𝗕𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝗺𝗼𝘀 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘉𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳 A user recently asked me about a concept known as “the Great Filter”, but I didn’t give a very helpful explanation at the time. Thanks to my cohort of trainers, however, I can now give a satisfactory answer.😌 And it all starts with 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘅. Named for physicist Enrico Fermi, the Fermi Paradox describes a dilemma in the realm of astrophysics, and in particular the search for extraterrestrial life: the universe is 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 huge, with 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 galaxies, stars, and planets, and has existed for 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 of years. Statistically, the night sky should be 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 with activity from other civilizations. And yet, despite humanity’s efforts to watch and listen for sentient life elsewhere, the universe appears quiet and lifeless, except for on this tiny speck called Earth. The follow-up question that many ask is “𝘞𝘩𝘺?”, and one possible answer is the Great Filter. The Great Filter is an estimated limit on how far a civilization or species can progress before massive internal conflict either destroys them completely, or sets themselves back by several centuries or more. It posits that there 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 intelligent life out there, but they either haven’t become spacefaring yet, or they annihilated themselves before they could travers the stars. A civilization can 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 pass through the Great Filter if they have developed 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, so that war in all its forms is constantly disincentivized. Money is the language of value, but its early versions, like precious metals or empty promises from powerful entities, 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 had downsides, including confiscatability and the ability to endlessly fund wars. But if a civilization starts using something as money that has 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦 its predecessors’ downsides, and incentivizes peace and cooperation, 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 can that civilization pass through the Great Filter, and escape self-destruction. For the beings of planet Earth, that money is called #Bitcoin. What lies beyond the Great Filter for humanity, once it’s passed? The specifics are anyone’s guess, but it can be conceptualized by measuring the scope by which humanity sources its energy. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗮 𝗰𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲, so the most useful way to measure what lies beyond the Great Filter would probably be the Kardashev Scale. Named after Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev, this scale is used for measuring civilizational growth, according to the amount of energy sources that civilization has mastered: 🌎 A 𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝟭 civilization is one that is successfully harnessing 𝘢𝘭𝘭 the energy resources 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘁. ☀️ A 𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝟮 civilization is one that is successfully harnessing 𝘢𝘭𝘭 the energy resources 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺. 🌀 A 𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝟯 civilization is one that is successfully harnessing 𝘢𝘭𝘭 the energy resources 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗮𝘅𝘆. There could be more after Type 3, but this is the general idea. Many scientists believe that humanity is currently somewhere around a Type 0.6 or 0.7. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝟭 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆. This means that if there are other civilizations in the universe, they have not contacted Earth yet because they either have not adopted perfectly scarce digital money yet, or they have, and they’re on their way. And who knows? Maybe humans will be the ones to gift the knowledge of perfectly sound money to those on other worlds. Only time will tell. What do you think of that answer? Let me know in the 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀👇 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲🤙 and 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲🔄 this if this gave you hope for a better future. And 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸🔖 this for quick-reference, the next time you hear about the Great Filter, the Fermi Paradox, or the Kardashev Scale.

𝗜𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝟭𝟭 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴! 🤯 @Wicked On 28 November 2012, at this 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵 minute, block 210,000 was found, and the very first #Bitcoin halving occurred. Before then, from block 0 (the Genesis Block) through block 209,999, the subsidy of 𝟱𝟬 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻 had been awarded to the miners every 10 minutes on average. But then the first halving happened right on schedule, and block 210,000 was the 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 to award only 25 new bitcoin. Less than 4 years later, this was halved again, and less than 4 years after that, it was halved 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. @Hack0 And now the 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩 halving is coming up! 🤩 Are you ready? 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲🤙 and 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲🔄 this post if you're excited for the 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 halving!

𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝘐𝘯 𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝘓𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯! Tomorrow is the birthday of Henry Hazlitt, a great writer on Austrian economics, so today I will review one of his best-known works, “𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯”. This book has no mention of #Bitcoin in it, as it was first published in 1946, but it does give an excellent overview of Austrian economic theory, including the 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 of centralized economic policies. Read on for my list of insights👇 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 #𝟭: 𝗨𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 Most economic policies aim to aid 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱, without weighing the unseen burdens upon other groups, but when one traces a policy’s indirect effects, it reveals their true tradeoffs. Objective analysis counters misleading arguments that only cite isolated gains. Prior to enacting decisions on a narrow subset of the economy, 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆-𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱. 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 #𝟮: 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆’𝘀 𝗛𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗚𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 New technologies may displace jobs initially, but 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨-𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵-𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴. Cost savings and productivity growth free up resources, which are then better allocated through price signals. 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴; though it’s temporarily uncomfortable for impacted groups, discomfort leads to greater innovations and strength. 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 #𝟯: 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝘀 Using top-down policies to override market pricing inevitably introduces harmful distortions over time. Lagging effects include shortages, unemployment, inflation, reduced productivity, and output declines. 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗹𝗮𝘄 𝘆𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗱. Even crises call for 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, not reactionary overcorrections that ignore systemic consequences. 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 #𝟰: 𝗛𝗮𝘇𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘆 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 Promises of cheap, abundant credit eventually bring severe contractions that far outweigh any temporary relief. Politicians and citizens alike prefer pleasant fiction over responsible restraint, but 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. Whether through willful ignorance or innocent over-optimism, 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺’𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩. 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 #𝟱: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Widespread economic literacy offers the strongest safeguard against plausible fallacies and manipulation by special interests. 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 can citizens be armed against seductive rhetoric that touts advantages for transient groups. Leaders should stop exploiting the public’s ignorance, and instead 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦’𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 of economic consequences. This book is 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 for elevating the one’s understanding of economics. In honor of Henry Hazlitt’s birthday tomorrow, be sure to 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲🤙 and a 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲🔄 this post! Also 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸🔖 this, so you can easily refer back to these insights. What book do you want me to review next week? Tell me in the 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀⬇️ See you next week at the next list of book insights! 👋