This is opinion editor Mickey Koss, a West Point graduate with a degree in economics. He spent four years in the infantry before transferring to the Finance Corps.
It’s almost a week into 2023 and I’ve seen Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano discuss Michael Shellenberger and Joe Rogan’s interview with Peter Ziehan. Although these media impressions seem unrelated, there is a common thread between the two: experts in various fields confidently express their uninformed opinions about Bitcoin.
Ziehan’s misunderstandings can be heard in the last 20 minutes of the interview. In fact, our friend Guy Swann produced a nearly 90-minute episode of “Bitcoin Audible” dedicated to breaking down Ziehand’s analysis. Café Bitcoin recently did the same in the first half or so of its January 9, 2023 episode.
Shellenberger probably made Pomp’s misunderstandings a little easier to find by going on his podcast for the sole purpose of demonstrating his complete and utter ignorance.
I think one of the most pertinent questions to consider after these conversations is: How qualified are either of these two gentlemen to make such assessments in the first place?
How can it be comfortable to say something about a person that he knows very little about? If these two are so confident in their patently false and uninformed opinions, why should I trust them in anything else?
While discussing these two interviews in a small group, one of the members said something that inspired the idea behind this article:
“For now, both feel safe in their claims. These clips will haunt them and tarnish their credibility in the next bull run.”
–Alex BrammerBoard member of the Bitcoin Today Coalition (BTC).
He even translated the sentiment into a tweet, which can be seen below:
One characteristic common to bitcoins is their preference for short-termism—a willingness to sacrifice short-term convenience for long-term gains, as opposed to following every whim.
These individuals are the epitome of what the fiat system does to people, a symptom of what happens when money stops delivering clear price signals. Their time preferences have become so skewed that they willingly sacrifice long-term credibility for short-term fame. They do it without thinking, even with little understanding of what they are criticizing, let alone the long-term consequences of what they say. They do this so that they are not dismissed as ordinary people like the rest of us.
What happened to just saying “I don’t know”? Perhaps more importantly, what happens when all these naysayers are not only proven wrong?
In the coming months and years, I predict that those who choose to speak carelessly will quickly begin to lose the credibility they once had.
The Gell-Mann Amnesia Treatment Is Absurd
“Briefly, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is as follows. You open the newspaper to write about a topic you know well. Physics in Murray’s case. In me, in show business. You read the article and you see that the journalist does not fully understand either the facts or the issues. Often, the article is so wrong that it actually presents the story backwards—reflecting cause and effect. I call these “wet streets cause rain” stories. The paper is full of them.
“In any case, you read with annoyance or amusement the numerous errors in a story, then turn the page to national or international affairs and read as if the rest of the paper is more accurate than the blurb you just read about Palestine. You turn the page and forget what you know.”
– Michael Crichton
Bitcoin is the orange pill that wakes you up from the matrix, yes, but what if the story is too absurd? If the criticisms and jealousies are so obviously wrong, why are these so-called experts no longer respected or even listened to?
I was a fan of Ziehan. I found his books interesting and informative. They appeared well thought out and thoroughly researched. But I don’t know what to think after that interview. After hearing him speak, before even hearing the Bitcoin critique, all I really heard was quasi-automaton; a character well trained to speak in polished sound bites. His Bitcoin analysis was so smooth, well-articulated and confident. The man was confident. And everything he said was completely wrong.
I see the next few years as a precipice for the collapse of the current pundits. He looks a lot like the economist uncle in the dystopian fairy tale. these experts will answer everything but cannot explain anything. People will slowly but surely realize that the world these “experts” created in their theoretical minds no longer exists. Reality will eventually sink in.
But you don’t have to wait for that.
Once you understand Bitcoin, you realize that the long-term price is slowly approaching infinity as central banks gradually add units of currency to the system to manipulate the value of capital.
Saving bitcoin can be a difficult path for those who haven’t seen the value yet, but in my eyes, it’s the safest thing I own. As I sit down to reflect on this tumultuous week in the bear market, I feel like I’ve never been more bullish than I am right now.
This is a guest post by Mickey Koss. The views expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.