Part 4, Chapter 4 of the JBP series. The series continues. If you’ve not yet read chapters one through three, you can find them here, and of course make sure you’ve read Part One, Part Two and Part Three of this chapter. Quotes with no source underneath are attributed to Dr. Jordan B. Peterson. In the previous parts we explore value, games, action, aim, focus, attention, truth and speech. We uncovered the sources of nihilism and examined the “Unholy Trinity” of the static apparatus known as “The State.” We’re going to close this chapter out by reviewing Bitcoin’s relationship to religion, the Bible, and its semblance to Old Testament God through the reintroduction to economic consequence. THE BITCOIN RELIGION Shinobi, whom I have deep respect for, recently said that he’s not seen a space or industry with more of a disparity between understanding and confidence, than Bitcoin. To a large degree, I would agree. Although Bitcoiners differ in that, I believe it’s actually a positive thing. This kind of disparity will naturally unnerve an engineer or a technician, but for the kind of phenomenon Bitcoin is, the existence of religious-zealot-like acolytes adds to its overall strength. It’s the power of narrative and myth in action. Bitcoin’s core principles representing “the good,” give it an aura of religious fervor that transcends the purely empirical domain of the technician. You have people willing to tie their identities to this thing come hell or high water, and for a phenomenon that must overcome the greatest collective lie of all time, this is the sort of moral, economic and memetic impetus that’s required. I’m not sure anything more powerful exists — and I say this as a non-religious person. “Religion concerns itself with the domain of value, ultimate value. That is not the scientific domain. It’s not the territory of empirical description.” A religious Bitcoin acolyte is often similar to a religious theistic acolyte in their belief of the discovery of some form of veil-piercing truth. In the beginning they just blindly parrot what they’ve seen or heard on Twitter: “digital gold,” “only 21 million,” “censorship-resistant,” “store of value,” “stock-to-flow,” etc. They become dogmatically obedient to these ideas, often ignorant to their meaning and in some cases to their own detriment, but over time they have the opportunity to discipline themselves. They learn (via podcasts, articles, books, etc.) and transcend the frame of “dogmatic acolyte” to become the “sovereign Bitcoiner” i.e., the kind of person measuring their wealth in bitcoin, running a full node, CoinJoining, who understands the nuances of a BIP and can effectively participate in the subversion of the corrupt statist paradigm. This in a general sense is a net positive. We all must start somewhere, and we must have a pathway worth walking. Bitcoin is that, and in many ways it’s a religious canvas against which we can paint our individual journeys toward sovereignty and truth. “It is therefore necessary and desirable for religions to have a dogmatic element. What good is a value system that does not provide a stable structure.” Bitcoin and the story of Satoshi are poetically religious and mythic. From the disappearance of the founder, to its stable, inert structure, and the offer of a form of economic salvation against the backdrop of an “evil” enemy, Bitcoin has all the ingredients for a narrative powerful enough for a critical mass of followers to emerge. And they have. They don’t need to initially “know” everything. In fact, they cannot know it all. But the kernel of truth they find in some article or podcast resonates enough with them, that they keep digging. They already possess the necessary precondition for this journey, i.e., the intent to become a better person, and some form of attraction to truth or integrity, so their instinct tells them that this may be a way. Their initial obedience turns into discipline, and in time they become the low time preference “chad” or “trad wife” equivalent that the more “based” of us aspire to be. “A genuine religious acolyte isn’t trying to formulate accurate ideas about the objective nature of the world (although he may be trying to do that too). He’s striving, instead, to be a ‘good person.’ It may be the case that to him ‘good’ means nothing but ‘obedient’ — even blindly obedient. Hence the classic liberal Western enlightenment objection to religious belief: obedience is not enough. But it’s at least a start (and we have forgotten this): You cannot aim yourself at anything if you are completely undisciplined and untutored. You will not know what to target, and you won’t fly straight, even if you somehow get your aim right. And then you will conclude, ‘There is nothing to aim for.’ And then you will be lost.” Of course this does not happen to everyone. For every one of these, there are 1000 Vitalik Buterins and Sam Bankman-Frieds who are more interested in unicorns, printing their own money and frying Beyond Meat sausages. You can’t save everyone. Nor should you try. Bitcoin is for anyone, but not for everyone. For those with the necessary makeup, even the not-so-high-IQ of us, Bitcoin represents so much more than just a ticket to get rich quick or a technology. It’s a religion of sorts which if approached in the right way can enhance one’s understanding of self, deepen their relationships to that which matters most and ultimately make them a better person. It’s an extraordinary thing to see. ECONOMIC RELIGION AND THE UNDERSTANDING OF SELF An idea I’ve been toying with for a while is whether economics is simply a religion of action? The more true and accurate it is, the better the aggregate result of the players, students, acolytes and thus society. It rings true in the classic idea of, don’t tell me what you believe, show me your bank account and I’ll tell you what you believe. And is further echoed by Dr. Peterson in Chapter 4 of his book