TD₿: Proof-of-Work - the Planetary Scale Digital Monument by Andreas Antonopoulos
TL;DR Bitcoin is the first digital artifact that provides forever history, that provides true digital immutability.
Hey Bitcoiners,
When I was growing up, I always found the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World fascinating. These included the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Temple of Artemis, and the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Today, only one of the ancient seven wonders is still standing: the Great Pyramid of Giza.
As a result, in 2000, a Swiss foundation launched a campaign to determine the New Seven Wonders of the World. Over 100 million people cast votes from around the world, and from the results, the New Seven Wonders of the World were announced.
If there’s one thing that all of these new wonders have in common, it’s that they all took a lot of time and work to build something that strikes awe into the hearts of onlookers and endures the test of time.
Here are the 7 New Wonders of the World and how long it took to build them.
1.) The Great Wall of China (2,300 years)
2.) Chichén Itzá (~400 years)
3.) Petra, Jordan (~500 years)
4.) Machu Picchu (~90 years)
5.) Christ the Redeemer (5 years)
6.) the Colosseum (~20 years)
7.) the Taj Mahal (22 years)
This goes to show you that anything worthwhile and long-lasting takes time to build. Many of the individuals who planned and helped construct these wonders were no longer alive when the project was completed, but that did not stop them from building them nonetheless.
A sign of a healthy society is one where its participants build civilizational projects that benefit the world for generations to come. To me, that is Bitcoin.
We are building a digital wonder of the world that will outlast everyone working on it today. We are laying the stones of the foundation of a monetary system that will provide enormous benefits for humanity for thousands of years to come.
It’s a big vision, but the dream of a world empowered by incorruptible digital money is one worth fighting for.
Andreas Antonopoulos gave a talk called Proof-of-Work - the Planetary Scale Digital Monument that touches on this idea a bit. (09/30/2016)
I scoff at Bitcoin critics today who say, “Bitcoin has failed as money” after only 14 years. Is this some arbitrary deadline that they invented in their minds to determine whether or not Bitcoin has succeeded?
As long as Bitcoin keeps functioning without any major hack or critical software bug, then the dream remains alive. Bitcoiners’ time horizon for Bitcoin is simply much longer than its critics.
So keep building Bitcoiners. Drown out the noise and the naysayers and keep laying bricks. We are working on something bigger than ourselves that will strike awe into the hearts of people for centuries to come.
We are building the “Great Digital Pyramid of Giza”, and this is only the beginning.
Tick tock next block,
Sam Callahan
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Quote of the Day
“Bitcoin is the only game where the pursuit of self-interest dismantles the powers that be.” - Hugo Nguyen, Founder of nunchuk.io
Job of the Day
Braiins is searching for a Bitcoin Mining Operation Engineer who will help our clients with their bitcoin mining operations; remotely and on their site, installing and troubleshooting Braiins products. If you have an IT background and don’t mind traveling extensively, they want to hear from you!
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Featured Event
Friday — come hang out at the Madeira Bitcoin Meetup from 6:30-8:30 pm at Cowork Funchal. At this event, they have a couple of great speakers, including Alejandro De La Torre, the former VP of btc.com and of poolin, two large mining pools. Now he is busy open-sourcing bitcoin mining at Block.xyz, and Tankred Hase, who is heading up Lightning efforts at Swan Bitcoin.
Not in town for this? Check out all the Bitcoin events at bitcoinerevents.com.
Meme of the Day
