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by JoshTriplett
2536 days ago
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I don't think HN is anti-blockchain. HN is anti-hype. Bitcoin and blockchain are not the solutions for every problem; HN can sometimes respect the hustle of "say blockchain so that you get more VC money", but that doesn't mean HN won't criticize the actual technology if it's "X but with Blockchain!!". And HN can go either way on "technical solutions for social/legal problems", so it's at least controversial to suggest that a blockchain will solve a social/legal problem without doing anything but writing code. |
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This is part of it, but that's faulty reasoning. Just because there's a lot of hype and fraud surrounding the technology and network does not mean that the technology and network is hype or fraud.
Another factor is that we're very talented at finding all the reasons something new won't work, and not so good at understanding how something flawed can still be useful.
Exhibit A is the infamous Dropbox comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224
But fundamentally, most of us, like most people generally, fail to understand what money is. We use it every day, so we all think we understand it. Money seems tangible and valuable, but it's all just a very powerful social construct that's backed by nothing more than collective belief and utility.
The mind rebels at such a flimsy foundation, so many of the criticisms aimed at cryptocurrency are equally valid when aimed at dollars or yen.
Maybe we're doomed to an Eternal September of repeating the same arguments in an endless loop for decades more. Please, let's hear the story of Dutch tulips again, or how dollars are actually backed by taxes or the military or buying cups of coffee.
If we listened to the nattering nabobs of negativism, we'd never invent anything truly novel.