Discovering Bitcoin: Illusion and Ascension; from Plato to Nakamoto
A Guest Post by DJ
PLATO
Discovering Bitcoin is like discovering a world that lies beyond the shadows of illusion cast on the wall of Plato’s cave. I've often remarked on my podcast, Discovering Bitcoin, that Bitcoin is the most intellectually stimulating thing I’ve ever come across. It is a true gift for the insatiably curious. At its core, Bitcoin operates as a neutral protocol, elegantly engineered for transferring value across space and time on the internet. However, if you let it, Bitcoin is also one of the most life-changing, paradigm-shifting, ascension compelling things ever to exist on Earth; not to put too fine a point on it.
In her 1978 video, "Plato's Philosophy; from Socrates to Sartre," American professor of philosophy Thelma Levine delves into Plato's quest to address societal challenges in the 4th Century BC, such as issues of degeneracy, meaninglessness, and corruption. Beyond his famous allegory of the cave, Plato's solution involved the notion of instating a philosopher king at the head of an elite governing class who are endowed with the necessary intellectual rigor and insight for effective governance.
Philosopher kings, Plato asserted, would govern with fairness and trustworthiness due to their moral and intellectual suitability; morally driven by their inherent love for truth and learning, immune to the temptations that lead others to misuse power, and intellectually equipped through rigorous studies to gain a comprehensive understanding of reality:
Until philosophers’ rule as kings or those who are now called kings and leading men genuinely and adequately philosophise, that is, until political power and philosophy entirely coincide…cities will have no rest from evils…there can be no happiness, either public or private, in any other city.
— Plato, Republic
Both Plato and Levine – separated by millennia yet unified by their recognition of an era marked by a loss of meaning and commitment – witnessed crumbling standards of truth and morality, political corruption, and dwindling personal integrity. Today, we find ourselves in a similar predicament, identifying analogous declines in standards, intellectual honesty, responsibility, authenticity, accountability, truth and morality, crimes, scams, fraud, grift, graft, and political corruption, all contributing to the gradual decay of our civilization. Indeed:
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun (except Bitcoin).
— Ecclesiastes 1:9
It’s been 2,500 years since Plato urged us and 45 years since Thelma reminded us that we must be able to act with purpose in order transcend the flickering shadows of illusion to develop a prudent strategy for being in the world, to use a Heideggerian term. In our contemporary context, where banker's wars rage once more and populations are divided, conquered and devoured, where megalomaniacal, self-appointed philosopher kings, like Klaus "ze bugs" Schwab and co., attempt to assert omniscience from their unelected pedestals, the need to rise above the shadow of illusion has never been so evident or so vital.
However, while Plato's vision of a philosopher king is conceptually sound and directionally correct, history demonstrates its inevitable failure, due to the inherent imperfections of humanity;
Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely
— Lord John Acton
Clearly, a philosopher king or queen is impossible. Instead, how about a neutral protocol, elegantly engineered for transferring value across space and time on the Internet? Not a king, per se. Rather, a fixed, immutable, and immortal network and foundation upon which we could, given enough time, foster a civilization in which fallible yet striving humans can use to align incentives and coordinate cooperative human action between themselves over space and time. Moreover, if they so choose to, some could (indeed do, such as Gigi, Cason, Breedlove, Strolight, Svanholm et. al.) imbue a love of knowledge and pursuit of wisdom – i.e. a philosophy – onto it. Imagine, then, a society of self-conscious, self-directed and sovereign philosopher kings and queens, each making principled and moral choices voluntarily free from coercion and without a mortal ruler or small governing elite.
As Bitcoiners, this is what we are striving for—a vision of decentralized, individual empowerment, right?
RUDOLF STEINER
Austrian-born philosopher and founder of anthroposophy (a movement based on the epistemological nature of human wisdom, structures and functions), Rudolf Steiner posited that there exists a spiritual world, comprehensible to pure thought but accessible only to the highest faculties of mental knowledge. He was the editor of many of Goethe's scientific works before publishing his own philosophies on human knowledge, specifically, The Philosophy of Freedom. Generally speaking, his work explores human freedom through individual cognition. According to Steiner, personal cognitive development, cultivated with intention through keen observation and self-aware thinking, enables individuals to surpass material sensory experiences and gain profound knowledge about themselves and the world:
One says that man is free when he stands only under the dominion of his reason and not under that of his animal desires, or that inner freedom means to be able to determine one’s life and action according to purposes and decisions.
— Rudolf Steiner, The Philosophy of Freedom
Steiner advocated for individualism, valuing each person's uniqueness and autonomy as a path to spiritual development and moral freedom. However, such individualism is not divorced from social responsibility. Steiner believed that individual freedom should be exercised in a way that serves the community or the greater good without falling into the trap of collective ownership – ala socialism. He recognized the importance of individual initiative and entrepreneurship found in capitalism, yet criticized unbridled capitalism, which leads to an excess of materialism, high velocity trash, and the degradation of human spirit and values. Steiner proposed a balanced economic system, combining individual initiative with a mindfulness for community well-being.
In essence, Steiner believed that once individuals seek cognitive development rooted in self-aware thinking, they unlock the potential for purposeful human action and inner freedom.
MISES
Austrian economist, Ludwig von Mises is the author of Human Action. In the book, Mises emphasizes the axiom of purposeful human action to address individual dissatisfactions (or a “felt uneasiness”) in the world. Mises's work is seminal in the field of sober economics, which articulates the intersection of human action (praxeology) with cooperative market processes as a pathway to attaining and sustaining individual freedom:
All rational action is in the first place individual action. Only the individual thinks. Only the individual reasons. Only the individual acts.”
“He who only wishes and hopes does not interfere actively with the course of events and with the shaping of his own destiny.
— Ludwig von Mises, Human Action: A Treatise on Economics
While Mises primarily delves into economics and market processes, an applied reading reveals common themes related to the anthroposophy of Rudolf Steiner. Both scholars emphasize the importance of the individual, with Mises asserting the individual as the ultimate decision-maker in a market economy, while Steiner focuses on individual freedom through a cultivation of consciousness and cognition. Both authors opposed coercion and advocate for voluntary interactions between people.
Discovering this esoteric link between Steiner and Mises wouldn't have been possible without my own personal discovery of Bitcoin. Undeniably, Bitcoin rewards curiosity, granting time and bandwidth to explore otherwise obscure ideas—from Plato to Thelma, Steiner to Mises, and now to Nakamoto.
MAKING THE CONNECTION
Plato's idea of a philosopher king is flawed due to the innate fallibility of human begins. Nonetheless, his enduring allegory of the cave holds significance across millennia, intertwining with Steiner's advocacy of personal cognitive development and Mises notion of human action. The crux lies in the interplay between observation and thought, augmenting cognition, expanding choice, and bolstering freedom and free will. This progression is especially evident in a free-market economy, where individuals, driven by incentive and initiative, trade, and entrepreneurship, strive to effect positive change. Needless challenges arise, however, when an economic system's lifeblood relies on fiat money – a currency with value dictated by decree.
Enter Bitcoin.
The discovery of Bitcoin serves as a transformative genesis for many, which is palpable in global conversations among Bitcoin enthusiasts, including those on my podcast, Discovering Bitcoin. This journey of discovery hinges on the interplay between observation and thought, enhancing cognition, expanding choice and optionality, and consequently, advancing freedom and free will. In a world where fiat rules, Bitcoin emerges as a transformative catalyst, granting the curious the opportunity to ponder and probe diverse ideas; from ancient philosophers to modern engineers like Nakamoto.
As demonstrated above, there exists an intricate connection between Steiner's philosophy of freedom guiding individuals toward self-realization through thoughtful observation and introspection, and Mises' economic treatise on purposeful human action, which is enhanced by voluntary trade and cooperation in a sustainable free-market economy. This hidden synergy empowers individuals to escape their own metaphorical cave and accelerate the development of their cognition, such that they can aspire towards a hopeful and profound harmony between the physical and spiritual realms—or, as Bastiat would say, between the seen and the unseen.
Bitcoin, as a protocol for the hardest money humanity ever discovered, is the digital embodiment of Plato's ideal philosopher king, free from human fallibility due to its immutable code and global consensus mechanism. Bitcoin operates by rules, not rulers, aligning incentives for purposeful human action and cooperation. A genuine free-market economic operating system promoted by Mises, supported by a hard currency like Bitcoin, enhances the human capacity for critical, self-directed thinking, echoing the sentiments of Steiner.
Today, Bitcoin emerges as the 2,500-year old missing link, combining Plato's philosopher king and allegory of the cave with Misesean economic principles of human action, and Steiner's spiritual philosophy of freedom through individual cognitive development. When seemingly disparate ideas, such as these, are combined in the minds of thinking and thoughtful individuals, it will help to push the progression for the socio-cultural evolution of civilization in the 21st century.
Discovering Bitcoin, for me, signifies achieving a crucial level of personal cognitive development, which is essential for ascending towards the top of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Thanks to the cumulative effects of NGU tech (or not getting poor slowly technology), Bitcoin grants all individuals increased time, energy, and capacity to act with cognition and purpose. In turn, this empowers us to make more positive contributions, to not only ourselves but also our family, our friends, and our local community, which is precisely the foundation that any sufficiently advanced civilization is built; thinking individuals acting with purpose in order to change the course of events and increasingly shape their own destiny!
And that is exactly what thinking individuals like Plato, Levine, Steiner, Mises, and perhaps even Nakamoto were explicitly or implicitly advocating for all along.
