Attention! Currency! Electricity!
Almost trance-like, I've been looking at this website for the past few hours: http://fiatleak.com/
Looks like the recent, and still on-going Bitcoin bull market is being caused by China's currency movement. Whether or not if that's a good sign for long-term currency longevity, one thing's for sure - our minds are absolutely incapable of truly comprehending the magnitude of what's to come, if mass adoption really happens.
Are cryptocurrencies an inevitability of the times? Maybe my optimism comes from assuming that most things are just technical hurdles, and a responsive social platform with a 3-second blocktime helps with market efficiency.
The speed of cash is important so that capital is being utilized, direct or indirectly to the betterment of a currency. And check this out. An entry of the word currency in an online etymology dictionary:-
1650s, "condition of flowing," from Latin currens, present participle of currere "to run" (see current (adj.)); the sense of a flow or course extended 1699 (by John Locke) to "circulation of money."
When geeks start mixing attention, currency, and electricity for non-geeks, maybe something beautiful eventually happens. After all, attention is really the only resource that every single human being owns. It's something that is now shareable at the speed of light in social space, and perhaps a currency that sets itself up that way is the highway.
But aren't all currencies abstracted products of social attention? Maybe it's the same thing in all systems, except for speed and structure. Personally, I think currency distribution primarily through social means is incredibly powerful as it is not only exclusively available to those with material capital. In terms of risk-taking, I sincerely think that the economics of risking time and attention is just as real as a Bitcoin miner risking material capital to purchase and maintain machines (that do all the work in the end anyway).
And just like any electrical circuit - there is intended function (make life awesome) and resistance (squabbling and structure). Both STEEM and Steemit's design philosophy seems to be making it as responsive and as low-barrier as possible, effectively minimizing other kinds of resistance.
Now consider the classic formula V = IR. Voltage equals product of current and resistance. With a limited power source, lowering of R(resistance) is bound to increase I(currency). So is this a good sign? Who knows? What I'm describing here might not even be a fair parallelism. But neuron-to-neuron, mind-to-mind, and so, currency shall flow.
That sounded as much like poetry as it did a currency lesson. You have a way with words Kevin!
Thanks! Admittedly it's pseudoscience and pseudophilosophy, but I'm glad it's interesting lol
iT'S very beautiful post :)
Oh thanks! I spent a few hours trying to pen this down :)
STEEM has been holding strong in light of this rise. Very interesting times indeed. I am debating weather or not to scoop up another chunk of BTC. Eventually will go into STEEM. This is one of my crypto savings accounts. Would you wait to buy more BTC or scoop some up in the next week? I will be picking up another few hundred coins but waiting for the right time....
Oh wow, I've never really held onto many BTCs for too long tbh, usually opting for my favs Eth, Steem, Bts, although I've certainly chosen the wrong period to hold onto these lol! But anyway, it's a good thing. Perhaps with the BTC wave going on around, it's a good time for Steemit to gain more attention if the community positions itself well :)
As an electrical hobbyist I love your analysis here.
Thanks! I'm one myself :) although I have to admit that hardware is not my strong suit!
There's something in the air alright! Lovely words :)
Electric is what's up in the air :)
Great post, @kevinwong. I enjoyed reading it!
Thanks @the-future for taking the time to do so :)
I like the parallelism you made :)
It's the first time I've used V = IR after so many years haha! :D
Our electricity tutor team is however complete so that you cannot join... too bad :D
This analogy is completely apt, and may be more than that. "The condition of flowing" from currens and currere, gives us currents, in water, which not only flows, it carries. It also gives us the current, in electricity, which flows, and carries. It is also said, in the human energy arts, that where attention goes, energy flows, and chi not only flows, but carries, and even has a bio-electrical component.
Currency, flows and carries value from one person to the next, but would not without attention. Cryptocurrency could exist without electricity, but would be immensely more difficult. So ideally, cryptocurrency has a component of both electricity and attention. Additionally, time is also said to flow. Attention is application of energy over time. It is also said that time is money. I'm not too sure about that, let alone time being currency, but it does seem related.
There appears to be much to learn by using these analogies, and seeing the commonalities among water (fluid dynamics), electricity (energy), currency, and attention.
Reasoning by analogy can be troublesome, but use of analogy can sometimes be elucidating.
I think there should be a correction before CNY
That website is mesmerizing... great find. I also dig your electrical analogy here. Phew. What a wild few days!