Re: <nettime> Never Mind the Bitcoin?

[Patrice Riemens <patrice@xs4all.nl>]

On 2017-12-13 20:41, Morlock Elloi wrote:
> Bitcoin successfully hijacked a sizable amount of public belief, which
> underwrites any fiat currency, and it doesn't get more fiat than
> Bitcoin.
>
> This is continuation of the phenomena of machine amplification of
> human activities; machines do it better and faster. Socializing, sex,
> education, transport. It's just that now they are getting into more
> esoteric class of activities ... beliefs. The next is probably love,
> and I'd be surprised if in few years we don't get new machine-mediated
> religion which will engulf the current manual ones. Now, that's the
> startup worth funding!
>
> This is not necessarily 'bad'. We are finding out what our primitives
> are, uncluttered by inefficient rituals.


Just after 'shipping' I read a very good article about Zygmunt Bauman in 
the French monthly 'La Decroissance' (highly recommended!), and 
realised, of course, Bitcoin is all about 'liquid modernity'. Which may 
also explain why the hype lasts so long and flies so high. And may be 
last forever, forever being taken as till the next switch, which should 
not be long coming.

Our critique of Bitcoin then probaly looks like being solidly grounded 
in ... solid modernity.

Cheerio, p+7D!

In the Dutch weekly De Groene Amsterdammer, economist Dirk Bezemer 
identified the Bitcoin craze with another form of liquidity: 'liquidity 
preference', a concept I always found a bit hazy - but hey, I'm not 
Keynes ...


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