In a Nutshell: Satoshi Nakomoto is possibly the greatest philosopher of the modern era. The stitching together of the various threads that comprise Bitcoin reflect a deep understanding of math, psychology, human nature, politics, coding, and money. Troy and I discuss philosophical angles related to Bitcoin including what Plato and Aristotle would have thought of Bitcoin, how to influence skeptics of Bitcoin, a new proposal to incentivize green mining, and why Troy does not regret paying 5 bitcoin for a pair of Alpaca socks.
Guest: Troy Cross, Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at Reed College and a self-described “Philosopher, Environmentalist, and Bitcoiner.”
We Discuss:
- Troy’s early foray into Bitcoin mining in 2011 and why he stopped.
- What he learned, in hindsight, in letting millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin slip through his hands by spending it in 2011 – 2013 instead of hodling.
- What Plato and Aristotle may have thought about Bitcoin based on their philosophy.
- What a severe bike accident taught Troy about good pain/bad pain and how that applies to people who view Bitcoin as a way out of a painful system.
- Troy and Andrew Bailey’s proposal to green Bitcoin mining.
- What Jesus has to do with Bitcoin and the importance of storytelling as a means to influence people to become Bitcoin advocates.
- Why Donald Trump might flip to being pro Bitcoin and why Elizabeth Warren probably won’t.
Resources Featured In This Episode
Greening Bitcoin with Incentive Offsets A proposal to invest in bitcoin without contributing to unsustainable bitcoin mining.
Love Bitcoin? Mine Your Values How mining bitcoin can guide the network to sustainability and maintain decentralization.
My Conversations with the Resistance Money Collective
