Cryptocurrency will soon be a form of replicator credits in the post-scarcity economy.
Satoshi Nakamoto described his invention like this: “Bitcoin is an electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any two willing parties to transact directly with each other without the need for a trusted third party.”
This statement, and the idea that it represents, is the backbone of the cryptocurrency movement. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies allow two individuals or groups to exchange a store of value directly and without the sanction of any other individual or group.
This is significant because it means that individuals can exchange value with each other without an intermediary, and without having to trust each other. This is a small step toward a world where we can interact and exchange value with one another without having to rely on the help of another human being to do so. It is a small step, but a revolutionary one.
The idea of being able to exchange value with another person over a distance without a trusted intermediary is a relatively new one. For example, before the advent of the telegraph, mail carriers were the only way that individuals could communicate over a distance. The telegraph changed that, much as mail carriers reduced the burden on prior systems like carrier pigeons.
Cryptocurrency takes this idea of direct communication with another individual and pushes it to the next logical step: the exchange of *value*. Before Bitcoin, individuals could exchange data with each other, but not value. Bitcoin allows individuals to exchange value with each other over a distance without the assistance of another human being.
Other cryptocurrencies have been created as well, such as Ethereum, that allow the exchange of all sorts of information and value between individuals. It is because of this ability to exchange value and information directly between individuals that many in the cryptocurrency movement refer to the movement as a movement toward a post-scarcity society.
A post-scarcity society is a society where all of the necessities of life are available in abundance to all individuals. There would be no need for any individual to struggle for food or shelter in a post-scarcity society since these things would be available to all in abundance.
All sorts and flavors of Transhumanists are thrilled with the prospect of a post-scarcity society, ever since the display of the “replicator” on the Star Trek television series.
The replicator is a device that has the ability to create any object that an individual can imagine. They are similar to 3D printers, but they are able to create objects of any shape, size, and composition. 3D printers are currently able to create objects, but they are limited to very specific and simple objects.
A Star Trek replicator could create food, shelter, clothing, and anything else that an individual could want, seemingly out of thin air. It would be able to do so for any individual in the world, and with no input from any other individual.
The Star Trek replicator is a technology that is a long way off, but one technology that can enable a post-scarcity society is already in place in the cryptocurrency movement. It is interesting to note, that even with the Star Trek replicator, individuals were limited by the use of “replicator credits” to pay for the objects that they created with the replicator, be they food or anything else. Perhaps this is another reason to expand off-world.
With no limit to population growth and no limit to the growth of the desires of the individual, we may consider that the limited amount of matter to transform on the planet places a “hard limit” on what we can do to alleviate scarcity, even after we have replicators. It only makes sense then, that these transactions would be carried out on the blockchain, perhaps with one dominant cryptocurrency becoming the universal standard for “replicator credits”.
There is a new cryptocurrency out called Transhuman Coin with the unfortunate initials “THC”, but the (transhumanist) jury is still out on whether this is a legitimate attempt to create an exchange of value among a group of individuals who just so happen to be united by philosophy rather than merely by geography… or if it is some kind of cash grab taking advantage of the “brand” of Transhumanism. You can expect an analysis from our team soon, and we will let you know the answer to that question.
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