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> and I’ll (unfortunately) have to say it again No, really, you don't have to.

benreesman 4y ago
Let me rephrase: I have a bit of a compulsive personality on a number of dimensions, one of which is “someone is wrong on the Internet!” in the XKCD sense. Anything to do with crypto on HN’s front page is going to be tripping over itself about whether it can be more flagrantly wrong about finance or distributed systems research. I’m not like a recognized expert in either thing, but, I’m north of intermediate in both, and this shit drives me up the wall.
- Nursie 4y ago
  > whether it can be more flagrantly wrong about finance or distributed systems research It's funny, because cryptocurrency 'investors' often seem to occupy the intersection between those naive on economics and those naive about technology (particularly distributed systems and databases).
  - benreesman 4y ago
    I don’t own or trade cryptocurrency at all, I’m certainly not an investor in it. But aggressive ignorance does get my dander up, so I waste time on these kinds of pointless threads fighting a losing battle against people who are just mad at BitCoin or whatever.
    - Nursie 4y ago
      But you yourself are parroting pro-bitcoin ignorance, in the form of your points about bank transfer and other things. This is something that gets my dander up. Your assertions like "there will be one or two real things that will make it." There might be, or it might all turn out to have been a giant waste of time and resources. International remittances are not problematic because we don't have the tech and we're all crying out for a blockchain and a volatile intermediate asset, but (where they even are still problematic at all) because of bureaucracy. Your point about energy might be the worst - for a start Bitcoin is actually becoming dirtier, as large portions of mining moved from China to Kazakhstan last year, and are relying on the local coal infrastructure. And the second point, that it somehow drives adoption of renewables - the world as a whole is trying to switch to cleaner energy. We already have massive pressure and demand in the entire energy market as countries try to switch away from fossil fuels. Meanwhile, fossil fuel power plants are either getting life extensions or just plain being brought back online to service the mining market - https://www.wsj.com/articles/bitcoin-miners-are-giving-new-life-to-old-fossil-fuel-power-plants-11621594803 https://www.wsj.com/articles/bitcoin-miners-are-giving-new-l... So, you wanna talk about aggressive ignorance, maybe address the log in your own eye?

Let me rephrase: I have a bit of a compulsive personality on a number of dimensions, one of which is “someone is wrong on the Internet!” in the XKCD sense. Anything to do with crypto on HN’s front page is going to be tripping over itself about whether it can be more flagrantly wrong about finance or distributed systems research. I’m not like a recognized expert in either thing, but, I’m north of intermediate in both, and this shit drives me up the wall.

Nursie 4y ago
> whether it can be more flagrantly wrong about finance or distributed systems research It's funny, because cryptocurrency 'investors' often seem to occupy the intersection between those naive on economics and those naive about technology (particularly distributed systems and databases).
- benreesman 4y ago
  I don’t own or trade cryptocurrency at all, I’m certainly not an investor in it. But aggressive ignorance does get my dander up, so I waste time on these kinds of pointless threads fighting a losing battle against people who are just mad at BitCoin or whatever.
  - Nursie 4y ago
    But you yourself are parroting pro-bitcoin ignorance, in the form of your points about bank transfer and other things. This is something that gets my dander up. Your assertions like "there will be one or two real things that will make it." There might be, or it might all turn out to have been a giant waste of time and resources. International remittances are not problematic because we don't have the tech and we're all crying out for a blockchain and a volatile intermediate asset, but (where they even are still problematic at all) because of bureaucracy. Your point about energy might be the worst - for a start Bitcoin is actually becoming dirtier, as large portions of mining moved from China to Kazakhstan last year, and are relying on the local coal infrastructure. And the second point, that it somehow drives adoption of renewables - the world as a whole is trying to switch to cleaner energy. We already have massive pressure and demand in the entire energy market as countries try to switch away from fossil fuels. Meanwhile, fossil fuel power plants are either getting life extensions or just plain being brought back online to service the mining market - https://www.wsj.com/articles/bitcoin-miners-are-giving-new-life-to-old-fossil-fuel-power-plants-11621594803 https://www.wsj.com/articles/bitcoin-miners-are-giving-new-l... So, you wanna talk about aggressive ignorance, maybe address the log in your own eye?