Any future that can fail catastrophically from a sudden and prolonged complete loss of a machine is not a future anyone should aspire to achieve.
https://link.medium.com/saKdof6akhb
The language the author uses at the end of his argument is the beginning of my problems with crypto- currency.
"Blockchain and its applications such as cross-border payment, smart contracts and NFTs are going to be the next big thing that all creators and entrepreneurs must explore."
Translation: Don't you want to make tons of money without any visible work? A universally seductive promise to an exhausted and traumatized global audience.
" A good starting point would be to learn the basic concepts that’ll allow you to get a better understanding of the applications."
Translation: This is special knowledge only really accessible to the properly groomed/ informed acolyte/ true believer/ certified practitioner. Not everyone can understand and profit.
"It is all still in its nascent stage much like the internet of 1995."
Translation: " Do not stop to assess where THAT 1995 Internet has gotten us. Rush right into, mindlessly, the NEXT BRIGHT SHINY BIG THING! ( think reckless abandon and excess- Studio 54, NY, NY, Hollywood!)
"This is Web 3.0."
Translation: Do not take any more time to understand and master extant world-wide-webs. You know you crave the NEXT BRIGHT SHINY BIG THING!
"Get in before everyone else."
Translation: Set yourself in yet another fragile hierarchical system. Don’t pay any attention to the optic of a human being tethered to machines powered by electricity. The implication is that is something that would make life worth living in a world that has never worked for everyone:
- a world where 600,000 people died, and, according to COVID19 task force FORMER team member Dr. Deborah Birx, 400,000 of those deaths were unnecessary.
- a world where the first family, with access to the best and most effective ( so far) treatment for COVID19 ignored and CRITICIZED simple universal protocols and treatments until those treatments saved their lives in less time than the 48 hours or less that it took for hundreds of thousands to die.
-a world where scarcity, higher prices, and boom and bust cycles are designed to prevent the realization that they are unnecessary for a nation that prints its currency. Yes, we have enough wealth to solve everyone’s problems. In a world that works for everyone, Gates, Buffett, Bezos, and Musk are equal in power to West, King Jr., Davis, and M. X -- and that is a very good thing.
Now go back and stare long and hard at the illustration of humans tethered between 2 sets of machines attached to giant electric power resources ( intentionally NOT INCLUDED in the illustration(s)). That is NOT A FUTURE I DESIRE AND OR AM WILLING TO DIE TO ACCESS. Somebody needs to pull the plug to save the sentient human beings. ASAP.
IF human minds can devise such allegedly elegant, trustworthy, and efficient systems, we can wait for those same minds to create 100% human powered and operated systems. We have become too dependent on machines and fatally addicted to convenience. We can also choose not to go down that road mesmerized by the NEXT BRIGHT SHINY BIG THING!
(C) VernonNickersonSchoolcoach 2021. All rights reserved.
