When first starting this newsletter I had a plan of randomly picking concepts and just expanding on them in non-technical terms.
Then I had a 3+ hour long, 1 hour chat with Bill.
One really important thing I walked away with at the end of that chat was that maps are important in making sense of things. Specifically the orientation of the mao can make a big difference (yo can tell Bill’s GIS systems background leaking through).
A great example of this he gave was imagine plotting a route to drive from here (Perth CBD) to Applecross, but the map I gave you showed a profile view.
Your directions are slight down hill > water > small land mass > water > arrive. Not looking good for your non-amphibious car.
Now translate that into a standard aerial mapping perspective which would show the bridge and the freeway and all of a sudden the route is simple.
Down terrace > Freeway > Bridge > Freeway (alongside river) > turn right. Much more achievable for a regular car.
The importance of perspective in this thought exercise had me thinking of the fable above of the old fish and two young fish.
Bitcoin is a money and we deal with money everyday in a way that it moves into the background and we forget about the water in which we swim.
I think in a journey of understanding bitcoin from a human perspective there are three key concepts which make this all much easier (which will be the focus for the next few newsletters).
These are the water in which we swim and I’d characterise this with the questions:
How do inflation and deflation and inflation work in the world?
What is money?
How is society governed?
So sorry for the quick break, but this was a change to the thinking and I think establishing some grounding in these mapping concepts will make everything hang together much nicer.
Next we’ll kick off with inflation & deflation but if yo’re keen to front run the learning check out this video / podcast with Jeff Booth and Preston Pysh.