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(Why) do you consider Bitcoin to not be a waste of energy, independent of TikTok or Reddit? What problems has it solved in the last decade that would make it se

(Why) do you consider Bitcoin to not be a waste of energy, independent of TikTok or Reddit? What problems has it solved in the last decade that would make it sensible to shut down Reddit before you shut down Bitcoin? (I'm not even climbing up the tree of Bitcoin's energy consumption being many multiples greater than Reddit's.)

x86x87 3y ago
what gives you the right to bucket something as waste? maybe to some people tiktok is a waste of energy, resources, time. Some people would argue that alchohol consumption is wasteful since it does not have any health benefits? ultimately, once you start thinking you have the right to ban things you should be prepared for someone else to ban things you enjoy.
- beeskip 3y ago
  I give myself the right, as having an opinion. It feels like you're saying that all opinions are equally valid and that we shouldn't strive to critically evaluate and debate things. While there are different ways to evaluate any given topic, all opinions are not equally valid.
  - x86x87 3y ago
    you can have your opinion, but ultimately the question is: do you want me to tell you what you are allowed and what you are not allowed to do with the electricity you PAY for? you may not like what I do with the power I PAY for but you don't get a say in how I use it.
    - maeil 3y ago
      > do you want me to tell you what you are allowed and what you are not allowed to do with the electricity you PAY for? Yes. Absolutely yes. > you may not like what I do with the power I PAY for but you don't get a say in how I use it. There are thousands of things you're not allowed to do with the power you PAY for.
      - x86x87 3y ago
        What are the thousands of things that I am not allowed to do?
_Algernon_ 3y ago
Social media has - in my eyes - peaked and is in a continuous cycle of enshittification. Youtube, Tiktok, Reddit et al. are built on inducing compulsive behavior in people to feed their business models. While Bitcoin arguably parasitises energy, social media parasitises human time and attention (which is a much scarcer resource), all while breaking down political institutions and societal cohesion and being a tool for foreign actors to manipulate people on never before seen scales. Social media is "move fast and break things" on a societal scale. Bitcoin is at worst a speculative asset (no worse than most financial assets) at best a new monetary system in its infancy (unlikely but possible). It is clear to me which technology has more of a raison d'être. I guess social media pays the salaries of most people on this forum, so the old adage "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it" applies. Or maybe I'm completely wrong. It's happened before. The future will show who is right.

x86x87 3y ago

what gives you the right to bucket something as waste? maybe to some people tiktok is a waste of energy, resources, time. Some people would argue that alchohol consumption is wasteful since it does not have any health benefits? ultimately, once you start thinking you have the right to ban things you should be prepared for someone else to ban things you enjoy.

beeskip 3y ago
I give myself the right, as having an opinion. It feels like you're saying that all opinions are equally valid and that we shouldn't strive to critically evaluate and debate things. While there are different ways to evaluate any given topic, all opinions are not equally valid.
- x86x87 3y ago
  you can have your opinion, but ultimately the question is: do you want me to tell you what you are allowed and what you are not allowed to do with the electricity you PAY for? you may not like what I do with the power I PAY for but you don't get a say in how I use it.
  - maeil 3y ago
    > do you want me to tell you what you are allowed and what you are not allowed to do with the electricity you PAY for? Yes. Absolutely yes. > you may not like what I do with the power I PAY for but you don't get a say in how I use it. There are thousands of things you're not allowed to do with the power you PAY for.
    - x86x87 3y ago
      What are the thousands of things that I am not allowed to do?

_Algernon_ 3y ago

Social media has - in my eyes - peaked and is in a continuous cycle of enshittification. Youtube, Tiktok, Reddit et al. are built on inducing compulsive behavior in people to feed their business models. While Bitcoin arguably parasitises energy, social media parasitises human time and attention (which is a much scarcer resource), all while breaking down political institutions and societal cohesion and being a tool for foreign actors to manipulate people on never before seen scales. Social media is "move fast and break things" on a societal scale. Bitcoin is at worst a speculative asset (no worse than most financial assets) at best a new monetary system in its infancy (unlikely but possible). It is clear to me which technology has more of a raison d'être. I guess social media pays the salaries of most people on this forum, so the old adage "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it" applies. Or maybe I'm completely wrong. It's happened before. The future will show who is right.