Bitcoin: The Inverse of Clown World by Knut Svanholm and Luke De Wolf, Media Lemniscate, 175 pages, $ 25.00.
This is a review of the book from The number of mining of Bitcoin Magazine Print. Get your copy Here.
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There is a similarity among the books of Bitcoin published this [last] Summer: they are all focused on car-miglocal and spiritual development. As a community, it seems that we went from writing what money was, to what was or to the way it operates in the modern world – or to the specific ways in which Bitcoin differs.
Instead, we are now writing and thinking about life with Bitcoin. Bitcoin has a culture, its virtues and values push its users in certain directions. [Aleks] Svetski writes of classic virtues and how they allow us to live well on a Bitcoin standard. Mekhail writes on how children grow with intention and a long -term, orange focus. In Bitcoin: The Inverse of Clown WorldKnut Svanholm and his Sidekick Podcast Luke De Wolf give us “a journey of introspection and self-mocked” (page 11). This “is a book about you” (page 13); not so different from how [George] Mekhail thinks of parenting.
It is an incredibly fun and powerful book, with a lot of food to think about the crowds of our world. The header of the chapter are slickThe chapters themselves digestible and recognizable. If a measure of a book is the frequency with which I laugh, it brings out my highlighter or incessantly send quotes to friends, then Reverse of the world of clown receives excellent votes. It is the perfect combination of light, relaxed reading and hard punch, sprinkled with an entire jar of humor.
The charm of Reverse It is to see that all madness in the world – political grandmother, gender dysphoria, wide morality, fiscal and political decay – require an explanation. Why is it happening? How did this come to this? It obviously seems irrelevant and so obviously stupid.
Svanholm and De Wolf have an answer, that “it is simpler than you might think. When the money stops working, everything becomes political and a farce“(Page 51). Incredibly, the main suggestion of the book is that the moral and political collapse is downstream of money.
Croaching us directly from the deep, the opening chapter is praxeology – that arcana and philosophical foundation for the whole Austrian economy. We therefore venture from the highest leaders of the academic economy and mathematics to the interpretations of the popular culture of Christopher Nolan The dark knight, to the observations of mutual altruism in nature and its counterpart in human internet affairs. High and low, really.
Some dozen pages in in, seems to read a description similar to a textbook of the markets and the hypothetical stylized economic known as the prisoner’s dilemma. The authors draw important conclusions from the modern debate on that theoretical game exercise: “[economist Robert] Axelrod’s discoveries underlined the importance of being friendly and forgiven, but also adequately retaliation “(page 19).” The balance between personal interest and cooperative behavior is crucial in the game of life, in which decisions moderate the future “(page 21).
What has to do with the world of clown is a little unclear, and in fact we have to wait about fifty pages to get a vague idea of what the authors mean for the label. Once again, if you read Svanholm before or listened to the Bitcoin Infinity Show-o, you know, you have not been linked to the cave for the last decade-più-you have a good idea.
Several descriptions are large, which is understandable when trying to capture something approximately “all stupid”. It is the desire for free lunches (page 41). It is here that “the pleasant bureaucrats become increasingly profitable, while providing as much value as possible to your companions becomes more and more useless” (page 50). Clown World follows directly from a political money, “who makes people concentrate on totally arbitrary issues” (page 65); In fact, most of the so -called social problems are not even problems. Clown World is focused on equality (page 101). On the contrary, Bitcoin is right, honest and meritocratic. At the end of the book, we learn that “the world of clown is a by -product of people who do not take responsibility”. From that definition it follows quickly, through self -reflection and better “mental software”, that “assume the responsibility of your actions is the only thing that can make the entire damned circus disappear” (page 163):
“The success in the world of Bitcoin derives from the supply of value to your companions human beings, not to theft of mass or political manipulation. All divided by 21 million is equivalent to the inverse of the world of the clown.”
There is no doubt in the mind that the world of clown is truly disappearing, removing his most burning supporters and the last and bitter beneficiaries who kick and scream. The gentlemen Svanholm and De Wolf think something similar:
“Things like Bitcoin’s automatic doors will be ridiculous as the telephone cabins in the not too far future. […] They are not only the automatic counters that will fall into obsolescence. All in the world of the Gurassic Fiat currency is on the verge of extinction. Are you a dinosaur or a human being? “
Between the ridiculous of participation and the concerns about climate change, we receive many tips on the screening of noise and on the protection of one’s time and mind. We receive personal chapters on Knut that crosses the rainy girl of Gothenburg, Sweden, as well as incredibly long adventures in space -time and astrophysics Einstein. The relevant relevance for the world of clown (“Our attention also models our realities”, page 113) could have been achieved without so much extravagance.
We receive reflections on creativity, stoicism and what is the relationship between freedom and responsibility. In fact, “whatever small step you do to increase your personal freedom imprint increases the total level of dioxide of freedom in the atmosphere” (page 133).
Why should you read this book? It’s simple, really: it’s Knut, it’s fun and, sometimes, it’s quite stimulating.
Selected quotations:
- “When people know quite Bitcoin for having stopped worrying about their financial future, they usually care less about how others perceive their words and actions and more honesty and integrity” (page 53).
- “In a world where correct pronoun assignments, teenage meteorological activists, the great game of last night, the last boyfriend of Taylor Swift and a mostly harmless influence are main news, it is easy to see that a certain strength is trying to avoid the eyes of men behind the tent” (pages 24-25)
- “Clownish political ideas exist until politics themselves. They come in many ways, shapes and forms, and it can be difficult to see their ridiculousness when they live with each other” (page 36)
Final Nugget:
“You are an absolute winner if you have another Satoshi this year compared to the last. Zoom and be patient. Sell the chairs, kill your heroes and take responsibility for your actions” (page 63).
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are entirely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
