ARYZE spoke with Brandon Quittem about the multidisciplinary nature of understanding Bitcoin and other blockchain technologies
Brandon Quittem is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, and passionate Bitcoiner. Brandon is also a researcher and as he puts it, “my superpower is taking complex information and turning it into simple, actionable, intelligence”. During his interview with ARYZE, Brandon detailed his understanding of systems, money, and social problems by giving technological, financial, biological and historical context as well as incorporating a multitude of different theories including the Streisand Effect, Game Theory, Gaul’s Theory, the Oracle Effect, and the double-spend problem, also-known-as the Byzantine generals problem.
A multidisciplinary approach in action
These theories and terminology are important to understand when discussing blockchain technologies and understanding the impact that this relatively new technology might have on society and finding the most valuable ways to use this technology. As Brandon points out,
It’s not obvious why it’s going to be important. And most people don’t understand anything about money. They don’t understand monetary history. They just chase some dollars around trying to improve their lot in life. And I don’t blame those people, most people are time poor, and understanding bitcoin and understanding money is very cross-disciplinary.
Brandon is essentially a Bitcoin purist when it comes to blockchain technology. His support for Bitcoin doesn’t come lightly and he uses theories to back up his reasoning as to why he supports Bitcoin to the extent that he does over other forms of digital currency and blockchain technologies. He compares technology to biological systems by referencing Gaul’s Theory, which states that systems start out in a simple form and then increase in complexity, but it’s necessary to start from something simple.
Understanding systems and their impact on money
Bitcoin’s system is simpler than other platforms, enabling others to build off of its simple platform. Even as simple as Bitcoin appears compared to other blockchain platforms, Brandon describes Bitcoin as more of a “franken technology”, meaning that Bitcoin is already a hybrid of the last 50 years of foundational technologies that have been developed regarding e-cash and the use of public/private keys. As for the type of people who typically become interested in Bitcoin, Brandon has observed some qualities that he sees in these types of people, himself included:
Those people are very curious, they’re self-learners, they’re comfortable going against the grain, they’re comfortable being wrong, a little bit of a rebel-spirited as well, and so that’s kind of an easy way to describe the, I’ll say, hardcore Bitcoiners. And it’s easier for that type of autodidact, polymath, whatever you want to say, type person because you have to understand a little bit of economics, a little bit of game theory, a little bit of this that and the other thing.
The multidisciplinary nature of understanding Bitcoin and other blockchain technologies has some drawbacks in the sense that understanding it might cause individuals to become discouraged and apathetic towards its benefits. As stated by Brandon,
My biggest concern in the short-term is that people will be apathetic to the idea that we need to change our money because it just sounds crazy and this is very true in western Europe and in the United States. It’s much less true in countries like Argentina, Venezuela, Greece, Cyprus, etc., where they’ve had currencies fail. And so apathy is the short-term risk, governments making poor short-term decisions that affect me but not necessarily Bitcoin is the long-term risk.
Despite the concerns for Bitcoin implementation, Brandon is optimistic about the future of Bitcoin. Brandon currently sees a three-ring fight for the future of money between government money, corporate money, and what he refers to as the “people’s money”, meaning Bitcoin. His vision is that Bitcoin at the end of the day will win the fight due to the fact that it’s open-sourced, fair, and has a strong assurance as a money due to its limited supply. Drawing from his multidisciplinary approach, Brandon eloquently compares Bitcoin to gold, and he may be onto something.
For more information about Brandon, check out his website: www.BrandonQuittem.com, Twitter: www.Twitter.com/bquittem, and his most well-known article “Bitcoin is The Mycelium of Money” https://www.brandonquittem.com/bitcoin-is-the-mycelium-of-money/.
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