Bitcoin Forum

I've been sitting on this for a while because I haven't wanted to get caught up in any of the currency versus commodity debates going on but I can hold my metaphorical tongue no longer.

Bitcoin shares many of the traits displayed by money, currencies, commodities, stock, credits, and other exchangeable items that economic infrastructures are built around, however, it transcends them.

The synergy Satoshi created by utilizing a hash based proof-of-work system verified by a peer-to-peer network is not adequately described by any of the previous terms in their current incarnations. Consequently, new rules, laws, business etiquette, security measures, etc. will all have to be built from the ground up, free from the old, cumbersome restrictions and antiquated mentalities lingering in this brave, new world.

This manifestation of an intangible, archtypal ideal is giving us glimpses through doors that even the least cynical of us have always believed to be locked. Even if Bitcoin does die, it has opened my eyes to wondrous possibilities that will live at least as long as I do.

And that, my friends, is how Bitcoin won my admiration and continues to enthrall me to this day.

Spot on.

Trying to define bitcoin in fiat economic terms is like trying to fit a tesseract in round hole.

Well said OP. 

Tonight I had dinner with my father, and explained the coin to him. He lit up immediately, and was blown away by the ramifications racing through his mind. "It will revolutionize my whole industry," he said... and I responded, "and every other." As he left for the evening he mentioned he probably won't be able to sleep tonight.

Why is it that some of us see this thing as a true - to use OP's word - transcendence, while others see it as an impossible and laughable scam with no value?  It's as if we've stumbled upon the first printing press sitting alone in a meadow, and as we marvel at the possibilities of such an apparatus we're incessantly distracted by other onlookers who, noting that nobody uses such a thing, endeavor to condemn and deride our exuberance.

I think some of us will be looking back quite fondly on the work we're doing right now.

Hear hear edd.

+1

and could you imagine sitting around badmouthing the printing press? I really don't understand the hate.

Well said...  now I feel somewhat 'less than'  for just mining them ;)

A fun look back...

http://technologizer.com/2009/11/23/windows-laptops-theyll-never-catch-on (http://technologizer.com/2009/11/23/windows-laptops-theyll-never-catch-on)

From the article and would make a great signature line for somebody here:

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After reading your post, I had to double check to see if I was mistaken, and psy was the author.

https://i.imgur.com/SEG8N.gif

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Excellent post, edd!

yep

 ???sounds like you been smoking some of your teas?

:P
All jokes aside I couldn't agree with you any more.

Bitcoin is Bitcoin...... plain and simple.

Refreshing to see a post like this (and lack of trolls).

The trick is to feed the trolls in the "off-topic" section by posting troll like stuff. But now that I posted you the secret to keep'em away the trolls will be all over this thread(its what they do)

but wait a minute what if because they know I'm trying to do reverse psychology that they will just not post to make me look like I don't know what I'm talking about because if they came in an trolled then I'd be right, but if they now don't come in a troll I will be wrong and thus its more humorously-profitable to not troll and watch everyone troll me(whom are not usualy trolls).

See what I just did there?

I quadrupald-trolled myself.... Keeps the trolls away...
Don't tell nobody....

Nice thread!

Yes! Yes!

After reading this post I lost consciousness. I woke up face down on the beach with an empty bottle of rhy, one missing shoe, and a swollen big toe.

New rules:

- Open source coding is the way to go;

- Public auditing (voting systems, government spending);


Business etiquette:

- Nick Szabo's (http://szabo.best.vwh.net/) essays are a good glimpse of the future;

- Smart property (https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Smart_Property) is amazing too, and it is already feasible;


Security measures:

- Ultimate deterrent protection from extorsion;

- Anonymously paid vigilantes may bring peace to levels never seen before;


Laws:

- Like Gavin said: "I don't think that we will see justice and laws coded within my lifetime." Those who study to be a Judge knows that the field is massive. Once the laws are coded, we have an open-source justice system, both frightening and desirable.



This. ^

#1 I'm not so sure about that, very few people could sustain a high level of physical  torture for long without breaking. If someone wanted to get your encrypted pass of you they probably could. Remember Rambo was just a movie ;)

2# This is evolution at work, I think it's the reaction to all the rippers/thewifs/scammers/rip off's/hackers that f*c k over good people, I have a friend who wants to start offering services like that i'll try and get him here.

Reading this forced me to login again.

Not sure if rhetorical, but..

I think it has something to do with the large number of loud speculators that promote (or disparage) Bitcoin for short-term gain. Also, the history of tech is full of stories of revolutionary inventions that were initially dismissed as insignificant, often by high-profile people. The personal computer, and the web come to mind.

I love drawing parallels between Bitcoin today and the web around 1993. However, one interesting distinction is that Bitcoin has a (very public, wildly fluctuating) dollar figure attached to it. Despite not being a very accurate measure of true value, that figure certainly shapes many people's perceptions regarding Bitcoin's value and potential. I often wonder what the early web would've been like if it had a similar figure attached to it. I imagine it would've been one hell of a roller coaster.

Also, great post OP.

laws? isn't btc about no boundaries? untracable & anonymous don't go together with laws

In the essence, if P2P Police and Smart Property are fully funcional (along with Open Transactions), that's right, laws may be unnecessary.


'Laws?! Where we're going we don't need laws.'

So looking forward to fellowtraveler's Open Transactions project to come online I am.   :)

Reminds me of the quote
Two men looked out of prison bars, one saw mud the other saw stars.

I agree but people please don't piss and moan when you see a pedophile ring get busted with 200,000 bitcoins on their PC's, the world is a pretty dark place you kind of have to expect a revolutionary for of payment transaction to be taken up by those who live in the dark alley ways of soiecty

Glad that Bitcoins are not untraceable.

So..
Telling the first Bitcoin users that bitcoins are useless because almost no one accepts them is like telling the first printing press operators that printing presses are useless because almost no one can read.

Feel free to improve the quote. This is all crowd sourced after all.

Thank you so much Cbeast, Your a real hero to all of us.

Not exactly sure what the last part of that is saying... 

I won't be moaning worrying about what takes place in those dark places.  They have been there before Bitcoin. They will be there after Bitcoin.

Should we stop breathing air because "bad" people do so as well?  Should we charge for, restrict, and monitor its use to make sure only the
"right" people are using it? 

And are you sure that your view of who is "bad" and who is "right" will always match the views of the powers that be, e.g. your government?

 

Well I have a phd in sociology so i'd like think i have some idea, inflated my big head maybe... All I was saying is that sub culture of the underground are always the first adopters and adapt the quickest.

Thank OP,

Even though I realize prices could go lower before they go higher, I still shake my head in amazement of what we truly have here.
I cannot stop thinking of what I can do to make it better. Where do I fit in?
There's so much potential. I have so many great ideas that I don't know where to start.

this is quite an interesting way to think about it: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=47053