☮ Social ☮ PD Social Talk Thread: If 2020 Was the Dumpster, Can 2021 Be the Fire?

[perpetualdawn]

I really hope BTC fails, but at this point shit talking bitcoin is pissing into the wind.

 

[blistersinthedark]

I really hope all drugs become fully decriminalized sooner than latter, just so cryptocurrencies can lose their usefulness. Shit is out of control. I was reading yesterday that should BTC ever reach the million dollar mark, it would emit more CO₂ than the entire USA. I didn't verify the claim, but I have no trouble believing that projection. We're already at the point where the BTC network spends more energy than Argentina.

 

[psy997]

I really hope BTC fails, but at this point shit talking bitcoin is pissing into the wind.

Why would you hope it fails? BTC is funding a lot of really cool projects, considering the kinds of people who got into it early.

Not to mention, it's the masthead for decentralized currencies, a potentially hugely beneficial advancement for humanity.

 

[Buzz Lightbeer]

Indeed, what a puzzling post, seems to have been made entirely out of spite, it's not too late to jump aboard just yet!

I had one last disappointing hurrah with 3-MMC last week, using 3 grams. I think it's gonna be banned in NL soon, I've been browsing through some of their forums and it's filled with teenagers and people under 18 massively addicted. Bizarrely most people seem to get it from dealers as well. Quite some media coverage too.
Interestingly, I believe there are two synths of the drug, both result in crystals of course, but one is much easier to crush than the other, and this is the very mediocre one (all effects are less pronounced) and the harder more crystally to crush is quite amazing and especially euphoric and ''''''empathogenic''''''. From what I can tell out of two years of semi regular use (once=binge every 2-3 months) is that both are equally prevalent but the latter seems much harder to come by recently. Especially this, is quite puzzling to me since it seems to be main one getting everyone hooked.
I actually believe that it is more addicting than mephedrone (at least the newer mephedrone) due to the stronger dopamine rush and less serotonin which makes you somewhat less inclined to redose, while on good 3-MMC this is extremely hard. 4-MMC is much more epic though, an explosion of serotonin, visuals inducing.

I am done for real with this poison for the mind though, and with that all stimulants (I was already doing this admittedly but I smell a ban), well at least searching it out, I'm not one to refuse free cocaine or something. Responsible use of any stim is way behind me and they fuck too much with my mood.

Also, I'm sorry for polluting the psychedelics thread with something like 3-MMC

 

[perpetualdawn]

@psy997 because it's atrocious for the planet and mega inefficient. @blistersinthedark is correct about it currently using more energy than Argentina. Its energy usage corresponds linearly with its price, with a fair amount of lag as miners need time to set up and respond to compete for the rising incentive, so if its value doubles, so does the energy use, over time. Bitcoin is a hungry ghost.

Besides the environmental toll which is a dealbreaker if you ask me, it's a terrible currency. Transaction times are 10mins +, and cost over $25 usd right now.

@Buzz Lightbeer no it's not spite, I'm really concerned about the cost to the earth. We're so quick to turn a blind eye as soon as there's some money to make. It should be common knowledge but no one wants to talk about this right now because, well, it's a bull market. It's going up to 70k for sure. Well, maybe that is spite, you tell me. If it is, I'm ok with it.

ps: I think 3-MMC belongs here, doesn't it? It's not precisely a psychedelic, but tangentially it qualifies..

 

[TripSitterNZ]

i wish elon musk could keep his fucking mouth shut everything he says is fucking insider trading they need to fine that bastard billions of dollars fucking over his shareholders and everybody holding crypto.

On a different note i was hoping they would of given those enrolled in university discounts for gyms because at these prices i simply do not have the budget to go to one. I do have my own basic weights and could just run some loops around the place.

 

[Buzz Lightbeer]

Energy consumption is huge I agree

But this lightning network should do wonders for transaction times + fees, didn't know fees were up to 25$ already LOL, must be really busy these days

 

[perpetualdawn]

Man... they've been saying the lightning network would solve these problems since at least 2017, still seems like it's not even beta yet. Seems like fusion energy, it's always x years away.

 

[Buzz Lightbeer]

Yeah, I don't really know why it's taking so long either.
It does go against much of what bitcoin stands for, with lots of centralized infrastructure, no blockchain, and thus security vulnerabilities...

 

[Buzz Lightbeer]

But I trust the smart people on my Twitter feed trusting in Bitcoin, as I should've been doing for years

 

[Buzz Lightbeer]

i wish elon musk could keep his fucking mouth shut everything he says is fucking insider trading they need to fine that bastard billions of dollars fucking over his shareholders and everybody holding crypto.

Agreed!
It's not the only thing alike he has done, but apparently people like worshiping a billionaire, and with his Pentagon connections it seems he is untouchable

 

[TripSitterNZ]

hes a dangerous man he smokes DMT yet instead of bringing more equality to this world he using it to further his own egoistic agenda of making billions and to take over the world on a global scale from trying to become the no 1 energy no 1 space guy #1 car maker and all the other things his lack of charity and developing the 3rd world is astounding. He does not care about the lay man just how big he can get. Monopolize space.

The man who can see outside the box is a dangerous man when he uses it only to his own advantage while trying to style himself as this messianic figure who is going to led us to colonize the galaxy. Maybe he is just a puppet in this grand game of life maybe human society is structured this way that for us to colonize other planets we need a ruthless company to spearhead the efforts first.

 

[Buzz Lightbeer]

Yeah. It's insane how people keep sucking this guys dick because he shares some dumb memes on twitter, it blows my mind.
Tesla also has like 20+ of these side projects that never seem to get anywhere, and yet people still think he's gonna be #1 in every industry.

I also don't know much about the galaxy, but the thing is, is that it feels so pointless now, we're absolutely nowhere with our technology considering that we're only at an advanced technological level for not even 100 years, the only place we're realistically getting to is Mars, and there's nothing at all to do there. And aspiring to go further is impossible right now and will be for ages (tens of generations) until we achieve superior speeds. And that's only one of the many considerations.
I understand the need and want for space travel, but with as much suffering and problems that require money to be thrown at, I find it very much in bad taste. But what do you expect from a narcissist?

 

[TripSitterNZ]

on large timescales it is possible with even our current understanding physics say 100k to a million years. By that time we would of advanced alot. I do believe it will be our destiny to colonize the galaxy eventually. I reckon we will colonize another star system by the year 4000. Its pretty fucking crazy how far we came in the last 100 years and the 2000 years since Christ walked the earth humans have progressed at a insane rate. Even the last 21 years has been a huge change in our technology.

How far can we go?. It would be in good faith to quickly become a multi planet species incase the earth suffers a extinction level event. Which it could very well do in the next 1000 years.

 

[Buzz Lightbeer]

Yeah man, how far we've come in such short a time is incredible. The absurdity of our situations when you consider the whole history of our planet and also just universe is so epic

 

[Vastness]

@perpetualdawn - Bitcoin's energy consumption problems are really not an intrinsic problem with proof-of-work cryptocurrencies, but a problem with the persistence of non-renewable, polluting energy sources in certain parts of the world - specifically China and it's heavy reliance on coal. Lots of things use unclean energy, the current digital underpinnings of fiat currencies and the stock market have an environmental load, albeit probably less than bitcoin mining at present, but this is only a problem as long as power is generated by environmentally unfriendly means. Computationally, brute force, energy hungry processing is easier to do than light, energy efficient programming, and although it's perhaps arguable in a way that more attention should be focused on the latter, a lot of things in our world would probably be a lot less developed and work a lot less well externally if this was the case. The focus on Bitcoin's energy consumption as a specific environmental negative seems to me strange.


Other than that - SpaceX and Tesla are some of the most exciting corporations to exist in a long time. A side effect of Musk's ego is that it seems to result in technologies which are already becoming a great benefit to the human race. I've said this before I'm sure so I won't bother going over it all again but I don't really get the desire to dislike people who have achieved great things, on seemingly quite superficial grounds.

 

[perpetualdawn]

Yeah the Elon Musk fanboyism is nauseating. I thought we already hit peak Elon like a year or two ago, but now that he's "the richest man in the world" people want to worship him like a deity.

Not going to lie, I hope humanity makes it to Mars as much as the next sci fi nerd/futurist, and I'm cheering Elon Musk or whoever makes an effort in that department on. But it's a fantasy to think we'll have a viable, meaningful colony there anytime soon. I mean, Antarctica is a much nicer place to live, and way easier to get to, yet nobody lives there. Yeah there are research stations, but I'm pretty sure there are 0 permanent residents, and certainly no self-sustaining settlements.

 

[perpetualdawn]

@perpetualdawn - Bitcoin's energy consumption problems are really not an intrinsic problem with proof-of-work cryptocurrencies, but a problem with the persistence of non-renewable, polluting energy sources in certain parts of the world - specifically China and it's heavy reliance on coal. Lots of things use unclean energy, the current digital underpinnings of fiat currencies and the stock market have an environmental load, albeit probably less than bitcoin mining at present, but this is only a problem as long as power is generated by environmentally unfriendly means. Computationally, brute force, energy hungry processing is easier to do than light, energy efficient programming, and although it's perhaps arguable in a way that more attention should be focused on the latter, a lot of things in our world would probably be a lot less developed and work a lot less well externally if this was the case. The focus on Bitcoin's energy consumption as a specific environmental negative seems to me strange.

No it is an intrinsic problem with POW currencies, at least with most of the schemes that use POW. It works like a lottery, and the vast amount of the work burned by miners is discarded to heat providing absolutely nothing of value. It's like a lottery where all the money gets burned, and the winner gets a very fancy pokemon card that they can optionally sell on ebay. No matter if the energy comes from coal, the sun, or a fusion reactor, it's still a massive waste of energy that could have been used for something that adds value.

It's not strange to focus on BTC's energy consumption, what is strange is that hardly anyone is. So many people who are ostensibly concerned with climate change either completely don't want to take a look at it, or pull mental gymnastics to justify this colossal energy pig.

Not to mention the e-waste...

 

[Zephyn]

on large timescales it is possible with even our current understanding physics say 100k to a million years. By that time we would of advanced alot. I do believe it will be our destiny to colonize the galaxy eventually. I reckon we will colonize another star system by the year 4000. Its pretty fucking crazy how far we came in the last 100 years and the 2000 years since Christ walked the earth humans have progressed at a insane rate. Even the last 21 years has been a huge change in our technology.

How far can we go?. It would be in good faith to quickly become a multi planet species incase the earth suffers a extinction level event. Which it could very well do in the next 1000 years.

Humanity is not going to last that long, the planet would be destroyed by then or we will have nuclear fallout

 

[Buzz Lightbeer]

Other than that - SpaceX and Tesla are some of the most exciting corporations to exist in a long time. A side effect of Musk's ego is that it seems to result in technologies which are already becoming a great benefit to the human race. I've said this before I'm sure so I won't bother going over it all again but I don't really get the desire to dislike people who have achieved great things, on seemingly quite superficial grounds.

How is it superficial grounds? It's not like I dislike him purely because he has a lot of money.
I can agree that SpaceX has done some pretty cool things and I can commend him for his persistence in exploring certain ideas and projects. But this reveling in some sort of amazing genius persona is just extremely annoying, and I am opposed to the worshiping of just about any living human. Much of what he does is in my opinion PR stunts to raise money, shift public perception and get ludicrous tax cuts here and there. As far as I am concerned, these are not superficial grounds to dislike him as a person.

Since my instincts on the matter are highly influenced by the public perception, I understand that I should leave these considerations behind and give more weight to achievements, something I'd probably do with other famous figures. But even those achievements I have a hard time rating as highly, and describing them as a great benefit to the human race is a little over the top imo, he's rarely the only one working in a field.