How do you explain Bitcoin to normies? What worked?
Most of us know this "knowledge gap" - were hesitation and bewilderment sets in when we start talking about miners and nodes and limited supply.
I think most of us have learnt this basic lesson: "Concepts are not things that can be changed just by telling facts."
In the end you can't lecture someone into understanding Bitcoin - hence I have big respect for all those Bitcoin doer's like nostr:nprofile1qyvhwue69uhkyat8d4skutndva6hjtnwv46r5dpcxsuqz9nhwden5te0vfjhgcfwdehhxarjd9kzucmpd5qzqxvfqd89dw8kqmrjfaz6zt8gfggcg93p4tm3s2slv4jrszuugfmt74rjkj
The irony here is that I just post my supplement notes - called field notes - that act as bridges between articles in my Ecology of Bitcoin Series. Hopefully it does not feel like a lecture.
I left this section out from my latest version - it is the debate if autopoiesis can even be considered for social systems like bitcoin.
I thougjht the debate was important - but then jumped back to a version of the article that focuses on Manturana's back story - the rabit hole event.
Thoughts? If there is interest here I can flesh-out this outline:
What is the rabbit hole effect?
I think every Bitcoiner nows this moment intimately!
...and ff course the "rabbit hole" effect is found in so many parts of the human experience well-lived.
As a professinal classically trained educator - it is the hallmark of a great learning environment.
It is the moment when "the thing everybody knows to be true" stops working, and you have to reconstruct from scratch.
Is Bitcoin a living social system? I am sure that many Bitcoiner's would say yes ---> self-organizing/self producing. This is the core topic in my next article.
Part 2 of the article series "Steps to an Ecology of Bitcoin" is up. Comments are welcomed - its a woring in progress and everything is up for updating...
Confession time.
After my first week on Primal, it feels like I am driving over Teton Pass again!
... And also, something else 
profound happened—rediscovering old content from bitcoin influencers I hadn't read in four years felt like hearing those classic rock songs that age perfectly with time. The progress in content quality is insanely refreshing.
My background is in education technology. I still dream of participating in a truly structured, yet decentralized learning environment.
In 28 years, I'd say we've made 3-5% progress—a snail's pace. I hope to back this up with academic-style content exploring the good, bad, and ugly.
Bitcoin has created capacity for a whole new kind of learning experience—not merely degrees of difference. The difference between Education and Marketing is the real acid test—though the line between these worlds is often thin.
IMHO, The modern internet is a grand masquerade where the two entwine like vines in a digital jungle, each claiming to nurture growth while subtly strangling the other's roots.
Regardless, being on Nostr to write this and read others' ideas is a breath of fresh air—I'd estimate an 89.21% reduction in Bitcoin grift compared to X 😇
nostr:nprofile1qyv8wue69uhnzwpc9ccnzdewxg6zuv3nx5argwp58qqnyamnwvaz7tmvde3xjarn9eekzar0wd5xjumfvahxzmpwvdhk6tmwdaehgunjv4kxz7f02y69ynn2v4ehxqpqawnu9vg352863e7tqlc6urlw7jgdf8vf00tmr76uuhflp4nnn68s35x23h - question about signup - why email?
Is it possible to create accounts using nostr credentials?
"What are the dangers of philosophical dualism?
The idea that reality divides into two distinct categories—most famously mind vs. body ('I think, therefore I am').
Or the comedic ones: Carnivore vs. Vegan. But the most important → 🐕 Dog people vs. 🐈 Cat people.
Now the serious stuff:
Isn't it ironic that the Bitcoin landscape is polluted with dualism? I think it's a good thing—healthy freedom provides space to offend each other."
I really found solance with readings from John Dewey - especially this quote:
"... considers philosophical dualism as an unproductive impasse that renders man impotent " 🍆
unfortunately, I use to wear a mask in my old truck before it became a thing to comment on....
..., the putried odour was unrelenting - think Seinfeld episode with that unremoveable car stink. The mask was a little oasis for that run to Home Depot.
I wonder about the stories that lay behind... the mask. I think it would a treasure trove for comedy - when can we have a modern day ---> This Hour Has 22 Minutes?
proof of work ?
Congrats 🌹- the smiles speak for themselves.
The English word "truth" comes from "trust"—not from "verification."
So "Don't trust, verify" contains a hidden paradox: you're rejecting trust to find truth, but truth etymologically IS trust.
“Is Bitcoin more like a herd of horses or an iPhone?”
I started asking this in 2018. Most self-identified Bitcoiners have long agreed: it’s NOT an iPhone — it’s something more.
But what is the “more”?
My new article series is digging into exactly that:
Bitcoin as a:
Lliving system vs artifact/commodity.
Right now I’m exploring whether Bitcoin is autopoietic — a self-organizing, self-producing system.
Part 2 coming soon… but first I need to find a bridge to it.
Also, I miss Wyoming’s high-desert wonder — big time! 🏜️
https://blossom.primal.net/e7e2814991b4c1743acc93291aebe146434584e9119b4346d31a72cc313faf23.mp4
True, Truth, Trust, Verify
"Trust has to do with what we can do together without doubting."
— Humberto Maturana
The father of Autopoietic Theory had a lot to say about the concepts of trust, truth and verification .
In the 70's - during the peak post-moderism rise in Chilean society - think Pinochet era being born out of this mileu. ..
... Manturana was part of this "cybernetics of cybernetics "movement that help shape the formulations of autopoiesis concept... this second order cybertics movement had a completely different attitude towards sciencetifc truth - post 60's science crisis was a big thing!
Today in Bitcoin space the terms "self-organizing" and "self-producing" get applied to descibe the bitcoin network, which, I think , often is implicitly suggesting the bitcoin networking is a n honest, natural and organic - system based on Truth.
The word TRUTH is everywhere. I hope my adventures in to Manturana's auto-poiesis will provide a different perspective on the mantra:
Don't trust. Verify.
Part 1 fo 12 is up - more coming.
At times I feel alone on this one.
Not very FOND of the mantra:
===> Don't Trust. Verify.
Thoughts?
Sure it sucks to lose trust. But I sure want to BUILD the capcity to trust.
---> Trust & Verify.
Be response-able 😀
Trying the bridge the gap between theory and practice ... bitcoin can be a puzzle of puzzles at time...
part 1 of 12 ... long form article:
Steps to an Ecology of Bitcoin
Part 1: The Definition Problem
Core concept: Definitional plurality as feature, not bug
"How Self-Creating Systems Transform Learning, Money, and Intelligence"
This is the working title on another bitcoin thesis.
☀️ Anybody else thinking of these kinds of things? ☀️
"Operational Closure" What Bitcoin and AI Reveal About Mind, Communication, and Control.
keyword: Autopoiesis
Scheiße.
I hope its sounds better in German.
Anyway.. I so wanted to share some ideas here in 2023 - but opted out -- too much ideology spinning about. But like Grandpa use to say - "there is never better time then now."
Scheiße.
My Original Thesis Statement 2003:
"Educational technology is not only compatible with experiential education but will provide it a concise and fully developed epistemological justification from a biological perspective."
What does this have to do with Bitcoin?
There was a time that nostr:nprofile1qythwumn8ghj7ct5d3shxtnwdaehgu3wd3skuep0qyt8wumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgtcqyphydppzm7m554ecwq4gsgaek2qk32atse2l4t9ks57dpms4mmhfx5ltf6v and others may have expressed interest in Autopoiesis - did anything come of that?
first post. Not my last. Let's go and see what lies ahead ...