A question running through my mind for the last few months:
For a society so used to a somewhat stable money value, what will be the effects of volatility in the masses? What I mean is: Having something I believe is sovereign money, although volatile, continues to change my relationship to traditional paper money and bank digits (taking a back seat). When the masses come to accept this, I expect some drastic reality shift I can't quite imagine today. Maybe it's not yet a question that can really be answered today. Maybe better, How has your relationship to money changed since bitcoin? Too serious?
I believe technology is the big underappreciated factor in the evolution of human society and civilization.
The people who want to vote in change & elect strong leaders to impose this or that ideology have it backwards. As do the people who think race & genetics are the dominant factors shaping human society (and we have plenty of those in this thread). What sets humans apart from the rest of the animal world is their ability to manipulate symbols. This leads to increasing accumulated knowledge, complexity of society and a quickening pace of change.
Put simply it goes like this: technological change --> cultural change --> institutional change
For historical examples, consider the impact of technologies like: fire, agriculture, writing, the printing press, gunpowder and the internet. They all changed society drastically and in ways which were unpredictable at the time. Seeing Gutenberg print his first run of bibles, would you have predicted that this would help break up an 1500 year old institution in two?
The societal impact of a technology like Bitcoin is hard to predict. Here is how it has changed my life in the 5 years I have been involved:
- I spend money on consumer stuff less often but when I do, I go more for quality and durability.
- My drive to save money has been ramped up to 11.
- I knew nothing about cryptography and IT security before Bitcoin. Now I know something.
- Money is suddenly an exciting topic of conversation and I realize most people misunderstand it completely.
- I feel the weight and freedom of full responsibility for my wealth on my shoulders and act accordingly.
- I care about money even less than before. It's become even more abstract, numbers on a screen, not worth ruining my health & mood for.
Perhaps most importantly: I have hope for the future. Thank you, Satoshi!