The Transcendental Power of Numbers and Letters
Blazing Reader,
My post on Monday quoted Syrian cryptographer, Amir Taaki, describing cryptocurrency as a form of magic — combining energy (electricity) and "spells" (mathematical encryption formulas).
Blazing Reader, Eveliina W., wasn't so impressed:
"I think they [the bad guys] control electricity largely and that's needed for internet to work. They can take down ppl's internet access. Without the internet, imaginary money is useless, no?"
Yes! But without technology, most of the bad guys' imaginary power is useless too, is it not?
"Maybe real life gold/silver are better than invisible barely existent crypto? Or real estate."
In many ways, I agree. However, real estate is hardly a form of currency. I can't buy a bag of potatoes with an acre of land. And gold and silver are far harder to carry around (no less flee a war zone) than a cryptocurrency password I can store in my hippocampus.
From Germany, Christian Pillon wrote to say:
Wow! Never thought of Crypto as a form of magic but it totally makes sense. In truth, all you need to do is memorise your private key (12 or 24 keywords) and you basically have access to your money wherever you go. Sure you'll also need a computer and internet access but that's it. If that ain't magic...
As long as no one gets tortured with dad jokes to disclose their private key, yes, I share Christian's enthusiasm.
Amir Taaki's interview describes the magic of this new form of technology which transcends the physical, yet could make physical life so much more pleasant and free. Governments will forever hate cryptocurrency for the very reason it transcends their power to control it.
Of course, none of this is financial advice. I'm just some crazy Canadian fiction writer with a keyboard (who just bought $1500 in gold).
—John C.A. Manley
P.S. The same reason Taaki loves math is the reason I love stories. On the outside, both are about arranging a limited number of characters to create... magic. Somehow, with numbers, we can build massive bridges, super-fast airplanes and hallucinating AI. Likewise, arranging letters can produce stories that communicate concepts, morals and truths with an emotional charge which makes them stick like a burr bush to a deer's behind. If you haven't yet, check out my latest arrangement of the English alphabet (or gift a copy to a friend) at: AlltheHumansAreSleeping.com
John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona, All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of philosophical fiction that are "so completely engaging that you find yourself alternately laughing, gasping, hanging on for dear life." Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber.
