I was moved to tears several times at Bitcoin Atlantis in Madeira.
The quality, sincerity, generosity, kindness, respect, and encouragement which characterize the interactions I had is on a level I’ve never before witnessed or experienced.
All those people, with a shared passion and dedication for the mission, humbled by all which it represents, interacting with each other as fundamentally equal, but experientially and intellectually unique, creates the best possible foundation for friendship, for mutual understanding, for helping and supporting each other, or for just hanging out and basking in the shared experience, and whatever forces are generating it.
It’s become such a consistent occurrence (though more pronounced each time) that it’s easy to forget just how special it is.
Bitcoin (only) conferences aren’t ‘industry events’, they are little wormholes to the future that flash open for a few days so people can feel what things are like when we orient and express our actions around such a form of truth - as represented in, accessed through, and propagated by, bitcoin.
‘Number go up’ is great and necessary, and none of this would happen without it, but it’s a ‘means’, not an ‘ends’.
What is experienced between people when they are so humbled by the truth, and so lifted and liberated by its presence, is the true nexus of creative inspiration, from which all that is good and beautiful may spring. That is the true ‘ends’, which we might simply understand to be alignment with the generative force we call ‘love’, and the products thereof.
Not the phony, wishy-washy, ‘everyone can be right’ kind of ‘love’, but the one which allows for argument and debate, honest feedback and opinion, while remaining grounded in a paramount aim that is movement toward Truth, which subordinates any divisive differences to this, ultimately uniting, shared objective.
Anyways, Bitcoin Atlantis just reminded me how incredible what’s happening here really is, and how much of a pleasure and honour it is to be sharing it with you (you know who you are).
Thank you.
🧡
Bitcoin Atlantis was a glimpse into the future…and it looks incredible.
All love. All family. All down for the cause.
Thank you and congratulations to everyone involved, especially @andreloja 🙏
The orange era cometh 🚀
I was way too enthralled to remember to take a photo, but @TIP_NZ just absolutely crushed, amazed, stole the show at @BitcoinAtlantis. Literally moved to tears. Amazing.🔥
I sometimes use it as a stand-in or catch-all for those people who act dishonestly, unfairly, or immorally at the expense of others, knowingly or not. There are perhaps many ways Gigi’s ‘Us’ answer could be interpreted, but I see one as the inevitability of everyone being a ‘they’ (pejoratively) to someone, mostly by ignorance. For example, I might consider those who knowingly and selfishly perpetuate an unfair monetary system, at the expense of those coerced (legal tender laws) to use it, to be a ‘they’. Similarly, the mother of a young boy ‘forced’ to work in cobalt mines in response to my demand for the phone I’m writing this on, may consider me a ‘they’. Ultimately, though I sometimes (lazily) use it myself, I think if we are to criticize anyone or anything, it is not only more accurate, but far more useful, to be as specific as possible when we do so. This allows us to isolate the issue, and devise a solution, without catching in the net of our condemnation those who aren’t deserving of it, and de-legitimizing our capacity and reliability for identifying the true cause and culprits of problems in the process. Of course, one may go even further and simply come to the conclusion that even being specific with one’s criticisms is a sub-optimal (and again, lazy) approach, and one ought to focus entirely on the solutions (to perceived problems) which are within one’s capacity or control - basically just adhering to Bucky Fullers advice regarding building solutions which make problems (be they people or systems) obsolete. I see the latter as being the most legitimate and effective, and try to use the former less and less.
GM☕️
Here is yesterday’s hang w/ @PABLOF7z@andreloja & @Gigi
First half on implications & recent developments of/in Nostr.
Second half is discussing life in Madeira (all living there), the emerging bitcoin economy, & the upcoming @BitcoinAtlantis conference.
https://fountain.fm/episode/u9IgBKhpgWtNFXjJYVSE
As many of you know, ‘adopting’ #bitcoin tends to have several positive impacts on one’s life, including one’s approach to health. To explore this phenomenon in more detail (and recap his experience with the Canadian trucker protest), @Cari₿ou joins me for the first ep of the ‘Bitcoiner Health Hang’ series.
https://fountain.fm/episode/8jIc4Rg2tniRbeD3zHZh
The bitcoin circular economy is not just about transacting in bitcoin, it’s also about transacting with people who share a similar set of values, which inevitably influences the products and services which they offer, and the manner in which they do so.
@RemnantMd is one such example. A medical doctor & bitcoiner, he is pushing back against ‘fiat medicine’, by exploring an approach to health which is more consistent with ‘bitcoin values & principles’.
He was also on the front lines during ‘the hysteria’, and shares with me his take on the many ‘shenanigans’ that took place, the distorted incentives that led to the misrepresenting of facts, treatments which harmed rather than helped, and his arc from hero to villain at the hospital where he worked, ultimately being dismissed for his resistance to mandates.
It’s a wild and important story / perspective to hear.
https://fountain.fm/episode/tszRpbYuyKqEUhGzuuL3
Looking for 3 bitcoiners to join me on a pod to discuss the candidacy of @RobertKennedyJr
If you’re interested, let me know why in comments or message.
🙏
I recently had Izzy ( @AmberApp) John Carvalho (Synonym) & FractalEncrypt on to discuss Jordan Peterson’s comments / stance on the ‘threats’ posed by anonymous/pseudonymous social media accounts, a more nuanced view of the ‘problem’, and more targeted / individualized solutions.
https://fountain.fm/episode/SlhkQZaqdl4zoUi8x9Yr
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Notes by johnkvallis | export