STORY
Bitcoin and Nostr Were Necessary Prerequisites for The Sci-Fi Idea of Cyberspace to Become Real
AUTHOR
arkinoxarkinox
Joined 2023.03.08
PROJECT
ONOSENDAI オノセンダイONOSENDAI オノセンダイ
DATE
VOTES
sats
COMMENTS
NOSTR
View on Nostr ↗
TAGS
#brainstorm#nostr

Bitcoin and Nostr Were Necessary Prerequisites for The Sci-Fi Idea of Cyberspace to Become Real

Cyberspace (in this context) is an early-internet trope from the 80s. It's an enthusiastic and naive speculation on the future of network-connected computers and how humans might use them. Ultimately, instead of interacting in 3D virtual spaces, humans ended up interacting via documents in web browsers which is much more practical and efficient than 3D visualizations.

Besides the problem of visualizing content, there are several more critical problems with the 'shared consensual hallucination' — problems rarely (if ever) addressed in fiction:

  • Who hosts it?

  • Who decides how it looks?

  • Who owns the content?

  • Who makes the rules?

  • Who assigns the space?

  • Who controls it?

These questions are answered satisfactorily in the era of bitcoin and nostr:

  • Who hosts it? nostr relays

  • Who decides how it looks? nostr clients

  • Who owns the content? users cryptographically own their content

  • Who makes the rules? open source consensus

  • Who assigns the space? an impartial algorithm + proof of work

  • Who controls it? NOBODY

In my opinion, it is only in the context of bitcoin and nostr that something like cyberspace could conceivably exist. Without the decentralized properties of nostr and bitcoin, cyberspace is just another 3D game owned by a company. However, when cyberspace is decentralized, enforces property rights, responds to proof of work, and enables instant value transfer, it becomes something entirely different.

Because cyberspace inherits all of these unique properties from nostr and because value transfer can be executed in cyberspace through bitcoin lightning, I argue that it is time for humanity to take another look at this dusty old concept and start exploring it with renewed interest.

I, unlike many metaverse enthusiasts, have a strong moral preference for reality over illusion. The idealized metaverse or cyberspace worlds that Meta and the like want to build are nothing more than a drug used to extract resources from miserable VR-goggled souls. That is the fiat version of cyberspace and it sucks. I am not interested in building clever simulations that seek to replace reality. I want to build tools that enable people to connect and be more productive. I want to open up new channels for communication, innovation, and human flourishing in reality.

Cyberspace is a new way to visualize the new paradigm for digital communication and property. It is wholly based around cryptography and digital ownership. If not for these things, cyberspace would be irrelevant.

A cyberspace built on decentralized protocols and sound money — nostr and bitcoin — has the potential to be something innovative, healthy, and ultimately productive for humanity. Cyberspace can be something where wealth is not extracted but rather generated by work and free markets. Cyberspace could be a new medium of connection built on sound principles that can enable humanity to do new things not previously dreamed of.

If it were not for the profound inventions of bitcoin and nostr, these aspirations would be nothing but ludicrous and delusional. In fact, any metaverse or cyberspace built outside of the context of bitcoin and nostr are delusional at best and Machiavellian at worst. Spoiler: it's the latter in most cases.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Let's build. https://onosendai.tech