So happy I got to experience the tail end of the sukura blossoming season!
We are all ultimately somewhat enslaved by our environment. Complexity theorists call this path dependency. The belief that we exist apart from such constraints is not something I subscribe to.
I believe all morality is ultimately subjective. I subscribe to a moral and ethical system, and I stand up for it pretty vigorously. But I don't believe metaphysical claims can be made about my ethics.
Definitely not a problem for me! I don't believe there is an objectively correct morality. Which permits curiosity of many different perspectives.
It's also important to remember that empathy and sympathy are not the same thing. One can empathize with someone who, from your perspective, is immoral. But that doesn't mean you therefore sympathize with them.
Good example is hostage negotiators. They're essentially professional empathizers. But that doesn't mean they think the hostage taker is a good person. Etc.
Always remember: everyone is just trying their best, with what they know and what they have. Even the people you badly disagree with. Spend time trying to understand people and things you disagree with. It will make it harder to hate.
this is a guy who has clearly come to terms with the fact he's never getting his $44b back.
I'm definitely not wishing for it to transform into a low-trust society!
Unfortunately, the vast majority of human societies do not exhibit this level of social trust and order.
It's crazy how high-trust of a society Japan is. People literally just leave their bags on the street when they go into places, confident nobody will steal them -- and nobody does!
On my way to Tokyo next!
Gm, Osaka! Can't believe I haven't been back here in 10 years. 
Rule of law is the other big one.
#[0]ā whatās your take on https://archive.is/2P2IC ? Iām no macro economist but it seems compelling - basically thereās no chance for yuan to materially dominate international trade because itās not freely convertible, and if china were to let it be their export-driven economy would implode with a rising yuan.
They'd also have to give up complete control of their capital account, and run a trade deficit with the rest of the world. They'd also have to be the kind of place in the world where people want to park excess savings.
The last part is particularly laughable, because even the Chinese rich go out of their way to park excess savings outside of China.
Restrictionist land use policies have played a huge role, here. It's impossible to build new housing in California. And if you do, it will happen after 5-10 years of lawsuits forcing the city to issue you a building permit.
I don't think anything about the future is this certain. I prefer to advocate and work towards the future. Never believe you can assume you've already won. I think that's always naive. Not just with bitcoin. But with everything.