Thursday, December 07, 2017
False binary
Subhead on a ZH article boosting Bitcoin:
Good ideas don't require force. That describes the Internet, mobile telephony and cryptocurrencies.
Cute misuse of logic. You're supposed to think "Bitcoin is an idea that was spread without force, therefore it's a good idea."
No. Stop.
Which innovations required force to spread? None.
Are all unforced innovations good ideas? Not by a fucking country mile. The vast majority of unforced ideas are stupid or trivial or fraudulent. The fact that Bitcoin spread without force doesn't separate it from hula hoops or Cosmic Disks or Segways or goat gland transplants.
Which ideas DO require force? Force.
The only idea force can spread is force.
When we invade a country that didn't attack us, we're NOT spreading "capitalism" or "democracy" or Bitcoin or the internet. We're spreading bullets and bombs and misery and starvation and disease and death. Force.
Or witch-hunts, as I've been discussing lately. The idea of executing an innocent person because the Bureau of Inquisition wants to execute the innocent person was new at one time. It wasn't an innovation in the same category as wheels or clocks or steam engines. It was just murder. Just force.
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Footnote for clarity after rereading: I'm not saying that force is always bad. Sometimes it's necessary to protect your life or your family from the EFFECTS of bad ideas. I'm only talking about how ideas and concepts are propagated.
¶ 12:20 PM 
