I listened to the entire podcast. Rusty is the poster child for ossification. Let me explain…

1. This Isn’t A “Restoration”

For starters, this is not a “restoration” of some long lost functionality blessed by Satoshi that was mistakenly disabled. 

At 5:20, Rusty admits that he has no idea why Satoshi disabled some of those codes, but Rusty assumes Satoshi thought they were potentially dangerous. 

Was Satoshi worried about the opcodes being dangerous to the operation of the core software? Or to the interlocking social incentives underpinning the entire system?

Rusty doesn’t know and doesn’t even consider factors beyond the memory usage or CPU cycles of the core software itself. 

Why the myopic perspective? We find out later in the podcast. 

2. Rusty’s Design Philosophy Is Dangerous 

At 49:00, Rusty says that he expects this more powerful scripting language will be used in unanticipated ways. 

This engineering mentality is suitable for a startup where the stakes are low. 

Do you think engineers of nuclear power stations would add a powerful API that could be used in unanticipated ways?

Of course not. 

When stakes are high, responsible engineers only enable limited functionality KNOWN to be safe. They don’t add powerful capabilities to “see how people will use them”. They move slowly and cautiously. They err on the side of conservatism. 

3. “But First, Do No Harm”

To your credit, you asked Rusty about the possibility that these new powerful capabilities might be abused. 

We then learn why Rusty doesn’t consider anything beyond the memory consumption and CPU cycles of the software. 

His terrifying answer? He. Just. Doesn’t. Care. 

At 51:00, Rusty admits that it will enable people to do more evil things. Not a problem, he thinks, because there are already lots of ways to abuse the system. What’s the problem with adding more?

Rusty doesn’t seem to respect what bitcoin is. He doesn’t seem to appreciate that bitcoin core protects the life savings of millions of people and is our hope for the future. 

He doesn’t even fully consider the first order effects, never mind the second or third. 

Rusty is dangerous. Clearly skilled, but lacking wisdom to apply those skills appropriately. Paving the road to hell with his good intentions. 

He should be nowhere near bitcoin core until he truly understands the significance of what he’s playing with.