is an immutable data-structure, what is that data structure holding?
- TekMol 4y ago
  Imagine we are in the 60s again. When TCP/IP was just invented. Your statement is like saying the internet is cables between machines so they can morse code each other. Another way to look at the internet is to see all the applications that will sit on top of "machines morse coding each other". And how it will change the economy and society. That is the hard part.
  - danaris 4y ago
    What problem is it solving—besides evading governments and their laws/regulations—that can't be solved just as well or better without it?
SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago
> 1: It is hard to grasp. Yes, and the complexity is not necessary, it is there to obscure conceal the scams and central vacuity of the idea. This idea, that complexity is a hallmark of scams, is discussed (in other contexts) in more details here https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/04/house-always-wins/#are-you-on-drugs https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/04/house-always-wins/#are-yo... https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/05/mego/#A09948 https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/05/mego/#A09948
ekidd 4y ago
> And the majority of tech people have a hard time coping with the fact that there is something they can't grasp while some others do. What's hard to grasp? The "blockchain" is just a Merkle tree, like git, which much of the industry uses every day. You build a tree of hash codes by using the hash of the old tree as an input to a new tree. It's a clever data structure and you can do cool things with it. All the blockchain adds to this is a distributed consensus system. This allows deciding what the HEAD of the tree is without needing a central, authoritative server. But honestly, in 99.9% of applications, an authoritative server maintaining HEAD is fine. Pay some law firm or specialized clearing house to do it. The only other aspects of crypto is that it creates a deflationary currency with ruinously-high transaction costs, plus a permanent public record of every transaction. Oh, and starting with MtGox, most of the immitation "banks" have periodically disappeared with everyone's money. This is usually followed by Bitcoin users angrily demanding government fraud investigations. In the meantime, all those proof of work contributions contribute to global warming. Back when Bitcoin was new, it was an adorable technological dystopia that amused libertarians in tech. As long as it was basically real-life science fiction roleplay, it did little enough harm. But then "crypto" promotors started treating it like some kind of timeshare condo scam, and started advertising heavily to elderly non-technical users. And all I have to say to that is, if you don't want to get treated like a timeshare scammer, don't act like one.

by TekMol 4y ago

drekipus 4y ago

> And the majority of tech people have a hard time coping with the fact that there is something they can't grasp while some others do. can you please tell us what's hard to grasp? A block chain is an immutable data-structure due to the fact that there's more computing power out there that proves the data is integral. you get "coin" for doing the work. People then trade coin like they trade anything else. What is there not to get? if bitcoin is an immutable data-structure, what is that data structure holding?

TekMol 4y ago
Imagine we are in the 60s again. When TCP/IP was just invented. Your statement is like saying the internet is cables between machines so they can morse code each other. Another way to look at the internet is to see all the applications that will sit on top of "machines morse coding each other". And how it will change the economy and society. That is the hard part.
- danaris 4y ago
  What problem is it solving—besides evading governments and their laws/regulations—that can't be solved just as well or better without it?

SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago

> 1: It is hard to grasp. Yes, and the complexity is not necessary, it is there to obscure conceal the scams and central vacuity of the idea. This idea, that complexity is a hallmark of scams, is discussed (in other contexts) in more details here https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/04/house-always-wins/#are-you-on-drugs https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/04/house-always-wins/#are-yo... https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/05/mego/#A09948 https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/05/mego/#A09948

ekidd 4y ago

> And the majority of tech people have a hard time coping with the fact that there is something they can't grasp while some others do. What's hard to grasp? The "blockchain" is just a Merkle tree, like git, which much of the industry uses every day. You build a tree of hash codes by using the hash of the old tree as an input to a new tree. It's a clever data structure and you can do cool things with it. All the blockchain adds to this is a distributed consensus system. This allows deciding what the HEAD of the tree is without needing a central, authoritative server. But honestly, in 99.9% of applications, an authoritative server maintaining HEAD is fine. Pay some law firm or specialized clearing house to do it. The only other aspects of crypto is that it creates a deflationary currency with ruinously-high transaction costs, plus a permanent public record of every transaction. Oh, and starting with MtGox, most of the immitation "banks" have periodically disappeared with everyone's money. This is usually followed by Bitcoin users angrily demanding government fraud investigations. In the meantime, all those proof of work contributions contribute to global warming. Back when Bitcoin was new, it was an adorable technological dystopia that amused libertarians in tech. As long as it was basically real-life science fiction roleplay, it did little enough harm. But then "crypto" promotors started treating it like some kind of timeshare condo scam, and started advertising heavily to elderly non-technical users. And all I have to say to that is, if you don't want to get treated like a timeshare scammer, don't act like one.