[paulgb]

A more charitable view is that Vitalik is intellectually curious about areas where math/systems meet governance, and that interest led him both to crypto and to writing this blog post.

I’m a total crypto skeptic but I didn’t find the brief mentions of crypto to detract from the rest of the post.

[enlyth]

Agreed, I'm also not invested in crypto but Vitalik seems like one of the genuine people in the space.

It's the unfortunate attraction of the Ponzi grifters and get-rich-quick influencer types that tainted the whole ecosystem.

[dee-bee]

I'd argue it's the design of crypto, the "crypto values" themselves, that make the space so welcoming to grifters. Emphatically including YC.

[Pxtl]

I'd say "co-opted" more than "tainted".

[paulusthe]

I think you're being overly charitable, because he's not really interested in governance writ large. He long ago decided what he thinks the best government system is, and sees everything political through that lens: is this good for my system, or is it bad.

He never actually questions his own system, because he's ultimately an engineer. He's clueless on social structures or systems.

[soulofmischief]

> He never actually questions his own system, because he's ultimately an engineer. He's clueless on social structures or systems.

I'm sorry, but that is a false dichotomy and downright ridiculous assessment. Being a good engineer does not disqualify you from deeply understanding social organization or dynamic systems.

I am an engineer and those two topics are among the most critical which guide my work. I'm obsessed with these topics. Being an engineer makes thinking about these things easier, not harder.

Are you next going to proclaim that actors are clueless about politics?

[hgsgm]

He questions his own system constantly, but he's necessarily committed to it (modulo modifications and extremely rare overhauls), because his identity is tied up in what he's built, and he can't just jump to something new without losing a huge amount of himself.

[pessimizer]

If your arguments rest on projecting internal states, beliefs, and motivations on people you disagree with, they're worthless.

[flkenosad]

Many engineers question thier own systems more than anyone else. How can you sag that with a straight face?