How Bitcoin Reprograms the Mind with Dan Weintraub
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SHOW DESCRIPTION
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?
TIMESTAMPS
00:03:52: Introductions
00:07:12: "The Neurology of Acting Like an Asshole"
00:13:47: "How Bitcoin Ends Fiat's Destruction of our Neurologies"
00:26:05: Fiat money impacting our neurology
00:29:06: Anxiety and panic attacks
00:42:27: The pursuit of happiness, and minimalistic living
00:52:47: The illusion of happiness, and owning a football club
01:02:20: Bitcoin fixes this
01:09:18: Bitcoin breaks the fiat dialectical cycle
01:18:49: Final comments
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Connect with Dan:
On Twitter
Articles for Bitcoin Magazine
Mentioned in the interview:
BEHAVING BADLY: The Neurology of Acting Like an Asshole - by Dan Weintraub, Feb 2021
Healing Back Pain (Reissue Edition): The Mind-Body Connection - by John E. Sarno M.D., Mar 2018
Glenn’s ‘WORST’ Christmas & how it became the ‘BEST’ memory - Glenn Beck, YouTube, Dec 2021
What is Hawking radiation? - BBC Science Focus Magazine, Apr 16th 2022
How to achieve more by doing less | Steve Jobs Minimalist Approach - Edward Muldrew, Jun 2019
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