Balaji Srinivasan: The Network State is Eternal

[@DrBrianKeating]

Will ₿itcoin become a global currency or will it never catch on?

[@kbkesq]

SBF is going to probably show the biggest use case is laundering funds. His parents are crooked Stanford law professors and he’s claiming only $100,000 to his name. Mean who’s my who’ve probably funneled billions into cold storage.

[@seespacelabs6077]

Not betting on Bitcoin. It needs to be fixed (energy needs, slow tx time, difficulty of use, instable value) or supplanted by a better decentralized cryptocurrency. And there's a race to do that before state/oligopoly-based digital currencies become the main competition with fiat power enforcing their dominance. The idea that Bitcoin will thrive in an underground rebellion is comic-book-hero thinking. If you can't buy groceries, pay the rent, and declare income on your tax return with Bitcoin, then it's never going to rise above a toy and speculation vehicle.

[@ldgaetano]

If it does, it probably won't be the only one. From a scientific/technical perspective it's like the iPhone 1 of blockchains. Do we really want the iPhone 1 running the financial system of the globe?

[@kutark]

I would argue it already is a global currency, however i believe what you're asking is if the world will adopt it as the official currency, so to speak. I don't ever honestly see this happening. The vast majority of governments operate on a monetary policy that is built upon the manipulation of currency. Bitcoin is effectively unmanipulable and therefore will be rejected.

[@ldgaetano]

@@kutark yeah as a currency it works if that's all you want it to be. but it's pretty useless otherwise. it's a digital rock.

[@chippinator69]

Dr Keating, I love the collection of heterodox thinkers that you bring to the world. Moar Eric Weinstein please, or convince him to resume The Portal. Thanks for all the content!

[@loushark6722]

Oh God no !

[@haniamritdas4725]

Ramanujan himself was a devotee of the goddess, Namagiri Laxshmi. He devoted all of his life and work to her, and said that he received mathematical insights from dreams and visions from her. You can ignore that if you want to, but it isn't really very authentic to say no one knows his methods. They simply cannot use them for reasons of their own. Go ahead and pretend you know enough to reject Ramanujan's own explanation for his process, if you need to to take possession of all the ideas as a commercial commodity. But this economy of dead ideas is the actual fantasy, compared with the idea of devotion to God in whatever form.

[@BR-cr6mf]

Love the podcast Dr. Keating. Just a small suggestion...a better podcast mic on your end would make the listening experience much more enjoyable and easier. Keep up the great work!

[@DrBrianKeating]

Working on it!

[@humanoid2423]

Good to hear Balaji

[@DrBrianKeating]

Thanks for your feedback.

[@kbkesq]

Good question why BTC came along when it did technically. The mother of invention was monetary. Bitcoin came along when people realized after 2008 GFC that fiat monetary system was screwed. Global race to the bottom meant there was no true safe harbor currency. DXY strength lately and Sollar Millshake Theory are a new set back on that path downward but there was an overarching fear of hyperinflation globally that hasn’t yet happened.

[@seespacelabs6077]

Brian, your mic audio was clipping (sounding distorted). There are things you can do to avoid this. Thanks much for the excellent show.

[@BillyCardano]

Huge thanks to both of you wonderful human beings!

[@JJ109-h1y]

A 16 oz. pint of fresh, virtually brewed beer in the Network State is .00041 BTC

[@borispetrovchich3141]

There are reports stating that CIA invented its money - Bitcoin. See, e.g., the latest issue (yesterday’s) of Jacob Dreizin report

[@ramaiyer9348]

Please if possible have a discussion with Professor Roald Hoffmann , Emeritus NL from Cornell

[@kbkesq]

Balaji has a unique gift for making the simple complex. We shall call it “Balaji’s Corkscrew.”

[@padraigadhastair4783]

Brilliant podcast Brian, you have the best friends.

[@DrBrianKeating]

Thanks very much

[@InkaHacker]

I would love to know what are the resources Balaji is talking about. At minunte 54:10 - "When money is in abundance, people want status. When status is abundant, people want money" He mentions names like "david brooks" and "megan mcconnell" and the concept of "income - status dysmogamy". I think this might be a one commandment for a startup society

[@samtallen0]

I would love to see a conversation between Eric and Balaji

[@jamesruscheinski8602]

can there only be human decentralization through divine centralization? how might a network state have divine centralization? in what way can science and technology have divine centralization?

[@constantineandreu9377]

The "Network State" Genius👌

[@jamesruscheinski8602]

does communication provide central authority for network state?

[@JRichardson711]

Balaji's way of thinking is refreshing and unique for me. It can be overwhelming at times because the concepts are new, but i find myself seeking them out when I realize I'm bored with the same old things I already know. I like thinking about emergent phenomena on different levels of scale and complexity. For example... think physics, layered beneath chemistry, which underlies biology. A new behavior emerges at each level. We think and exist a few levels up from the bottom. It's fascinating to think about what emergent phenomena could exist on levels above us. What are levels above us and where could they be? New behavior seems to arise when vast numbers of things collect and act together. Balaji’s network state is a collection of us and our actions, complete with emergent behavior and trends. This man has been thinking on the next level before I even knew it existed.

[@jonbrooke8308]

Love your podcast Brian, and I couldn't fault your discussions on science and technology (not least because I'm only graduate level educated in those areas and am usually at my limit just following what you are discussing!) but I do worry when you are a bit more off-piste yourself and fairly major assertions (about 54:00) like "what people mean by equality is that they want to see the top 4% have less" just go by without discussion. This is a trope of the right that certainly doesn't reflect *my* leftish, social democrat leanings for one, and I do fear that to Americans in particular have this picture of socialism as simply the politics of envy. That's not the way I see it at all and I don't think it is the way that many in the left leaning countries in Western Europe see it either - even those with very high levels of taxation such as the Scandinavian countries, which perhaps not coincidentally have remarkably happy populations with relatively high standards of living across the board. Personally, what I see as equality is equality of opportunity, not opportunity of outcome. One of the massive privileges of living in the UK (still, despite recent Governments) is the knowledge that we all have the safety net of a national health service that will be there for us whatever. That is part of my idea of equality. I also want every child to benefit from a great education regardless of the wealth of its parents. That is part of my idea of equality. But these things do need to be paid for, and to my mind it is absolutely fine that the richest pay more not least because so much of the wealth of the richest few percent is unearned income (see Capital by Thomas Piketty for best explanation of how this mechanism is *inherent* in capitalist societies). Obviously there have been huge gains through entrepreneurialism, not least where it has been relatively unfettered like in Silicon Valley, but lets not forget that many tech industries are built on technologies developed by states (e.g. internet, GPS, space flight etc etc) and I think the idea that this can all now be ignored comes out of hubris. OTOH I would still love to hear you discussing these wider topics with guests, but as I say, I do worry that there is a prevailing mindset amongst otherwise curious people in the tech sector that doesn't even question the most strongly individualistic (dare I say selfish (dare I say greedy)) form of capitalism. I would love you to prove me wrong!

[@pesimeon]

I've listened to dozens of your podcasts over the years. It's great. But I have one strong suggestion: let your guests speak more. You very frequently repeat a question over and over again in slightly different ways, and that takes up valuable time.

[@jamesruscheinski8602]

network state is decentralized geographically?

[@lucasscheiblich9555]

Could network membership effectively replace national membership? I think that's a great question to delve into for part 2.

[@DrBrianKeating]

Cool

[@donnysandley4649]

Fantastic podcast Brien 👍 although I look forward to your podcast in the same room 😁

[@DrBrianKeating]

Thanks very much

[@jollojakar8995]

This isn't even 8 hours long..

[@AA-gw6wd]

Planning my, not the “next social engineering utopia revolution.“ but I don’t know how. 😭

[@Jordanlopezmusic]

Aloha from Hawaii!

[@DrBrianKeating]

Mahalo🎉

[@kutark]

Regarding the conversation at about 1:17:00 - The tech people (locally speaking) are causing it. You can blame it on the government, which is true in the sense they are the direct cause, but the local citizenry are absolutely the ones causing it because they almost always vote for the people who run the government in addition to (as your guest mentioned) enabling it through spending money within that local economy.

[@Darkmattermonkey77]

I have no questions anymore. At mid-forties, I’m no longer curious about things. Life is what it is and doesn’t require my inquiries.

[@____uncompetative]

There are always new things to learn, and pleasure to be gained in learning them. However, if you find learning to be onerous, and not worth your time investment, versus perceiving the world through the partial understanding you have thus far formed of it, at the risk of overlooking some aspects you would otherwise have engaged with, that is fine too.

[@seespacelabs6077]

I don't relate to this point of view, despite just turning 50. Still, it's honest and interesting. I do find there is some relief in understanding that one's curiosity isn't needed by the World, especially on subjects that others are handling much better. And we can still have the joy of curiosity without feeling we must pursue or contribute anything important.

[@SK-kj1ge]

I'll never understand why podcasts set a time limit on Balaji Let's be honest - you have nothing more important to do than talk with Balaji

[@InkaHacker]

Jeez. What kind of billboards are been placed on SF? 😂 1:02:10

[@ramaiyer9348]

Stochastic , big data is that.

[@jamesruscheinski8602]

communicating information from God's free will sovereignty to a network is human decentralization of natural choice; communicating information from physical nature to a network is human centralization and choice?

[@jamesruscheinski8602]

financial / economic transaction for communicating information in network is human centralization; financial / economic transaction for God's free will sovereignty is human decentralization?

[@martinlutherkingjr.5582]

Bitcoin headed to $30k

[@jessieadore]

I promise you nobody wants to live in a network state with a bunch of boring tech bros.

[@XargonCMS]

Sound is weird again get help

[@miss_lisa]

No it's not. It only exists until someone breaks the encryption...which is inevitable given enough time.

[@haniamritdas4725]

Or the blockchain just becomes too expensive to parse

[@andanssas]

If a "proof of state" like concept is introduced in the blockchain (e.g. Algorand), even with all time in the universe or a high qubit quantum computer, the ledger cannot be altered by "cypto-breakers".

[@haniamritdas4725]

@@andanssas what about the wallets though? If you break encryption then how can you validate ownership of data?

[@andanssas]

@@haniamritdas4725 a valid proof of state is reached when multiple stakers/contributors for any transaction are confirmed by an external entity (untrusted prover), so even if you can break it, you can't make it (i.e. change the ledger). I'll try to post the link to the tech/geeky explanation on my next comment.

[@miss_lisa]

@@andanssas Don't have to bereak the ledger encription to make the Block-Chain fail as a trusted platform, just the login encription.