Oddbean new post about | logout
 Sure, it should be understandable to normies, but not everything can be abstracted away. People had to learn what email addresses are, and now they'll have to learn what keys are.  
 Yes I agree, don’t get rid of the term, but perhaps explain it. 
 Spot on. This idea of obfuscating keys is dumb. If explaining to an alien our legacy login system and keys, keys are waaaaayy simpler. Also, the whole point is we are arming people with the most powerful tool of liberation, public key crypto.  
 Also it's not like the basic concept of keys is somehow super complex and hard to grasp. 
 To me this point is the greatest hurdle in society, at least in the US.

Normie land has gone so far to the “just give me the short or simple version.” That no one understands the foundations of anything.

Everyone is just in it to make a quick buck and move on to the next dollar or thing as fast as possible. Everything feels like a big sale without anyone having real interest other than how quickly can money be made. 
 No need to be condescending, your fellow citizens are just fine with their comprehension. 
 My bad, didn’t realize that was condescending. Just something that’s very noticeable.