I heard a podcast about Karl Popper and it got me thinking about the drama between Bitcoin Core developers and Knots supporters.
TLDR: Popper said progress happens through bold ideas getting ruthlessly criticized. Nothing is ever guaranteed to succeed just because it seems destined to. All this tension is how an open system is supposed to work.
Bitcoin survives through constant debate and daily choices made by all of us. The real danger isn’t people disagreeing. It’s everyone getting comfortable and thinking there’s no more reason for debate.
Most posts I make on Nostr feel to some extent like a challenge. And I post them anyway. I enjoy that challenge. I write them in part *because* they are challenging.
I'm putting uncomfortable thoughts into the decentralized Nostr void to anyone who wants to host what I say on their relay.
That's why I'm here. I'm adding my thoughts to this medium to help advance it. I write here the things I wouldn't post to the normies on Twitter/X. Only on Nostr do I embrace my weirdness and inappropriateness. I analyzed this ecosystem, and decided that you, and only you, yes you reading this who took the time to be here, deserved to see my real or "based" thoughts to the extent that you care about them. And that includes my weaknesses. I've shown those in some of my recent posts, and I'll continue to show you my weaknesses here. I wrote about the times I got rekt in a fight and cried. I'll type that kind of thing out here, and only here, on Nostr, again and again.
If I post something intellectually polarizing I start to think, "what would my followers think?" But then I'm immediately like, "I don't know. Who cares. If they hate my truths here then were they even real my followers to begin with? Maybe they need to be challenged."
Meanwhile, I *do* care what you all think in aggregate, am willing to disagree with you individually on certain topics, but want to hear your thoughts. And I'm willing to change my views based on you. In fact, many of my Twitter/X posts are there over the past years because I want to see what people comment with before I write my full-on reports. The same is likely true for Nostr. This is raw ground. I want your thoughts. I won't bend my truths toward you, and I'll challenge you, as I expect you to challenge me.
So, if someone takes the effort to be on Nostr and some how reads this, I want them in my ecosystem. I want their criticisms as much as their praise. Criticize me here. I'll enjoy it. Let's go. You're awesome.
And then I'm like "What about my business contacts?" I have like these various billionaire institutional close contacts that are richer than me but have to wear ties to work. But I mean, if they are reading this right now, they are fucking awesome. I think, any of my serious existing business contacts who are cool enough to be here, are likely people I want to continue to work with. If they don't like what I say, they can bring it up with me. Otherwise they can appreciate my rawness here, and recognize that Nostr is where I post my random thoughts or my deep thoughts, and either of which are my raw thoughts.
My goal is to be real, and to advanced this protocol.
The day that far more people are on Nostr, is the day I will practice more public moderation. Until then, and that's probably far away, it's the medium where I will drop f-bombs and describe weird situations and thoughts. Let's go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akPbu6TOx2E&ab_channel=JerisJohnson
It takes courage to expose our weaknesses, even in a place like Nostr that seems to be all echoes. But maybe showing our weaknesses builds strength. Who knows. Anyway I like reading what you write.
Zaps for ads?
If people can send zaps to show support for people’s content, could we use zaps to allow advertisers to send us ads or surveys?
Not sure how it would work, but we’d basically be giving companies access to our attention in exchange for zaps.
I noticed it took like 40 minutes for block 812,461 to get mined.
Had me biting my nails for a bit.
Happy Sunday!
A little flower joy. 
I really loved reading Lyn’s book. She does such a great job at telling the full fascinating story of money and where things (inevitably) went wrong.
I already have a hardback copy from Amazon, but this new special edition sounds like a great thing to gift a friend.
So thankful you wrote this book, Lyn! nostr:note1a9jpfql5kwrjfxqt735ls5gmjnwyf3cj5aacqzydy47ws3vlrn3srsgq28
The cost of living increase for those receiving social security in the US will be 3.2% in 2024, down from a whopping 8.7% in 2023.
I hear people talk about how great it is that payment amounts are higher to keep up with inflation.
What I almost never hear is talk about how this extra money comes from more money printing, which debases the currency further, which increases inflation more, which erodes our purchasing power further, on and on and on.
Signs of #inflation.
Saw 2 dimes on the sidewalk on my morning walk.
3 decades ago I would have felt lucky. 2 decades ago I would’ve been marginally happy. 1 decade ago I would’ve picked them up just because, well, it’s money.
Today: screw it.
Even if my SI joint wasn’t on the fritz, I wouldn’t have bothered.
What’s the point? 