How Bitcoin Reprograms the Mind with Dan Weintraub - WBD534

 


Dan Weintraub is a retired history teacher, author and Bitcoin
advocate. In this interview, we discuss how fiat money results in
a cycle of increasing consumption to meet our need for stimuli,
destroying our neurological systems, and how Bitcoin arrests and
reverses this cycle.


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Previous societies had been more spiritually centered and had
long regarded the roots of materialism (i.e. pride, greed, lust,
envy etc.) as being the worst of sins. Then, following
industrialisation, materialism has been distorted and promoted as
a desirable mindset. The capitalist rationale is obvious: meeting
people's needs generates wealth.


But, have fiat currencies locked the capitalist system into a
dangerous charade? Increased debt within the system means there
is a need for increasing economic activity. This can be met by
exploiting people to create superficial desires and wants beyond
their actual needs. Advertising is now a ubiquitous facet of
modern living: a 24/7/365 machine of selling.


Thus, it is not surprising that as materialism has grown, so has
the reaction to it. It has long been lambasted as being harmful
to society: excessive consumption can be at once wasteful,
polluting and divisive. However, increasing concern has been
raised over its destructive effects on human neurology: our
brains are being rewired, and we have lost the memory of an
alternate way to live.


Materialism enslaves us in an elusive search for satisfying
stimuli. A lot of our consumption is driven by an addiction to
our brain's chemical reaction: a release of endorphins and
dopamine gives us momentary pleasure. With the body's exposure to
any drug, we build tolerance. Then, we need a greater high to
satisfy our need for stimulation. We’re biologically locked in.


Bitcoin is heralded as the opportunity for a new and more honest
economic paradigm. The question is though whether Bitcoin can
reset more than just the economic system; can it reset our
damaged neurological systems? Can it enable us to re-establish an
understanding of the path to more centered and happy lives?